Enoch Arden op.38
a melodrama for spoken voice and piano

"A recommended recording of outstanding quality"

BBC Music Magazine

"The wedding scene acquires a Rosenkavalier-like gleam. It's a verbal treasure."

Gramophone

This suspense laden poem tells the tragic tale of sailor Enoch Arden who vies with his friend Philip for the love of their childhood sweetheart, Annie. Enoch weds her but tragedy is on the horizon when Enoch is shipwrecked on an island for 12 years. On his return he discovers his wife is now married to Philip…

Enoch Arden is neatly in two parts, each around 40 minutes, so it is the perfect length for an evening performance. The story is extremely moving – the artists have often known the audience to be weeping at the end!
Enoch Arden is a unique evening entertainment. As a variation in a music club series or festival or arts centre programme it would certainly be a highly memorable occasion.

As it is so unusual it is hard to put across the effect of this work. If you would like to hear it, a recording of Enoch Arden performed by Nicholas Garrett, narrator, and Peter Hewitt, piano, is available from LITmus Records. This disc was the first complete recording in English of Enoch Arden and was given the highest five star rating and awarded the accolade of "Recommended recording of outstanding quality" by BBC Music Magazine.

Enoch Arden is performed by Peter Hewitt, piano. Narrators have included a range of actors and singers including Nicholas Garrett and Tim Hurst-Brown.