Vittorio Ricci's "Goblin Market (Der Gnomen Markt): Cantata" (1901)

Expanding Markets for "Goblin Market"

Once Emanuel Aguilar’s exclusive rights to set “Goblin Market” expired at the end of the nineteenth century, there was a potential for new musical settings to appear. In 1901, Vittorio Ricci—an Italian composer based in Florence—seized this opportunity with his Goblin Market (Der Gnomen Markt): Cantata. With a libretto in both English (adapted by M.C. Gillington) and in German (translated by Willy Alexander Kastner) and published by Joseph Williams in London, New York and Leipzig, Vittorio Ricci’s cantata setting of “Goblin Market” clearly has an international audience as its target. In addition, the dedication “To John Kirkhope Esq.” (a respected choral director in Edinburgh) suggests that a performance in Scotland might have been anticipated. Clearly, Ricci saw potential in “Goblin Market” and he sought to expand its exposure by bringing it to international markets and to German-language as well as English audiences.