The Beggar’s OperaI love The Beggar’s Opera a 1728 ballad opera in three acts by English poet and dramatist John Gay satirising three separate things: • Italian opera (parodying its conventions such as three acts, a prison scene, rival “divas,” and a forced happy... See More » (3)
Wild Mountain ThymeI always liked the song Wild Mountain Thyme. Like many folk songs it has a long and complex history. Its modern form is a mid-20th-century adaptation by Belfast musician Francis McPeake of an earlier Scottish song, The Braes of Balquidder, by the... See More » (+4)
Forgotten Musicals - Arthur Sullivan and The Beauty StoneYou’ve probably only heard of Arthur Sullivan writing comic operas with WS Gilbert, but he also wrote a number of other works such as Haddon Hall with lyricist Sidney Grundy. One of the oddest and most controversial of these other works is The... See More » (2)
Bernstein’s most personal musical - Trouble in TahitiLeonard Bernstein needs no introduction as a composer. Everyone knows West Side Story and Candide. Trouble in Tahiti is less well known. It is a one-act opera/musical/piece of musical theatre, in seven scenes for which he wrote both the music and... See More » (2)
Forgotten Musicals - Rutland Boughton with William Sharp/Fiona Macleod and The Immortal HourWilliam Sharp, 1855 – 1905, was a Scottish writer, poet, novelist, biographer, critic, and editor born in Paisley, near Glasgow. He began his literary career in the 1880s, producing poetry, biographies (including of figures like Percy Bysshe Shelley... See More » (+2)
Forgotten Musicals - Vivian Ellis and Bless the BrideVivian Ellis (1903–1996) was a prominent English composer, lyricist, and musician best known for his work in British musical comedy and light music during the 1920s–1950s. Born Vivian John Herman Ellis on 29 October 1903 in Hampstead, London, into... See More » (2)
Forgotten Musicals - George and Ira Gershwin and Of Thee I SingWe all know about George Gershwin (born Jacob Gershwine in Brooklyn, New York, on September 26, 1898) who was the second son in the family. He began formal music lessons around age 12–13, left school at 15 to work as a “song plugger” (demonstrating... See More » (2)
The Banks of Green Willow - George ButterworthI do love this piece so evovative of the English countryside. (+2)
