''Rosa Mundi'' is a 2001 album by

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

June Tabor June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is an English folk singer known for her solo work and her earlier collaborations with Maddy Prior and with Oysterband. Early life June Tabor was born and grew up in Warwick, England. As ...

. It is a concept album that represents Tabor's exploration of the rose as a symbol of love, of beauty and hope. As a folk singer, Tabor’s primary sources are traditional but it is her secondary source choices, ranging from

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

to a

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ballad via

Robbie Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

and a version of a German traditional piano song "Es Ist ein Rose Ersprungen", that separate this album from being a generalist folk music album. Tabor's singing is understated, reflecting her desire for the songs to be centre stage. The album was reviewed favourably by a number of British music critics. ''RootsWorld''s Jim Foley described ''Rosa Mundi'' in positive terms. In ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

Robin Denselow Robin Denselow is a British writer, journalist, and broadcaster. Education Denselow was educated at Leighton Park School, a boys' Quaker boarding independent school (now co-educational) in Reading, Berkshire, followed by New College, Oxford, wher ...

praised ''Rosa Mundi'', and commented that Tabor's work demonstrated a commitment to the art of song with each song sung with Tabor's distinctive vocals. The article praised Tabor as amongst the finest of contemporary folk singers. A separate ''RootsWorld'' review said that ''Rosa Mundi'' was outstanding and that Tabor was a contemporary singer of importance with an ability to express herself with clarity and beauty. British folk music magazine ''

fRoots ''fRoots'' (pronounced "eff-Roots", originally ''Folk Roots'') was a specialist music magazine published in the UK between 1979 and 2019. It specialised in folk and world music, and featured regular compilation downloadable albums, with occas ...

'' reviewed the album at the time of release, and had championed Tabor for over twenty years, republishing an interview with Tabor in the final issue in 2019.fRoots magazine: The Final Issue 2019, June Tabor on decorating in the bathroom by Ian Anderson, first published January 1980

Track listing

# "

Roses of Picardy "Roses of Picardy" is a popular British song with lyrics by Frederick Weatherly and music by Haydn Wood. Published in London in 1916 by Chappell & Co, it was one of the most famous songs of the First World War and has been recorded frequently u ...

" (words & music:

Fred Weatherly Frederic Edward Weatherly, KC (4 October 1848 – 7 September 1929) was an English lawyer, author, lyricist and broadcaster. He was christened and brought up using the name Frederick Edward Weatherly, and appears to have adopted the spelling 'F ...

) # "Belle Rose" (traditional) # "Deep in Love" (traditional) # " O My Luve's Like a Red Red Rose" (words:

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

/tune: traditional) # "Rose in June" (traditional) # "Paint Me, Redouté" (words:

Les Barker Les Barker (30 January 1947 – 14 January 2023) was an English poet, who was famous for his comedy, comedic poetry and parody, parodies of popular songs, but he also produced some very serious thought-provoking written works. Work Barker ...

/ tune: Tabor & Emmerson) # "Rhosyn Wyn / Winterrose aka Es Ist ein Rose Ersprungen" (trad 15th century German /arr. Tabor, Warren, Emerson, Bolton) # "The Rose Is White, The Rose Is Red/ Dargason" (traditional) / tune: music in manuscript) # "The Crown of Roses (Tchaikovsky's legend)" (words: Plechteev/ tune:

/ arrangement: Tabor, Warren, Emerson, Bolton) # " Barbary Ellen" (trad) (

Child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

84,

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

54) # "Maybe I'll Be a Rose" (words :Les Barker/ tune: Savourna Stevenson)

Personnel

– vocals *

Huw Warren Huw Warren is a Welsh jazz pianist and composer whose work crosses several genres. He is known as co-leader and founder of the jazz quartet Perfect Houseplants. Career Huw Warren was the co-leader and founder of the jazz quartet Perfect Ho ...

– piano * Mark Emerson – viola, violin * Richard Bolton – cello

References

{{Authority control 2001 albums June Tabor albums Topic Records albums