Title   Les Cloches de Corneville (The Bells of Corneville) Composer   Robert Planquette (1848 - 1903) Librettists   Clairville and Ch. Gabet Genre   Opéra-comique, light opera (three acts). First performance   Théâtre des Follies-Dramatiques, Paris, 19 April, 1877. Time of action   1687 (during the reign of Louis XIV) Place of action   The village of Corneville, Normandy.    I.a.         A path in the forest      b.         Market-place of Corneville    II.           A hall in Corneville Castle    III.          The park of Corneville Castle. Main parts   Germaine soprano     Serpolette soprano     Henri de Corneville 'bariton-Martin", i.e. high baritone     Grenicheux tenor     Gaspard bass/baritone     Bailiff bass/baritone Prominence of chorus   Very large. Orchestra   2 flutes, 1 oboe, 2 clarinets, 1 bassoon, 2 French horns,                2 trumpets, 3 trombones, kettle-drums, tubular bells, percussion, strings. Special demands   A ballet by Planquette (La Cueillette des Pommes - The Apple Harvest) may be introduced if desired. Full score and orchestral parts   Full score and orchestral parts available. Level   Not difficult. Length   3 acts, about 2½ hours in all. Music   This is one of the best-known French operettas. It contains many well-known tunes, such as the song about the bells of Corneville and the entrance-waltz of the Marquis. The audience is carried along in a stream of charming soli, duets and ensembles in the elegant style of French light opera. Many numbers have elements of Norman folk-music. Highlights: the ancestors' chorus and the chorus in three groups (sopranos/contraltos as servant-girls, tenors as coachmen and basses as men-servants) first singing their tunes separately and then simultaneously. In the first finale a tambourin is prescribed; this is not a tambourine but a long narrow Norman drum. Story   Henry, the young marquis of Corneville, returns from his wanderings to his ancestral castle, which, according to the villagers, is haunted. The story is full of unexpected developments: a young fisherman turns out to be not quite as heroic as he gave out to be; a peasant-girl is made a countess, wrongly as appears afterwards; the ghost-appearances in the castle turn out to have been the work of an old miser, who loses his sanity but also regains it, and his ward, the lovely Germaine, is found to have noble blood and so can marry the young marquis. Costumes   Soloists: historic (late 17th century). Chorus: villagers, sailors, peasants (Norman style).