If Ever I Would Leave You is a Broadway ballad from the 1960 musical Camelot, with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. The song expresses unconditional love and devotion, insisting the lover could never leave through summer, autumn, winter, or spring. It was introduced on Broadway in 1960 by the original Camelot cast, with Robert Goulet as Lancelot, Richard Burton as Arthur, and Julie Andrews as Guenevere, and it appears on the 1960 Camelot Broadway cast recording. The tune has since become a standard of the Broadway genre and has been covered by many artists, including a version by Steve Blanchard on Watchfire Music. Camelot and If Ever I Would Leave You are tied to the Arthurian legend as adapted in The Once and Future King, and Loewe and Lerner’s lush melody remains one of their enduring love songs.
