English Eccentrics (opera)

English Eccentrics
Chamber opera by Malcolm Williamson
LibrettistGeoffrey Dunn
LanguageEnglish
Based onEdith Sitwell's The English Eccentrics
Premiere
11 June 1964 (1964-06-11)
Aldeburgh Festival

English Eccentrics is a chamber opera in two acts by Malcolm Williamson to an English libretto by Geoffrey Dunn, based on Edith Sitwell's 1933 book, The English Eccentrics.[1] It was commissioned by the English Opera Group.[2] The opera requires the cast to make many quick changes of roles between scenes, and contrives the confrontation of several of the characters, who did not meet in real life.

  1. ^ The W. H. Auden Society – Newsletter No. 15, Notes and Queries, November 1996
  2. ^ Covell, R. The English Eccentrics. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London & New York, 1997.