Ah! Sun‑flower! weary of time

Ah, Sun-flower! weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime,
Where the traveller's journey is done:

Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves and aspire
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

by William Blake (1757-1827) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", from Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 14, published 1794

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

by Laurence Mitchell Ager (1904-) , "Sunflower song", published 1948. [SA and piano]
by William Alwyn (1905-1985) , "Sunflower", 1933 [voice and piano], from Songs of Experience, no. 3.
by (Thomas) Athanasios Aronis (1935-) , "Ah! Sunflower", from Blake Song Cycle, no. 10.
by Rodney Ash (1931-) , "Ah! sun-flower", 1972, from Songs of Experience, no. 1.
by William Earl Averitt (1948-) , "Ah, sun-flower", 1970 [TBB and piano], from Two Songs of William Blake, no. 1.
by Gary Bachlund , "Ah, Sunflower", 1990 [medium high voice and piano], from Three Blake Settings, no. 3.
by William Bolcom (1938-) , "Ah! Sun-flower!", 1956-81 [soloists, madrigal group, chorus, orchestra], from Songs of Experience, Volume Two, no. 3.
by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) , "Ah, Sun-flower", op. 74 no. 12, published 1965 [baritone and piano], from Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, no. 12.
by Mark Leopold Bucci (1929-) , "The sunflower", published 1968 [SATB a cappella], from The Wondrous Kingdom (Flora and Fauna), no. 2.
by Alice Upton Close , "Ah! Sunflower", published c1934. [voice, piano]
by James Myron Cohn (1928-) , "Ah, Sunflower", c1970. [high voice, piano or guitar]
by William W. Colson (1945-) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", 1967, first performed 1967 [voice, piano], from Three Blake Songs, no. 2.
by John Craig Cooper (1925-) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", published c1962. [mixed chorus (SSATTB) and organ or piano]
by John Charlton Crawford (1931-) , "Ah! Sunflower", published 1965 [bass voice, string quartet], from Three Songs of Experience, no. 1.
by Hastings Crossley (1846-?) , "The sunflower", published 1884 [high voice, piano], from Four Garden Songs, no. 2.
by Robert Cuckson (1942-) , "Ah! Sunflower", 1971, first performed 1977 [soprano, piano], from Four Blake Songs, no. 4.
by David Andross Farquhar (1928-) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", 1947. [voice and piano]
by Irving Gifford Fine (1914-1962) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time"
by Inglis Gundry (1905-2000) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", 1950, first performed 1957 [tenor or soprano and piano], from Four Songs of Experience, no. ?
by Douglas Gunn (1935-) , "Ah! Sunflower", op. 9 (1970), first performed 1971. [soprano, treble recorder or flute, and piano]
by Daron Aric Hagen (1961-) , "Ah! Sun-Flower", 1986, first performed 1989 [voice and piano], from Love Songs, no. 3.
by David Haines (1956-) , "Ah! sunflower", 1972-9, rev. 1984, first performed 1979 [high voice and piano], from Songs of Experience, no. 9.
by John H. Harbison (1938-) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", 1971, published c1975, first performed 1973 [four soli, SATB chorus, string quartet, and percussion], from Five Songs of Experience, no. 3, New York, Associated Music Publishers
by Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874-1949) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", op. 25 (Seven songs) no. 4 (1917). [voice and piano]
by Eugene Hartzell (1932-2000) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", 1969 [medium voice and orchestra], from Spring and Three Flowers, no. 4.
by Gary Michael Higginson (1952-) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", 1977, first performed 1978 [SATB a cappella], from Seven Songs of William Blake, no. ?
by Daniel Jenkyn Jones (1912-) , "Ah! Sunflower", 1977, first performed 1977 [SATB chorus and orchestra], from Hear the Voice of the Ancient Bard, no. 5.
by Walter Kemp (1938-) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", 1957-8, published 1967 [choral suite: SATB a cappella], from Five Poems of William Blake, no. ?
by Ruth Margaret Lomon (1930-) , "The sunflower", published 1980 [alto and viola], from Five songs after poems by William Blake, no. ?
by Otto Luening (1900-1996) , "Ah! Sunflower", 1984, first performed 1986. [soprano and piano]
by David Lumsdaine (1931-) , "Sunflower", 1975 [chamber orchestra], note: Blake's poem prefaces the score
by Wilfrid Howard Mellers (1914-) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", 1972-3 [cantata-symphony: soprano, baritone, bass, large mixed chorus, semi-chorus, children's chorus, large orchestra], from Sun-Flower: the Divine Quaternity of William Blake, note: text variants not shown
by John Mitchell (1941-) , "Ah! Sunflower", op. 25 no. 4 (1977), from Visions from the Flame, no. 4.
by Frederick A. Mueller (1921-) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", published 1963 [soprano and piano], from Five Songs on Blake Texts, no. ?
by Nick Peros , "Ah, Sunflower"
by George Rochberg (1918-) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", published 1963 [soprano, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, harp, violin, viola, violoncello, celesta], from Blake Songs
by Gerard Schürmann (1928-) , "Sunflower", 1956, published 1996-7 [high voice and piano], from Six Songs of William Blake, no. 2.
by Anthony J. Taffs (1916-) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", 1960 [soprano and piano], from Five Songs of William Blake
by Virgil Garnett Thomson (1896-1989) , "The sunflower", 1920. [soprano and piano]
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", 1957, published 1958 [voice and oboe], from Ten Blake Songs, no. 7.
by Gerard Victory (1921-) , "The sunflower", 1978, first performed 1978 [choral cantata for SATB chorus a cappella], from Songs of Experience, no. ?
by Carl Paul Vollrath (1931-) , "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", 1966, first performed 1966 [soprano or tenor and piano], from Songs of Experience, no. ?
by Rudolph Werther (1896-?) , "O sunflower" [voice and piano], from Book of Religious Songs

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