Lothar, Mark

Lord Spleen (1930)

Duration: 130 minutes
Comic opera in two acts

Libretto by Hugo F Königsgarten, after Ben Jonson's 'Epicoene' (G)

Scoring
Main roles: colS,T,lyrT,Bar; small roles: 2T,Bar,B; chorus; dancers 2(II=picc).2(II=corA).2(II=Ebcl,bcl).ssax.tsax.2(II=dbn)-4.3.3.1- timp.perc:BD/cyms/tgl/SD/tamb/cast/glock/xyl/tam-t/susp.cym/bells/ rattle/siren/whistle/jazzdr/jazzcym with brushes/tom-t/wood dr/BD/ gong-banjo-harm-harp-pft-strings; onstage tpt.
Abbreviations (PDF).

Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes for all countries except Germany, Italy, Portugal, Danzig, and the former territories of the USSR.

Roles

AN ECCENTRIC, called LORD SPLEEN	Tenor
GEORGE, his nephew	Tenor
GEORGETTY, George's lover	Soprano
JIMMY	Baritone

Time and Place
The house of Lord Spleen in London, the present

Synopsis
Lord Spleen hates the present, his nephew George and most of all noise. His servant Jimmy agrees to help George find Spleen a wife who can be guaranteed not to talk. She turns out, of course, to be George's lover in disguise. Jimmy disguises himself as a priest and 'marries' her to Spleen. Immediately she starts to talk endlessly. Next George, his friends and some musicians (Jimmy in yet another disguise) arrive and make a terrible din, driving Spleen to distraction. Finally he accedes to all of George's demands, including making him his heir, if only his new wife will agree to a divorce. He realises that his own servant has fixed everything, but he has the last laugh by asking the audience not to clap until the curtain has fallen.

Moods
Comic

Subjects
Relationships, Literary