Aesop's Fables 4: The Ass, Lion and Cock For Four-Part Chorus of Mixed Voices and Piano Accompaniment

Abstract

This is an unstapled pamphlet of 14 pages, all but 1-2 presenting a musical score. The libretto for this operette, one of ten that make up the Aesop's Fables series, is a combination of L'Estrange's text and Smith's own. The cover illustration used for all the pamphlets fits here, since it pictures a lion, ass, and cock. They are stacked on top of one another. The special feature of this libretto seems to be that the cock, the ass, and the narrator all sing at once. The fable has the ass pursue the lion. The latter had been scared away by the cock. Once the lion and ass are at some distance from the cock, the lion turns on the ass and devours him. So far I have been lucky enough to find four of the ten pamphlets. The original price for each pamphlet was $.75. Inflation has not been too bad! I would love to hear these works performed.