Where the Rainbow Ends, written by Emile Clifford (1863-1933), under the male pseudonym Clifford Mills, is a fairy play inspired by a poem by her daughter Evelyn. In the play, four children (one of which is played by a young, Noel Coward) and their pet lion venture into Rainbow land to search for their parents, facing their fears alongside the noble knight, Saint George. The play premiered at the Savoy Theatre on December 21, 1911 with enthusiastic reception for both the production and the artistic opportunity for children. Itali Conti, who worked with the children, would quit her acting career to open Academy of Theatre Arts the same year. Over the decades, Where the Rainbow Ends would become a Christmas staple, returning to the stage every year until 1959, missing only two years, including during the World Wars. Incidental music for this production was written by English composer, Roger Quilter (1877-1953). Quilter was best known for his art songs, in particular, his Shakespeare sets, and rarely dabbled outside of the miniature form. His Children’s Overture (1914), an orchestral weaving of twelve nursery rhymes from “Baa Baa Black Sheep” to “Oranges and Lemons,” and "Where the Rainbow Ends," are the remarkable exceptions. Where the Rainbow Ends has five excerpts - 1) Moderato Main Title theme where the strings paint a melodic wave-like contour to symbolize a beaming rainbow, 2) a ternary waltz Will O’ the Wisp with a trilling piccolo (the B section is a return of the Main Title theme), 3) Rosamond, an expressively sweet B minor love theme, 4) a frantic Fairy Frolic in 2/4, but the triplet melodies while a contrasting excitement, and 5) ominous brass introduction to the Dragon’s Forrest. Quilter’s lush harmonies and dabbling of chromaticism lend an air of mystery into the child’s idyllic imagination, opening an aural portal to the fantastical land destined to please any wandering youth.

A first edition of The Baby’s Opera (1877) by Walter Crane, the inspiration for Quilter’s A Children’s Overture, can be found at the Harry Ransom Center.