In his book, Yesterdays: Popular Song in America, Charles Hamm lists “The Last Rose of Summer” as among the Top Selling Foreign Songs in America in 1870.
The lyrics are from a poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore written in 1805. The poem was then set to a traditional tune called “Aislean an Oigfear” (The Young Man’s Dream). Many of the recorded versions are what one would expect: Bing Crosby, Clannad, Sara Brightman, Charlotte Church, Celtic Women, James Gallway, etc. There also appear to be over 30 classical settings. Still others are a bit outre like versions by Judas Priest, Tom Waits, and Nina Simone as below.
Impossible to know what Moore would have thought of the various interpretations, but the Simone version from a 1964 album called Broadway, Blues, Ballads, is my favourite.
And, by the way, if you, like me, upon hearing the song, especially with the orchestration, think it sounds a bit familiar in another context, think the main theme from the Notre Dame football classic “Rudy,” with music by Jerry Goldsmith. I can’t be wrong about this, having seen the movie at least a dozen times. For fun I’ve included it at the bottom. Judge for yourself.