Lyrics The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "We'll Leave the Orchids for Lucretia" - Elizabeth Bainbridge feat. Benjamin Britten, English Chamber Orchestra, Jenny Hill & Janet Baker

We'll leave the orchids for Lucretia to arrange

Colatinus' favorite flowers

Bianca, how long will the prince stay here?

I think he's already gone

I heard someone gallop out of the courtyard just before it was light

That may not have been Tarquin

Only a Tarquin would gallop on a cobbled road

Our lady Lucretia is sleeping heavily this lovely morning

Shall I wake her?

No, don't disturb her

It isn't often she sleeps so well, forever fretting for Colatinus

I often wonder whether Lucretia's love is the flower of her beauty

Or whether her loveliness is the flower of her love

For in her both love and beauty, a transformer of dreams

Oh, here she comes

Good morning, my lady

I hope you had happy dreams

If it were all a dream, then waking would be less a nightmare

Did you sleep well?

As heavily as death

Look what a lovely day it is, and see

How wonderful are all these flowers

Yes

What a lovely day it is, and how wonderful are all these flowers

You have arranged them prettily

But we have left his lordship's favorite flowers for you to do

How kind of you

Where are they?

Here, my lady

The most perfect orchids I have ever seen

How hideous!

Take them away!

But, my lady, they are such lovely flowers

These are the orchids you have grown

Take them away, I tell you

Oh, monstrous flowers!

How heinous!

Ah!

Lucio, go send a messenger to my Lord Colatinus

What are you waiting for?

Go!

What message, madam, shall I give the

Messenger to take to Lord Colatinus?

Give him this orchid

Tell him I find its purity apt, and that its petals contain

Woman's pleasure and woman's pain, and all of Lucretia's shame

Give him this orchid, and tell him the Roman harlot

Sent it, and tell him to ride straight to her

Tell him to come home

Go, go, go, go!

Go!

Oh, wait

Tell the messenger to take my love

Yes, give my love to the messenger

Give my love to the stable boy, and the coachman too

And hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry

For all men love the chaste Lucretia

Shall I throw the rest away, madam?

I will arrange them

Here are the flowers

Writer(s): B Britten

Album Britten Conducts Britten: Opera Vol. 2

date of release

01-01-1993

1 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: Introduction: The Wood
2 Phaedra, Op. 93: "My Time's Too Short, Your Highness"
3 Phaedra, Op. 93: "Oh Gods of Wrath"
4 Phaedra, Op. 93: "In May, in Brilliant Athens"
5 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Last Night Tarquinius Ravished Me"
6 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Lucretia! Lucretia!"
7 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Flowers Bring to Every Year"
8 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "We'll Leave the Orchids for Lucretia"
9 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Lucretia!.What Do You Want?"
10 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "The Oatmeal Slippers of Sleep"
11 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Time Treads Upon the Hands of Women"
12 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Their Spinning-wheel Unwinds"
13 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Listen! I Heard a Knock"
14 Death in Venice, Op. 88: "Was I Wrong to Come?"
15 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation II - Scene 3: The Letter
16 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation XV - Scene 8: Miles
17 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "My Gentle Robin, See'st Thou This Sweet Sight?"
18 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation XII - Scene 5: Quint
19 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Come, Now a Roundel and a Fairy Song"
20 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Be Kind and Courteous to This Gentleman"
21 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Interlude: Here in This Scene"
22 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Epilogue: Is It All?"
23 The Turn of the Screw, Op.54: Interlude: Variation X - Scene 3: Miss Jessel
24 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "She Sleeps As a Rose"
25 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "It Is an Axiom Among Kings"
26 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation VII - Scene 8: At Night
27 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Are We All Met?"
28 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "The Prosperity of the Etruscans"
29 Death in Venice, Op. 88: "Hey There, Hey There, You!"
30 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Now the Hungry Lion Roars"
31 Death in Venice, Op. 88: Overture: Venice
32 Death in Venice, Op. 88: "My Mind Beats On"
33 Death in Venice, Op. 88: Children's Games: "Adziu, Adziu"
34 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "O Wall, Fur Often Hast Thou Heard My Moans"
35 Death in Venice, Op. 88: "Mysterious Gondola"
36 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Who Reaches Heaven First"
37 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Puppet? Why So?"
38 Death in Venice, Op. 88: "There Is Indeed in Every Artist's Nature"
39 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation XIII - Scene 6: The Piano
40 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation VIII - Scene 1: Colloquy and So- Lioquy
41 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Collatinus Is Politically Astute"
42 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation VI - Scene 7: The Lake
43 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Within This Frail Crucible of Light"
44 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Prologue
45 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Theme - Scene 1: The Journey
46 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation III - Scene 4: The Tower
47 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Maria Was Unmasked At a Masked Ball"
48 Death in Venice, Op. 88: "We Are Delighted to Greet the Signore"
49 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "My Horse! My Horse! Tarquinius Does Not Wait"
50 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "You Ladies, You Whose Gentle Hearts Do Fear"
51 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation IV - Scene 5: The Window
52 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation I - Scene 2: The Welcome
53 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation IX - Scene 2: The Bells
54 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "I See Their Knavery"
55 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Gentles, Perchange You Wonder At This Show"
56 Death in Venice, Op. 88: "Naturally, Signore, I Understand"
57 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Iff We Offend, It Is With Our Good Will"
58 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "You Were Right"
59 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "Oh! What a Lovely Day!"
60 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Have You Sent to Bottom's House?"
61 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: "This Dead Hand Lets Fall"
62 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation V - Scene 6: The Lesson
63 Death in Venice, Op. 88: "Ah, Serenissima!"
64 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation XI - Scene 4: The Bedroom
65 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "How Now, Mad Spirit?"
66 The Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: Interlude: Variation XIV - Scene 7: Flora
67 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: 'There Goes a Happy Man!'
68 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Helena! Hermi! Demetrius! Lysander!"
69 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "What Thou Seest When Thou Dost Wake"
70 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Up and Down, Up and Down"
71 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Hail, Mortal, Hail!"
72 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Sweet Moon, I Thank Thee for Thy Sunny Beams"
73 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Flower of This Purple Dye"
74 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "In This Same Interlude It Doth Befall"
75 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "I Have a Reas'nable Good Ear in Music"
76 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "O Grim-look'd Night, O Night With Hue So Black"
77 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "You Spotted Snakes With Double Tongue"
78 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Come, Your Bergomask"
79 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Now, Fair Hippolyta"
80 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "This Is Thy Negligence"
81 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Asleep, My Love?"
82 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: Tarquinius does not dare
83 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: Here the thirsty evening
84 The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37: Rome is now ruled by the Etruscan upstart
85 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "On the Ground, Sleep Sound"
86 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Over Hill, Over Dale"
87 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Oberon Is Passing Fell and Wrath"
88 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Well, Go Thy Way"
89 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "How Now My Love?"
90 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Be It On Lion, Bear, or Wolf, or Bull"
91 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Welcome Wanderer!"
92 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Is All Our Company Her?"
93 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Fair Love, You Faint With Wand'ring in the Wood"
94 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Through the Forest Have I Gone"
95 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "Stay, Though Thou Kill Me, Sweet Demetrius"
96 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64: "This Lanthorn Doth the Horned Moon Present"
97 Death in Venice, Op. 88: "Aou'! Stagando, Aou'"

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