Evening Of Roses: A Song History
"Erev Shel Shoshanim," known in English as "Evening of Roses," is a Hebrew love song with words by the poet Moshe Dor and music by Yosef Hadar.[1][2] Its text takes its imagery from the biblical Song of Songs.[1] Sources differ on its early recording history: the National Library of Israel names Miriam Avigal as the first to record it, in 1955, with Yaffa Yarkoni following in 1957, while a Maariv list of Israeli debut songs presents it as the first song of the duo HaDudaim, dated 1957.[1][3]
Langlois and Henri Joseph Redouté, The Roses: Rosa Gallica Purpurea Velutina Parva, color stipple engraving with watercolor added by hand, 1817–24. Shown for its roses; it has no connection to the song.
According to the library, it was HaDudaim's version that won the song international fame, and in the years after the Six-Day War it enjoyed wide success in Europe.[1] The Freedman Catalogue of Jewish recordings at the University of Pennsylvania lists dozens of versions, among them recordings by Shoshana Damari and the Parvarim, an Italian-language recording by Iva Zanicchi, a Spanish one by Yarkoni and a Yiddish version sung by David Eshet.[2] The same catalog also shows it on wedding-themed records, including a Jewish wedding sampler and an album by a Jewish wedding band.[2]
Gail L. Van Amberg arranges it as "Evening Of Roses" in her MaxDAD Songbook, a Fingers Of Steel collection of 33 tunes for the Folkcraft MaxDAD, a five-string mountain dulcimer tuned DADAD, with standard notation, chords and MaxDAD tab.[4]
Sources
- National Library of Israel Blog: "An Eternal Love Song: 10 Classic Israeli Hits Inspired by the 'Song of Songs'".
- University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Freedman Catalogue: "Freedman Catalogue lookup: artist Dor, Moshe".
- Maariv: "צלילים ראשונים: שירי הבכורה הישראלים הטובים בכל הזמנים | חלק א'".
- Fingers Of Steel: "Gail L. Van Amberg, MaxDAD Songbook".
- Image: Langlois and Henri Joseph Redouté, The Roses: Rosa Gallica Purpurea Velutina Parva, color stipple engraving with watercolor added by hand, 1817–24. The Cleveland Museum of Art.