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Benjamin Britten

Albert Herring, op. 39

Op. 39 Composed 1946 Stage

Albert Herring, Op. 39, is a chamber opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten.

Composed in the winter of 1946 and the spring of 1947, this comic opera was a successor to his serious opera The Rape of Lucretia. The libretto, by Eric Crozier, was based on Guy de Maupassant's novella Le Rosier de Madame Husson, with the action transposed to an English setting.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Synopsis

Time: April and May 1900
Place: Loxford, a small market town in East Suffolk, England

Act I

Housekeeper Florence Pike is run ragged. Her mistress Lady Billows is organising the annual May Day festival and has gathered all the important people of the village to elect the May Queen. But Florence has dug up dirt on every single girl nominated, proving that none is worthy to wear the once-much-coveted crown. Lady Billows is depressed. Superintendent Budd suggests that the solution may be to select, this year, a May King instead. He knows of a young man in town who is as certainly virginal as the girls are not: Albert Herring.
Working at the greengrocer's, Albert is teased for his timidity by the easygoing butcher Sid. Sid's girlfriend Nancy comes in to do some shopping, and the couple shares a tender moment while Albert looks on. The lovers leave, and Albert reflects on his miserable existence under his mother's thumb. The Festival Committee arrives with the news of his selection as May King. Mrs. Herring is thrilled by the prize of £25, but Albert balks at being paraded in swan-white and mother and son quarrel to the mocking commentary of the village children.

  1. Scene I. "Beggin' your pardon" (Superintendent Budd)
  2. Scene I. "Doctor Jessop's midwife" (Florence)
  3. Scene I. "Flor-ence!...tell the midwife!" (Lady Billows)
  4. Scene I. "Is this all you can bring?" (Lady Billows)
  5. Scene I. "Now then! Notebook, Florence!" (Lady Billows)
  6. Scene I. "Right! We'll have him!" (Lady Billows)
  7. Scene I. "Stuffy!" (Lady Billows)
  8. Scene I. "The first suggestion on my list" (Vicar)
  9. Scene I. Interlude
  10. Scene I. “I hope we’re not too early, Florence?” (Miss Wordsworth)
  11. Scene II. "Bounce me high" (Kids)
  12. Scene II. "Good morning, young man" (Florence)
  13. Scene II. "He's much too busy" (Albert)
  14. Scene II. "Meet me at a quarter past eight" (Sid)
  15. Scene II. "Shop! Hi! Albert!" (Sid)
  16. Scene II. "Tickling a trout" (Sid)
  17. Scene II. "We bring great news to you" (Lady Billows)

Act II

It is the day of the festival. Sid and Nancy are preparing the banquet tent, and they take the opportunity to slip some rum into Albert's lemonade glass. Together with a crown of flowers and the gruesome but improving Foxe's The Book of Martyrs, Albert is awarded twenty-five pounds in prize money. Asked to make a speech, he is tongue-tied and becomes an object of pity at the feast in his honour, but after draining his lemonade glass (which Britten satirically underlines with a Tristan chord, alluding to the philter in that opera). and having a fit of hiccups he manages a few hip-hip, hurrahs.
That night, Albert arrives home alone and quite drunk. In the street, Sid keeps a rendezvous with Nancy, and the two discuss their sympathetic pity for Albert before going off together. This is the breaking point for Albert, who has overheard. He takes the prize money and heads out looking for adventure.

  1. Scene I. "As representing the local Council" (Mayor)
  2. Scene I. "Er-humph! Er-humph! I'm no great shakes" (Superintendent Budd)
  3. Scene I. "For three precious weeks" (Florence)
  4. Scene I. "Here they are dears!" (Miss Wordsworth)
  5. Scene I. "I'm full of happiness" (Lady Billows)
  6. Scene I. "Isn't he here?" (Florence)
  7. Scene I. "My flowers are few" (Harry)
  8. Scene I. "My heart leaps up with joy" (Miss Wordsworth)
  9. Scene I. "Quickly, quickly, come along!" (Miss Wordsworth)
  10. Scene I. "Well tried, Albert!" (Vicar)
  11. Scene I. Interlude
  12. Scene II. "Albert the Good!" (Albert)
  13. Scene II. "Heaven helps those who help themselves!" (Albert)
  14. Scene II. "You oughtn't to whistle!" (Nancy)

Act III

The next morning Albert has not returned, and the village is in a panic. Superintendent Budd is leading the search, while the guilt-stricken Nancy tends to Mrs. Herring. A boy shouts that a "Big White Something" has been found in a well, and the village worthies file in to break the news en masse that Albert's crown of flowers has been discovered, crushed by a cart. A lengthy threnody of grief follows, but is interrupted by the surprise return of Albert. He thanks the Festival Committee for funding his night out. They, in turn, are outraged by his tale of drunken debauchery and leave in a huff. Albert finally stands up to his mother and invites the village children into the shop to enjoy some fruit at his expense.

  1. "Albert's come back to stay" (Nancy, Sid, Emmie, Cis, Harry)
  2. "Albert...!" (All)
  3. "Fools! Fools! Blundering fools!" (Lady Billows)
  4. "Give me a decent murder with a corpse!" (Superintendent Budd)
  5. "Have you found him?" (Mum)
  6. "I can't remember everything" (Albert)
  7. "I'm hungry, I'm tired" (Sid)
  8. "I'm sorry about that" (Albert)
  9. "In the midst of life is death" (All)
  10. "Is she asleep?" (Emmie)
  11. Introduction

Synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Elsewhere

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