Beggar’s Opera: Act One Sheet Music and Tabs

Get the Sheet Music and Tabs for Beggar’s Opera: Act One.

Introduction

The Beggar’s Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It was first performed in London’s Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre on 29 January 1728.

The work is Gay’s best-known and most enduringly popular work. Over the years, it has been adapted for the stage, film and television numerous times.

The Beggar’s Opera tells the story of Macheath, a highwayman, who marries Polly Peachum, the daughter of a successful London cloth merchant Peachum. However, Macheath is already married to Lucy Lockit, the daughter of a gaoler. The plot satirises the hypocrisy of mercantile respectability and the prison system at a time when England was involved in several wars (King George’s War and The War of Jenkin’s Ear) and high-profile criminal cases such as those of Jonathan Wild and Jack Sheppard were attracting much public attention.

The character of Polly Peachum was based on Elizabeth Carter, whom Gay knew and who later became his wife; their daughter Charlotte Carter also appeared in later productions of The Beggar’s Opera.

Act One

The Beggar’s Opera is a ballad opera in three acts originally produced in London in 1728. The music was composed by John Gay with arrangements by Johann Christoph Pepusch. The opera is a satire of Italian opera and of the trade in human flesh. The work’s popularity led to a number of subsequent productions. The story of the opera concerns Peachum, the “keeper of the beggars”, who instructs his daughter Polly to marry Macheath, a highwayman.

Scene One

The scene is in Moorfields, and a Low Life is explaining how he makes his living by stealing from the stalls there. He sees Peachum coming and hides. Peachum speaks to the audience, telling them that his daughter Polly has run away with Macheath, a highwayman. Polly herself then comes on stage with Macheath, who tells Peachum that he wants to marry Polly. Peachum angrily refuses, and Polly faints.

Scene Two

In Scene Two of Act One, Mr. Peachum visits his daughter Polly in prison and tells her that her lover, Macheath, has been captured and is facing execution. Mr. Peachum offers to help Polly get Macheath released if she will agree to work for him as an informant. Meanwhile, in another part of town, Lucy Lockit visits Macheath in prison and tells him that she is pregnant with his child.

Scene Three

Scene Three shifts to another location, The Dulcimer in Spitalfields. Jonathen is angry because Polly has refused to see him. Lucy arrives and tells him that Polly has left for Richmond with Macheath. Jonathen leaves vowing to get revenge. Lucy is worried about Polly’s safety and also leaves.

Conclusion

The Beggar’s Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only play by Gay to have been performed since his death. Gay borrowed much of the material for his plot from a contemporary farce called The Funeral, or, The Wit’s last Legacy by Thomas Southerne, but The Beggar’s Opera was much more successful than its predecessor.