The Immortal Hour
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The Immortal Hour is the most famous opera by English composer Rutland Boughton. Boughton adapted his own libretto from the works of Fiona MacLeod, a pseudonym of writer William Sharp.
In this work, Boughton combined Wagnerian approaches to musical themes and symbolism with a folk-like modal approach to the music itself, reflective of the Celtic origins of the tale. The story features three main characters: the heroic king Eochaidh, the faery princess Etain who is eternally fair and youthful, and Dalua, the Lord of Shadow.
The Immortal Hour was first performed in Glastonbury on 23 August 1914, at the inaugural Glastonbury Festival which Boughton co-founded, and was a popular success for many years. It reached London in 1922, and was staged in New York City in 1926.
The Immortal Hour is a fairy tale or fairy opera, with a mood and theme similar to Dvořák's Rusalka and Mozart's The Magic Flute. Magic and nature spirits play important roles in the storyline.
The most famous highlight is the song How beautiful they are, which appears first in a chorus by unseen spirits, then is reprised by Dalua as a solo aria accompanied by a harp.
