'Norma' was Vincenzo Bellini's eighth opera and the one that secured his fame and fortune as a composer. The conflict in the opera is between the native Druids of Britain and the Roman soldiers who are occupying the country. A secret love unites Druidic Norma with Pollione, a Roman by whom she has borne two children. Pollione had loved Adalgisa, a Roman priestess before he knew Norma, but has not seen her for some time. When he meets her one day, his love for her returns and they resolve to fly together. Norma curses Pollione for his treachery, and is about to kill her children but finally confides them to the care of her rival. She denounces Pollione and he is seized by the Druids. The funeral pyre is lighted, and ascending it, Norma dies with her lover. This is the Schirmer edition of the Vocal Score in the original Italian text only.