Humperdinck (1854-1921) wrote seven operas in all, but only the magical Hansel and Gretel  is known today. Humperdinck was Wagner's assistant at Bayreuth for the premiere of Parsifal, and the musical world of his fairytale opera has its roots in early German Romanticism – principally Weber's Oberon and Der Freischütz.

Humperdinck came across this tale in the Grimm brother's collection but the libretto was based on Ludwig Bechstein's German version. In 1890, Humperdinck wrote a brief series of songs for his sister and her child who wanted to surprise her husband on her birthday. Humperdinck later expanded this into a Singspiel, one of the songs being the now popular “Dream Pantomime.” Later in 1893, he created a Wagnerian style through-composed opera from this music, for which a new libretto was required. This three act opera was of course, not for the family home and was premiered instead at the Weimar Court Opera.

The first scene of the opera is set in a tiny, poorly furnished little house. We are afforded a glimpse of the magic forest through a tiny window in the rear wall. The forest is both seductive and hostile and can be regarded as one of the characters of the opera. At the end of the second act, night falls on the children picking fruit in the forest. The dream fairy appears and they all sing the evening prayer: “When my head nods to dreams, fourteen angels watch over me…” They peacefully drop off to sleep and in their dreams, fourteen angels do indeed descend towards them.