This volume of libretti marks new work—and new terrain—for James Fenton. Commissioned by companies in New York and England, these musical pieces make the most of the poet's poignant, witty, and characteristically lyrical verse. Whether evoking modern-day London on the edge of apocalypse in , a timeless land beyond the moon in this version of Salman Rushdie's children's novel , or ancient Jerusalem in his stirring oratorio which was composed to mark the millennium, Fenton's lucid storytelling and stylish wordplay bring these pieces vividly to life—with equal power in performance or on the page. was commissioned by the New York City Opera and had its premiere at Lincoln Center in September 2003. "[James Fenton] writes as no one else dares to—with clarity, wit, and the simplest of rhymes."—