Arden Must Die

{{Short description|1967 opera by Alexander Goehr}}

{{use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}

{{Infobox opera

| name = Arden Must Die

| composer = Alexander Goehr

| other_name = Arden muss sterben

| librettist = Erich Fried

| language = German, translated to English

| premiere_date = {{Start date|1967|03|05|df=y}}

| premiere_location = Hamburg State Opera

}}

Arden Must Die ({{Langx|de|Arden muss sterben}}) is an opera by Alexander Goehr. It premiered on 5 March 1967 at the Hamburg State Opera,{{cite Grove|id=O900168|title=Arden Must Die [Arden muss sterben]|author=Nicholas Williams|year=2002}} conducted by Charles Mackerras and directed by Egon Monk.Playbill, general rehearsal, Hamburg, 4 March 1967 It was commissioned by the Hamburg State Opera.[https://www.schott-music.com/en/arden-muss-sterben-no152102.html Performance material], Schott Music

The German libretto was written by Erich Fried, with an English version by Geoffrey Skelton. It tells the story of the murder of Thomas Arden by his wife Alice and her lover Mosbie. The libretto draws on two sixteenth-century accounts of the murder, namely the version by chronicler Raphael Holinshed and the anonymous play Arden of Faversham.

The British première was at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, on 17 April 1974, conducted by Meredith Davies.