Henry Clifford (opera)

Henry Clifford
Grand opera by Isaac Albéniz
Fragment of the autograph score for Henry Clifford (tenor and soprano duet, Act 3)
Librettist	Francis Money-Coutts
Language	English
Based on	Henry Clifford, 10th Baron de Clifford
Premiere	8 May 1895 (1895-05-08) Gran Teatro del Liceo, Barcelona

Henry Clifford is a grand opera in three acts composed by Isaac Albéniz to an English libretto written by Francis Money-Coutts (under the pseudonym "Mountjoy"). It premiered at the Gran Teatro del Liceo on 8 May 1895. The opera is based on historical figures and events and is set in 15th century England during the Wars of the Roses, fought between the rival houses of Lancaster and York. The title character, Henry Clifford, 10th Baron de Clifford, was the only son of John Clifford, a Lancastrian commander killed in the bloodiest battle of the war, the Battle of Towton, on 29 March 1461. Henry Clifford himself was one of the chief commanders in the Battle of Flodden against the Scots in 1513.

Henry Clifford was written in 1893-95, the first of a series of operas by Albéniz which were commissioned and supplied with English libretti by the wealthy Englishman Francis Money-Coutts. Other operas in the series are Pepita Jiménez (1896) and Merlin (1902). Albéniz began writing the opera while living in London, but subsequently moved to Barcelona where he completed the piano-vocal score for the second act. After a few months he became uncomfortable with the conservative cultural conditions under the Bourbon dynasty in Spain, and moved to Paris where the remainder of the work was completed in 1894-95.