Rienzi the German Empire and making it great once more." The original performance version of "Rienzi" was lost in the Dresden bombing of 1945, and the manuscript (on which it had been based) was lost in Berlin in 1945. No full copies had been made of either version, as far as is known. However, "Rienzi" was never established by the composer into a finalized version, so all performances of it since 1945 have been reconstructions. A vocal score of the early 1840s, based on Wagner's draft, remains as the only existing primary source. Two surviving full scores made in Dresden in
Edward German copies. German was by then in great demand to write music for plays. His commissions included Henry Arthur Jones's "The Tempter" in 1893, Johnston Forbes-Robertson's "Romeo and Juliet" at the Lyceum in 1895, Herbert Beerbohm Tree's productions of "As You Like It" (1896) and "Much Ado about Nothing" (1898), and Anthony Hope's "English Nell" (later known as "Nell Gwynn") in 1900, starring Marie Tempest. At the same time, German was writing music for the concert hall, sometimes adapting music from his theatrical scores. His "Gypsy Suite" met with success similar to that of his overture to "Richard III" and his