Spanish Lady Suite, Op. 89

Composer: ELGAR, Sir Edward
  • The Spanish Lady is an unfinished opera Elgar was working on near the end of his life, with a libretto based on the satirical play The Devil Is an Ass by Jacobean playwright Ben Jonson (1572-1637).1
  • The music for The Spanish Lady drew on many earlier works and drafts by Elgar.2 Elgar’s late effort to compose an opera was inspired partly by encouragement from his friend, music critic and playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950).3
  • After Elgar’s death, his daughter Carice gave permission to Dr. Percy Young to complete the work.4The result was a short 45-minute opera based on Elgar’s drafts, which premiered as a concert work in 1986 and had its stage premiere in Cambridge in 1994. This suite is derived from Young’s version.5

Sources

  1. Diana McVeagh, “Elgar, Sir Edward,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed September 18, 2019,  https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000008709.
  2. Ibid.
  3. “Elgar – His Music: The Spanish Lady, op 89,” Elgar Society, accessed September 19, 2019, http://www.elgar.org/3splady.htm.
  4. Ibid.
  5. McVeagh, “Elgar, Sir Edward,” Grove Music Online.

Cut IDs

41282, 42889