stage - opera, musical theatre

The Alchemist
[Der Alchimist]

Prelude: Allegro con molto spirito - Piú mosso
Scene I - A cottage in a wood – Allegretto    [maid / young man / Sage / flower-gatherers ]
Scene II - A moonlit glade- Con moto        [young man / Elemental / vassals / jester / Nuns]
Scene III - A cottage in a wood – Moderato    [maid / young man / Sage / Disciples / flower-gatherers]

  • Cast: A maid, daughter of the Sage (mezzo) / The young man (tenor) / The Sage (baritone) / The Elemental (bass-bar) / A jester (tenor) / Three Disciples of the Sage (TBB soli) / Flower-gatherers (SSA chorus) / Vassals (SSATB chorus) / Nuns (SSSAA chorus)
  • Time:  The Middle Ages
  • Opera in one act, three scenes
  • Composed 1917-18
  • Libretto by Cyril Scott.  German translation Helmut Andreae. 
  • 1924         Schott [30891]    (PV, 150p)    
  • MS of full score available from Schott, London.  
  • Full score and parts on hire from Schott
  • First Performance:  May 28, 1925, Essen (cond. Felix Wolfe)

Maureen O'Mara
opera in three acts

Act I - Con spirito
Act II - Quickly & stormily
Act III - Andante sostenuto

  • Libretto by Charles Lundy [= Cyril Scott].
  • Cast: **
  • Scene: A farmyard in Ireland; the Napoleonic wars
  • Composed 1946
  • Unpublished        
  • Unperformed.  Rejected by the Festival of Britain.
  • Piano Vocal score (282p) and typescript libretto with Cyril Scott Estate. 

Saint of the Mountain

  • opera in one act
  • Composed 1924-25
  • Libretto by Cyril Scott
  • No score or libretto has survived. 
  • Unpublished
  •  Unperformed.

The Shrine
opera in one act, four scenes

Scene I - On the heights at sunset
Scene II - Cottage interior
Scene III - The village street
Scene IV - The same

  • composed ca. 1925-26
  • score of first scene & libretto available from Cyril Scott Estate
  • Unpublished        
  • Libretto by Scott (Scene 4 in German).  Piano score of a Prelude, and PV score to Scene I exists.
  • Likely the same work as S2, either revised or simply retitled.
  • Unperformed

Whilom and Whither
[Backwards and Forwards / Forward and Backward]: A Musical Show     

Overture - Moderato

Part I -

Scene 1 – A street in London
            #1, song, Worry, Rush, Excitement, Noise - Allegro con spirito
Scene 2 – Hernia’s house
Scene 3 – Dr. Impasse’s waiting room
            #2, song (Pamela) with chorus, You Can’t Tell I’m a Girl by my Hair - Moderato
Scene 4 – Dr. Impasse’s office
            #3, song (women’s voices), Sleep and Remember - Allegretto molto moderato e legato - Andantino [attacca into #5]*
            #4, song (3 yogis), Salaam, sahibs, salaam!
Scene 5 – Victorian era, 1850
           #5, song, But Say the Word, Beloved - Appassionata
           #6, instrumental, then duet, Victorian waltz song and polka – Slowish valse time (original version of S. ** )
Scene 6 – An Italian bedroom, 1500
Scene 7 – Spain, 1300 – play (cf. Hamlet) within a play
Scene 8 – A Norman castle, 1070
Scene 9 – A prehistoric cave, characters now Neanderthals
Scene 10 – Dr. Impasse’s office, present day
Scene 11 – A street outside Dr. Impasse’s office
          #7, duet (Lady Pancreas, Arthur), I Have Transferred Every One of my Affections, 
           then chorus, Dreams, Dreams, Soft and Revealing - Moderato
          #8, song (Pamela) with chorus of constables, Here is a Fine Opportunity – Alla marcia: Con spirito

 Part II -    

Scene 12 – A nursing home
          #9, solo with chorus, This is the Perfect Nursing-home – Allegretto
Scene 13 – Same.  Reprise of #4, Salaam, sahibs, salaam!
Scene 14 – A street, 1940 crowd scene
        #10, chorus, War is a Great and Glorious Thing! – Quick march
Scene 15 – A scene of horror as war comes
Scene 16 – A room, 2200
         #11, song (Bright young things), Auntie be a Sport – Moderato con moto
Scene 17 – A beautiful garden, 2350
Scene 18 – Farther in the future;  wordless, music plays throughout
         #12, instrumental, Scene and Finale (chorus not extant)

  • Libretto by:
    • Cyril Scott – Scenes 1, 4-7, 10, 11, 13, 17
    • Rose Allatini – Scenes 3, 12, 14
    • Brian Ross [= David Anrias] – Scenes 2, 8, 16
    • J. M[elanie] A. Mills [= H.K. Challoner] – Scenes 9, 15
  • composed c1933  
  • unpublished                
  • Notes:  Ross and Mills were neighbours and friends of the Scotts for several years in the 1930s, and Scott penned introductions to ** of Ross’s and Mills’s occult books.  CS states, “One capricious summer, while passing a holiday with my wife and two friends, we decided to pass the time in an amusing manner by concocting a Musical Show, which was to be distinguished from the customary Revue… by a plot.  Having between us devised… a suitable humorous and dramatic theme, I then set about writing a certain proportion of the dialogue, the lyrics, and finally the music, which was of by no means high-brow quality.”  CS’s self-conscious foray into a lighter musical style in this work lends weight to the authenticity of his earlier Dorothy Waltz, S.221, written in similar vein.  Music #6 is the source, previously unrecognized, of his last published piano composition, S.262.