Britten, Benjamin.

the engraved vocal score with the text in English only, with corrections on almost every page, mainly in Britten's hand, in pencil and red crayon, including stage directions written by him in crayon, musical notation written on the staves and in the margins of around twenty pages (including on the back of one leaf), and many autograph alterations to the words and tempo markings, together with corrections made by assistants on behalf of the composer, in pencil and some in orange crayon, including a leaf of manuscript music pinned to page 27 (by Erwin Stein), with many editorial markings and annotations for the engraver in blue crayon and pencil, and a few later annotations in other hands (reflecting later editions), a few German words added in Tarquinius's and Junius's parts in black ink, possibly for the original singers, 



225 leaves, large 4to (c.30.5 x 25cms), engraved throughout, the versos blank, plate number H.15846, unbound, dated in pencil on the first page, 25 July 1946, some tears to margins, especially the outer leaves, with slight loss to the final page,

Enid Vandyk.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
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This is a comprehensively corrected proof of the original version of Britten's opera, retaining some music that was cut, replaced or revised in later editions. The first production of The Rape of Lucretia was staged at Glyndebourne from 12 July 1946 until 27 July 1946: the corrections were made in this engraved proof during that period. 

The vocal score was published in 1946 and a revised version with English and German words a year later. This proof preserves the original version, with the dialogue "How gen'rous of you, dear Junius", leading up to Collatinus's arioso "Love is all desperation", which was replaced in 1947 with "Those who love create fetters which liberate" (pages 31-38), together with other shorter sections also revised in 1947. The full score was not published until 1958.

The Rape of Lucretia is rare among Britten's major operas in having a female title-role. The part of Lucretia was sung at the premiere by Kathleen Ferrier, for whom Britten had a special affection.  This was in fact Ferrier's operatic debut. The opera is notable as a chamber work, displaying Britten's mastery of writing for a small ensemble.