The Brides of Enderby is a setting of six poems attributed to the fictional writer F.X. Enderby, the protagonist of the four ‘Enderby’ novels (Inside Mr Enderby, Enderby Outside, The Clockwork Testament (subtitled Enderby’s End), and Enderby’s Dark Lady).

The six poems were originally written in 1951. Burgess completed his musical setting in 1977.

This song cycle for five players — soprano, flute, oboe, cello and piano (or harpsichord) — is a series of meditations on the theme of love, beginning with dissonance and atonality and ending with a sort of harmony. A complete performance of the cycle lasts 16 minutes.

Premiered in 1978 by the Laurentian Chamber Players at the Library of Congress in Washington DC, the piece has been revived at the University of Angers in France in 2004 and at the Anthony Burgess Foundation in Manchester in 2011.

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