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The Bunch Of Roses sheet music

The Bunch of Roses appears in this collection as a song preserved under several related titles: "The Bonny Bunch of Roses Oh!", "Bonny bunch of roses - hard", and "GB/6b/5 The Bonny Bunch of Roses". No composer is credited on any of the three scores; instead, two titles carry notes naming singers, places and dates, which is the kind of information usually recorded when a traditional tune is noted down from a performance. The written settings differ noticeably from one another — one opens in G major with a 2/2 metre, two open in B♭ major in 4/4 — so comparing them side by side is the most useful way to see how the same song was captured in different times and places.

Scores 1–20 of 33

Sheet music

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Three settings, one song title

The scores gathered here use slightly different forms of the name: "The Bonny Bunch of Roses Oh!", "Bonny bunch of roses - hard" and "GB/6b/5 The Bonny Bunch of Roses". The spelling "Bonny" and the extra "Oh!" are the kind of variation that appears when songs are written down from sung performance rather than from a single printed original. Treat the titles as leads to related versions rather than as proof that every score contains the identical text and tune.

What the notation shows

Each score records a different written shape. One opens in G major with a 2/2 time signature; the other two open with two flats in 4/4, and the 1907 transcription gives an opening tempo of 80 BPM. Note counts and reported durations also vary widely, from 39 notes in the shortest setting to 304 in the longest. Opening key and metre describe the notation as written — they are not evidence of a single authorised performing pitch or tempo.

Reading the names in the titles

Two of the score titles include information beyond the song name. "Bonny bunch of roses - hard" is described as taken down from R. Hard by the Schoolmaster at Sth. Brent in September 1888, while "GB/6b/5 The Bonny Bunch of Roses" is marked as sung by Mr. and Mrs. Cranstone at Billingshurst in June 1907 and transcribed by Simon Furey and Lewis Jones. These read as records of a collected performance and of the people who made the notation, not as composer credits.

What these scores do not tell you

The scores supply music notation only. No lyrics, historical background or definitive statement of origin accompanies them, and no named composer can be confirmed from the material available. If you need the song's text or its place in a wider tradition, consult a specialist folk-song archive or a published collection rather than relying on the score titles alone.

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Common questions

Does The Bunch of Roses have a named composer in these scores?

None of the three settings credits a composer. One score's title field instead reads "As taken down from R. Hard by the Schoolmaster Sth. Brent Sep. 1888", which describes where and when the tune was noted down rather than who wrote it. The absence of a composer credit is consistent with a song circulating in oral tradition, but the material supplied does not establish its origin.

Why do the available settings of The Bunch of Roses start in different keys?

The settings were written down independently, so they begin in different keys: G major for "The Bonny Bunch of Roses Oh!" and two flats, indicating B♭ major, for the other two. An opening key signature records how a particular notation was written, not a fixed concert pitch for the song. Singers of traditional songs commonly pitch a tune to suit their own voice, which is one reason collected notations differ.

What do the names and dates in the score titles refer to?

The titles preserve details of particular performances and notations. "Bonny bunch of roses - hard" names R. Hard as the source, with the notation made by the Schoolmaster at Sth. Brent in September 1888. "GB/6b/5 The Bonny Bunch of Roses" records a performance by Mr. and Mrs. Cranstone at Billingshurst in June 1907, transcribed by Simon Furey and Lewis Jones. These are source and transcription credits, not composer attributions.

How do the three settings of The Bunch of Roses differ in detail?

The settings vary substantially in written content. "Bonny bunch of roses - hard" is the fullest of the three, with 304 notes and a reported duration of about 106 seconds. "The Bonny Bunch of Roses Oh!" contains 77 notes over about 64 seconds, and "GB/6b/5 The Bonny Bunch of Roses" is the sparsest at 39 notes over about 24 seconds. These figures describe individual scores and should be treated as approximate.

What metre and tempo does The Bunch of Roses use?

Two of the available settings open in 4/4, while "The Bonny Bunch of Roses Oh!" opens in 2/2, which gives a broader two-in-a-bar feel when read at the same pulse. Only "GB/6b/5 The Bonny Bunch of Roses" states an opening tempo, 80 BPM. Because the settings were notated separately, a single authoritative tempo for the song cannot be assumed from these scores.