Croquefer ou Le Dernier des paladins (Richter version)

Libretto by Adolphe Jaime and Etienne Tréfeu; new German version by Josef Heinzelmann; chamber music arrangement by Caspar Richter (F,G)

S,3T,Bar;
1(=picc).0.1.0-1.1.0.0-timp.perc-pft-strings(1.1.1.1.1)

Platform of a half-ruined tower. In former times

Munchiron, a knight of very sorrowful countenance, swallows his last remaining sabre. He will probably not need it any longer: his enemy Beat-to-Death, whose daughter Sulphurblossom he has taken away, is likely to fight only to a very limited degree, for in the battle against the unbelievers he has already lost a number of crucial body parts, among them his tongue. When Beat-to-Death nevertheless throws down the gauntlet, Munchiron's nephew Skullsmasher appears to save him. Munchiron offers Beat-to-Death two alternatives: either Sulphurblossom will be killed or she will marry him. The forced reconciliation is achieved, though it is sabotaged by subversive elements on both sides. The wine has been poisoned – accidentally with castor oil. The deployment of the troops heralds a collective bout of diarrhoea, in the course of which Munchiron's sabre and Beat-to-Death's tongue are rediscoverd. It all ends happily with the composer and his librettist sending their greetings from the lunatic asylum.

Comic