What's In A Name: Rosamund Pike Photographed By Mario Testino

A Rose by Any Other Name: Rosamund Pike in Vanity Fair

"The name Rosamund (also spelled Rosamond and Rosamunde) is a girls' name and can also be a family name (surname). Originally it combined the Germanic elements hros, meaning horse, and mund, meaning 'protection.' Later, it was influenced by the Latin phrases rosa munda, meaning 'pure rose,' and rosa mundi, meaning 'rose of the world.' 'Rosamonda' is the Italian, 'Rosamunde' is the German and 'Rosemonde' the French form of the name. People named Rosamund or variations thereof include: Rosamund (Gepid) or Rosamunde (fl. sixth century), second wife of Alboin, King of the Germanic Lombards; Rosamund Clifford (before 1150 – c. 1176), medieval beauty and longtime mistress of King Henry II; Rosamund Greenwood (1907–1997), British actress; Rosamund John (1913–1998), English actress; Rosamund Kwan (born 1962), Chinese actress; Rosamund Pike (born 1979), British actress; Rosamunde Pilcher (born 1924), British novelist; Rosamund Stanhope (1919–2005), British poet and teacher; Rosamund Marriott Watson (1860–1911), English poet and critic who wrote under the pseudonym of Graham R. Tomson. Franz Schubert also wrote incidental music

scored for orchestra under the Rosamunde heading. "There are two overtures associated with Rosamunde: The overture used for the stage production was the overture Schubert had originally composed for Alfonso und Estrella, but Schubert thought it less suitable for that opera and in the 1891 publication of the Gesammtausgabe, the ten numbers of the Rosamunde music were preceded by the overture to Die Zauberharfe (The Magic Harp), without any proof it was ever Schubert's intention to associate that overture with the rest of the Rosamunde music" The first vocal version, "Der Vollmond Strahlt auf Bergeshöh'n" was published in 1824 as Op. 26, with piano accompaniment. The one vocal version for mixed chorus and orchestra, dated 1863, is written "Andante con moto." Other forms of the incidental music include an entr'acte, ballet, and choruses. Additional uses of the music include an excerpt of the piece incorporated into the Christmas carol "Mille cherubini in coro," a song made popular by Luciano Pavarotti in a 1980 TV Christmas program. The piece is also played in Marvel's film The Avengers in the German opera house scene. [Source, Source] Watch a Vanity Fair video of Rosamund Pike being photographed by Mario Testino, and listen to Elly Ameling singing the vocal version of Schubert's music, after the jump.

Reclining Rosamund: A scene that could easily be taken straight out of a Schubertiade.