Under the Greenwood Tree (2024)

Under the Greenwood Tree is a pastoral tale by Thomas Hardy set in the Dorset village of Mellstock in the 1800s. The story focuses on the romance between Dick Dewy, a handsome but poor young villager, two richer, rival suitors and Fancy Day, the entrancing new schoolmistress, recently arrived in the village.

The book was initially entitled The Mellstock Quire, alluding to the traditional choirs formed by local men, which provided the only music for rural church services at that time, and which were the heartbeat of every Dorset village. But the very existence of the Quire is suddenly threatened by the arrival the Fancy because she brings with her a modern harmonium.

The opera, like the novel, is set in four seasons – and opens with the Mellstock Quire making their rounds of the village on Christmas Eve.