00 ME Introduction 'Merrie England'

Dr. Pitt-Payne in London UK - 24 Mar 2003

THE STORY
(Elizabethan England)
This well known comic opera
is set in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth I.
The famous courtier,
Sir Waiter Raleigh,
loves Bessie Throckmorton,
one of the Queen's
Ladies in Waiting.
Bessie is frightened
that a misplaced letter from Raleigh
will fall into the hands of the Queen,
who would be displeased
at the association.
Raleigh's rival, the Earl of Essex,
is given the letter
by JillAllAlone,
who is persecuted by the local people
who think she is a witch.
A forester begs the Queen
to protect Jill. However,
when Essex hands Elizabeth
the letter, the Queen
is so incensed that
she orders Bessie's imprisonment,
Raleigh's banishment
and Jill's death by burning.
Elizabeth retracts each sentence
when Essex halts a threat to her life
through his exposure of Dr Lopez,
the Queen's Portuguese physician,
who is planning to poison her.
*
The work established German
as a possible successor to
Arthur Sullivan in the world
of English operetta.
*

Soft karaoke
Words
*
str 50
str 110
fr hrn 60
brass 75
flute
clarinet
oboe
pizz str
*
00 Merrie England 1902 Introduction
Music by Sir Edward German
Lyrics by Capt. Basil Hood
copyright MCMII by Chappell and Co. Ltd.
sequence and arrangement by Dr. Pitt-Payne in London UK
on Monday 24 March 2003 at 17.13
in association with Doug Grierson
*

00 Merrie England - Introduction
Allegro con Spirito
Allegro moderato
Prestissimo
Jig
*
Merrie England
A New And Original Comic Opera
in Two Acts
First produced at The Savoy Theatre, London
under the Management of
Mr. William Greet,
on Wednesday, April 2nd, 1902
*
The score used here is The Vocal one
arranged from the full score
by Wilfred Bendall
*