The Cunning Little Vixen reflection on the cycle of life and death by including the death of the vixen. As with other operas by older composers, this late opera shows a deep understanding of life leading to a return to simplicity. It was given its premiere performance on 6 November 1924 in National Theatre Brno conducted by František Neumann, with Ota Zítek as director and Eduard Milén as stage designer. The opera received its Italian premiere at La Scala in 1958 with Mariella Adani in the title role. The work was first staged in England in 1961 by the Sadler's Wells Opera Company (now
The White Doe of Rylstone to make a weekly pilgrimage from Rylstone to Bolton Abbey. The historical parts of the story of "The White Doe" are taken from a ballad called "The Rising in the North", which Wordsworth had read in Percy's "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry", and also from Nicolson and Burn's "The History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland". The influence of other ballads from Percy's "Reliques" has also been traced in the poem, and the dedicatory poem to "The White Doe" is filled with references to Spenser's "The Faerie Queene". The metre of the poem is similar to that