ENGLISH ECCENTRICS

Music by Malcolm Williamson
Libretto by Geoffrey Dunn based on the book by Edith Sitwell

THE STORY

This opera in two acts consists of seven scenes each of which depicts a form of eccentricity.

Act I

Scene I - Goose-Weather

Here we are introduced to a snuffbox collector; a lady with an obsession for long feathers in her hat; a man who has been married 17 times; another who spends his life in the bath; a woman who does not wash, and a man who has a desire to be buried head downwards in the ground, etc.

Scene 2 - An Amateur of Fashion

An interpretation of Romeo and Juliet.

Scene 3 - The God of this World

The story of Sarah Whitehead whose brother is hanged for forgery.

Act II

Scene I - Quacks and a Beau

Various doctors proffer unusual wares and services while Lady Jersey and the Duchess of Devonshire engage Beau Brummell in conversation.

Scene 2 - An Ornamental Hermit

Captain Philip Thicknesse writes his memoirs.

Scene 3 - A Traveller

A maid from Devonshire tricks people into believing that she is a stranger from a mysterious, distant land.

Scene 4 - The Beau Again

Beau Brummell in old age and senile.

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS 

• There is a multitude of characters requiring the following voices:
• 1 soprano
• 1 mezzo
• 2 tenors
• 1 baritone
• 1 bass
• SATB chorus (alternatively a vocal quartet can be used)

INSTRUMENTATION

(Total number of books = 8)

• 1 Clarinet (B flat doubling E flat)
• 1 Bassoon
• 1 Trumpet
• 1 Percussion
• 1 Piano (preferably with a celeste or jangle-box attachment)
• 1 Violin
• 1 Cello
• 1 Full Score