Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust descend;
Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie,
Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and -- sans End!

L. Lehmann sets lines 1-2

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

• by Edward Fitzgerald (1809 - 1883), no title, appears in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, First Edition, no. 23, appears in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Second Edition, no. 26, appears in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Third Edition, no. 24, appears in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Fourth Edition, no. 24, first published 1859 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

• a text in Persian (Farsi) by Hakim Omar Khayyám (c1048 - c1122) [text unavailable]
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend", published 1906 [ soli, chorus, and orchestra ], from Omar Khayyám, Part I, no. 24, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend", 1896, lines 1-2 [ bass ], from In a Persian Garden, no. 11, recitative [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Elisabeth Charlotta Henrietta Ernestina Sonntag (1866 - 1950), "Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend", published 1925, first performed 1925 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Vanitas Vanitatum, song-cycle from "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" in the translation of Edward Fitzgerald, no. 6, as Else Headlam-Morley [sung text checked 1 time]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by Henry Houseley (1852? - 1925), "Part 3", published 1917 [ soli, chorus, orchestra ], from cantata Omar Khayyám, no. 3, New York : H. W. Gray
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Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Frédéric Roger-Cornaz (1883 - 1970) , appears in Omar Khayyám. Les Rubáiyát, Paris, Éd. Librairie Payot et Cie ; composed by René Lenormand.
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• Also set in Spanish (Español), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Luis Sandi.
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Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller

This text was added to the website: 2011-06-13
Line count: 4
Word count: 34