Requiescat

Strew on her roses, roses,
And never a spray of yew!
In quiet she reposes;
Ah, would that I did too!

Her mirth the world required;
She bathed it in smiles of glee.
But her heart was tired, tired,
And now they let her be.

Her life was turning, turning,
In mazes of heat and sound.
But for peace her soul was yearning,
And now peace laps her round.

Her cabined ample spirit,
It fluttered and failed for breath.
Tonight it doth inherit
The vasty hall of death.

by Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) , "Requiescat", from Poems, published 1853

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by B. Bernoulli , "Strew on her roses, roses", published 1892. [voice and piano]
by James Brown , "Requiescat", first performed 1896. [voice, orchestra]
by Hastings Crossley (1846-?) , "Strew on her Roses", published c1882. [soprano or tenor, piano]
by F. E. Durrant , "Requiescat", published 1948. [madrigal: SSATTB, a cappella]
by Arthur Esmond , "Requiescat", published 1883? [voice, piano]
by Helen Hopekirk (1856-1945) , "Requiescat", published 1886. [voice, piano]
by Havelock Nelson (1917-1996) , "Autumn (Requiescat)", 1957, first performed 1958 [tenor solo and SATB chorus a cappella], from The Course of the Year, no. ?
by John Laurence Seymour (1893-) , "Requiescat", published 1935. [voice, piano]
by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) , "Requiescat", published 1882 [voice, piano], from Six Songs
by Richard Stoker (1938-) , "Requiescat", published 1973. [SS or TT or two-part children's choir, piano or harpsichord]
by Philip George Wilkinson (1929-) , "Strew on her roses", published 1956. [SATB a cappella]

Date added to the website: 2004-04-14.

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Classical Vocal Repertoire