O rose of May - for wind ensemble

Year: 2018

Grade: 5

Duration: ca. 6:15

Purchase: Murphy Music Press

O rose of May can be found on the Texas UIL PML (Grade 5) and on the Georgia GMEA LGPE (Grade 5)

Recording: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Wind Symphony | Alex Kaminsky, Conductor

O rose of May is a musical response to Hamlet, the world famous and deeply influential play by William Shakespeare. The work focuses on the character arc of Ophelia, Hamlet’s would-be love interest, and her internal struggle amongst the external conflict of the play. In the play’s early stages, Ophelia is torn by her love for Hamlet—her brother, Laertes, and her father, Polonius, urge her not to pursue him further, and Hamlet himself begins acting strangely towards her. She is pushed further and further by Hamlet’s confusing and seemingly insane actions until he kills Polonius. Overcome with grief, Ophelia is driven mad, and in her last appearances in the play she is hysterical, singing songs and sharing flowers with other characters. Before it is announced that she has died (likely by suicide), Laertes sees her in this state and calls to her, saying:

“O rose of May,

Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!

O heavens, is ’t possible a young maid’s wits

Should be as mortal as an old man’s life?”

Represented by a solo clarinetist, Ophelia is depicted as singing a solitary, peaceful song in the opening of the work. After this introduction, an agitated melody takes over, representative of the conflict between the characters of the play. Ophelia’s song reappears—but every time it is more and more twisted. A brief respite suggests relief from the conflict, but the song is unable to begin again. It bends to the will of the conflict, the voices of the surrounding characters overpower her, and as Ophelia descends into madness, her song becomes a hysterical celebration. The final bars are a wild chromatic descent into the last note of the work—a reflection on Ophelia’s final moments, falling from her tree branch into the brook in which she drowns.

Note: In the title, the word “rose” is intentionally lowercased because the title is a direct quote from the text of Hamlet. When writing, printing, or otherwise reproducing the title of this piece, Harrison requests that the word “rose” remain lowercased as presented on this page and within the score.