1.
W. S. Gilbert
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Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for the fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. The most famous of these include H. M. S, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre, The Mikado. The popularity of works was supported for over a century by year-round performances of them, in Britain and abroad, by the repertory company that they founded. Eleven of the Savoy operas continue to be performed in the English-speaking world and beyond by opera companies, repertory companies, schools. Lines from these works have become part of the English language, such as short, sharp shock, What, and Let the punishment fit the crime. Gilberts creative output included over 75 plays and libretti, and numerous stories, poems and lyrics. He also began to write burlesques and his first comic plays, developing a unique absurdist and he also developed a realistic method of stage direction and a reputation as a strict theatre director. M. S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance, in the 1880s, Gilbert focused on the Savoy operas, including Patience, Iolanthe, The Mikado, The Yeomen of the Guard and The Gondoliers. Gilbert won the lawsuit, but the argument caused hurt feelings among the partnership. Although Gilbert and Sullivan were persuaded to collaborate on two last operas, they were not as successful as the previous ones, in later years, Gilbert wrote several plays, and a few operas with other collaborators. He retired, with his wife and ward, Nancy McIntosh, to a country estate, Gilbert died of a heart attack while attempting to rescue a young woman to whom he was giving a swimming lesson in the lake at his home. Gilbert was born at 17 Southampton Street, Strand, London and his father, also named William, was briefly a naval surgeon, who later became a writer of novels and short stories, some of which were illustrated by his son. Gilberts mother was the former Anne Mary Bye Morris, the daughter of Thomas Morris, Gilberts parents were distant and stern, and he did not have a particularly close relationship with either of them. They quarrelled increasingly, and following the break-up of their marriage in 1876, his relationships with them, especially his mother, Gilbert was nicknamed Bab as a baby, and then Schwenck, after his fathers godparents. As a child, Gilbert travelled to Italy in 1838 and then France for two years with his parents, who returned to settle in London in 1847. He then attended Kings College London, graduating in 1856, instead he joined the Civil Service, he was an assistant clerk in the Privy Council Office for four years and hated it. In 1859 he joined the Militia, a volunteer force formed for the defence of Britain, with which he served until 1878. In 1863 he received a bequest of £300 that he used to leave the service and take up a brief career as a barrister
2.
Libretto
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A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term libretto is also used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem and sacred cantata. Libretto, from Italian, is the diminutive of the word libro, sometimes other language equivalents are used for libretti in that language, livret for French works and Textbuch for German. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. The relationship of the librettist to the composer in the creation of a work has varied over the centuries, as have the sources. In the context of a modern English language musical theatre piece, Libretti for operas, oratorios and cantatas in the 17th and 18th centuries generally were written by someone other than the composer, often a well-known poet. Metastasio was one of the most highly regarded librettists in Europe and his libretti were set many times by many different composers. Another noted 18th-century librettist was Lorenzo Da Ponte, who wrote the libretti for three of Mozarts greatest operas, as well as for other composers. Eugène Scribe was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, providing the words for works by Meyerbeer, Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. The French writers duo Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote a number of opera and operetta libretti for the likes of Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet. Arrigo Boito, who wrote libretti for, among others, Giuseppe Verdi and Amilcare Ponchielli, the libretto is not always written before the music. Some composers wrote their own libretti, Richard Wagner is perhaps most famous in this regard, with his transformations of Germanic legends and events into epic subjects for his operas and music dramas. Hector Berlioz, too, wrote the libretti for two of his works, La Damnation de Faust and Les Troyens. Alban Berg adapted Georg Büchners play Woyzeck for the libretto of Wozzeck, sometimes the libretto is written in close collaboration with the composer, this can involve adaptation, as was the case with Rimsky-Korsakov and his librettist Belsky, or an entirely original work. In the case of musicals, the music, the lyrics, thus, a musical such as Fiddler on the Roof has a composer, a lyricist and the writer of the book. In rare cases, the composer writes everything except the dance arrangements - music, lyrics and libretto, Other matters in the process of developing a libretto parallel those of spoken dramas for stage or screen. A famous case of the latter is Wagners 1861 revision of the original 1845 Dresden version of his opera Tannhäuser for Paris, since the late 19th century some opera composers have written music to prose or free verse libretti. The libretto of a musical, on the hand, is almost always written in prose
3.
Arthur Sullivan
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Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. The best known of his hymns and songs include Onward Christian Soldiers, the son of a military bandmaster, Sullivan composed his first anthem at age eight. He was selected as soloist in the choir of the Chapel Royal. His graduation piece was a suite of music to Shakespeares The Tempest. When it was performed in London in 1862, it was an immediate sensation, Sullivan began his composing career with a series of ambitious works, interspersed with hymns, parlour ballads and other light pieces. Among his best received early pieces were a ballet, LÎle Enchantée, from 1861 to 1872, he supplemented his income by working as a church organist and music teacher, and writing hymns and songs. In 1866, Sullivan composed a comic opera, Cox and Box. His most successful work, the Overture di Ballo, premiered in 1870. Sullivans talent and native charm earned him friends in musical and social circles, including Queen Victorias son Alfred. In 1871, Sullivan wrote his first opera with W. S. Gilbert, Sullivan then produced his Festival Te Deum, an oratorio, The Light of the World, and incidental music for West End productions of several Shakespeare plays. He also had conducting and academic appointments, in 1875, producer Richard DOyly Carte reunited Gilbert and Sullivan to create a one-act piece, Trial by Jury, which was a surprise hit. Pinafore became a sensation, as did The Pirates of Penzance and Patience. Sullivan never married but had a love affair with an American socialite. After the death of his brother Fred in 1877, Sullivan supported Freds large family financially for the rest of his life, effectively adopting his nephew Bertie. Carte used his profits from the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership to build the Savoy Theatre in 1881, later hits in the series were Iolanthe, The Mikado, The Yeomen of the Guard and The Gondoliers. Sullivan was knighted for his contributions to music in 1883 and his infrequent serious pieces during the 1880s included two cantatas, The Martyr of Antioch and The Golden Legend, his most popular choral work. Sullivans only serious opera, Ivanhoe, though successful in 1891, was little-heard after that
4.
Satirical
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Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. This militant irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of the things the satirist wishes to attack. Satire is nowadays found in artistic forms of expression, including literature, plays, commentary, television shows. The word satire comes from the Latin word satur and the subsequent phrase lanx satura, satur meant full but the juxtaposition with lanx shifted the meaning to miscellany or medley, the expression lanx satura literally means a full dish of various kinds of fruits. The word satura as used by Quintilian, however, was used to denote only Roman verse satire, a genre that imposed hexameter form. Quintilian famously said that satura, that is a satire in hexameter verses, was a genre of wholly Roman origin. He was aware of and commented on Greek satire, but at the time did not label it as such, the first critic to use the term satire in the modern broader sense was Apuleius. To Quintilian, the satire was a literary form. The odd result is that the English “satire” comes from the Latin satura, by about the 4th century AD the writer of satires came to be known as satyricus, St. Jerome, for example, was called by one of his enemies a satirist in prose. Subsequent orthographic modifications obscured the Latin origin of the satire, satura becomes satyra. The word satire derives from satura, and its origin was not influenced by the Greek mythological figure of the satyr, in the 17th century, philologist Isaac Casaubon was the first to dispute the etymology of satire from satyr, contrary to the belief up to that time. Laughter is not a component of satire, in fact there are types of satire that are not meant to be funny at all. Conversely, not all humour, even on such topics as politics, religion or art is necessarily satirical, even when it uses the tools of irony, parody. Even light-hearted satire has a serious after-taste, the organizers of the Ig Nobel Prize describe this as first make people laugh, Satire and irony in some cases have been regarded as the most effective source to understand a society, the oldest form of social study. They provide the keenest insights into a groups collective psyche, reveal its deepest values and tastes, some authors have regarded satire as superior to non-comic and non-artistic disciplines like history or anthropology. In a prominent example from ancient Greece, philosopher Plato, when asked by a friend for a book to understand Athenian society, historically, satire has satisfied the popular need to debunk and ridicule the leading figures in politics, economy, religion and other prominent realms of power. Satire confronts public discourse and the imaginary, playing as a public opinion counterweight to power, by challenging leaders. For instance, it forces administrations to clarify, amend or establish their policies, Satires job is to expose problems and contradictions, and its not obligated to solve them
5.
Gilbert and Sullivan
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Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H. M. S, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known. Sullivan, six years Gilberts junior, composed the music, contributing memorable melodies that could convey both humour and pathos and their operas have enjoyed broad and enduring international success and are still performed frequently throughout the English-speaking world. Gilbert and Sullivan introduced innovations in content and form that influenced the development of musical theatre through the 20th century. The operas have influenced political discourse, literature, film. Producer Richard DOyly Carte brought Gilbert and Sullivan together and nurtured their collaboration and he built the Savoy Theatre in 1881 to present their joint works and founded the DOyly Carte Opera Company, which performed and promoted Gilbert and Sullivans works for over a century. Gilbert was born in London on 18 November 1836 and his father, William, was a naval surgeon who later wrote novels and short stories, some of which included illustrations by his son. Director and playwright Mike Leigh described the Gilbertian style as follows, With great fluidity and freedom, First, within the framework of the story, he makes bizarre things happen, and turns the world on its head. Thus the Learned Judge marries the Plaintiff, the soldiers metamorphose into aesthetes, and so on and his genius is to fuse opposites with an imperceptible sleight of hand, to blend the surreal with the real, and the caricature with the natural. In other words, to tell a perfectly outrageous story in a deadpan way. Gilbert developed his theories on the art of stage direction. At the time Gilbert began writing, theatre in Britain was in disrepute, Gilbert helped to reform and elevate the respectability of the theatre, especially beginning with his six short family-friendly comic operas, or entertainments, for Thomas German Reed. At a rehearsal for one of these entertainments, Ages Ago, the composer Frederic Clay introduced Gilbert to his friend, two years later, Gilbert and Sullivan would write their first work together. Those two intervening years continued to shape Gilberts theatrical style, Sullivan was born in London on 13 May 1842. His father was a bandmaster, and by the time Arthur had reached the age of eight. In school he began to compose anthems and songs, in 1856, he received the first Mendelssohn Scholarship and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and then at Leipzig, where he also took up conducting. His graduation piece, completed in 1861, was a suite of music to Shakespeares The Tempest. Revised and expanded, it was performed at the Crystal Palace in 1862 and was an immediate sensation and he began building a reputation as Englands most promising young composer, composing a symphony, a concerto, and several overtures, among them the Overture di Ballo, in 1870
6.
House of Lords
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The House of Lords of the United Kingdom, referred to ceremonially as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster, officially, the full name of the house is, The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. Unlike the elected House of Commons, all members of the House of Lords are appointed, the membership of the House of Lords is drawn from the peerage and is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26 bishops in the established Church of England, of the Lords Temporal, the majority are life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. However, they include some hereditary peers including four dukes. Very few of these are female since most hereditary peerages can only be inherited by men, while the House of Commons has a defined 650-seat membership, the number of members in the House of Lords is not fixed. There are currently 805 sitting Lords, the House of Lords is the only upper house of any bicameral parliament to be larger than its respective lower house. The House of Lords scrutinises bills that have approved by the House of Commons. It regularly reviews and amends Bills from the Commons, while it is unable to prevent Bills passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances, it can delay Bills and force the Commons to reconsider their decisions. In this capacity, the House of Lords acts as a check on the House of Commons that is independent from the electoral process, Bills can be introduced into either the House of Lords or the House of Commons. Members of the Lords may also take on roles as government ministers, the House of Lords has its own support services, separate from the Commons, including the House of Lords Library. The Queens Speech is delivered in the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament, the House also has a Church of England role, in that Church Measures must be tabled within the House by the Lords Spiritual. This new parliament was, in effect, the continuation of the Parliament of England with the addition of 45 MPs and 16 Peers to represent Scotland, the Parliament of England developed from the Magnum Concilium, the Great Council that advised the King during medieval times. This royal council came to be composed of ecclesiastics, noblemen, the first English Parliament is often considered to be the Model Parliament, which included archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, and representatives of the shires and boroughs of it. The power of Parliament grew slowly, fluctuating as the strength of the monarchy grew or declined, for example, during much of the reign of Edward II, the nobility was supreme, the Crown weak, and the shire and borough representatives entirely powerless. In 1569, the authority of Parliament was for the first time recognised not simply by custom or royal charter, further developments occurred during the reign of Edward IIs successor, Edward III. It was during this Kings reign that Parliament clearly separated into two chambers, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The authority of Parliament continued to grow, and, during the fifteenth century
7.
Henry James Byron
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Henry James Byron was a prolific English dramatist, as well as an editor, journalist, director, theatre manager, novelist and actor. After an abortive start at a career, Byron struggled as a provincial actor. Returning to London and beginning to study for the Bar, he finally found playwriting success in burlesques, in 1869, he returned to the stage as an actor and, during the same period, wrote numerous successful plays, including the historic international success, Our Boys. In his last years, he grew frail from tuberculosis and died at the age of 49, Byron was born in Manchester, England, the son of Henry Byron, at one time British consul in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Elizabeth Josephine née Bradley. He was educated in Essex and then at St. Peters Collegiate School in Eaton Square, although his mother wanted him to pursue a career in the Navy, Byron did not do so. Instead, he first became a clerk in London for four years and then studied medicine with his grandfather, Dr. James Byron Bradley. Byron married Martha Foulkes in London in 1856 and he entered the Middle Temple as a student briefly in 1858, but he had already begun writing for the stage and soon returned to that vocation. Byron joined several provincial companies as an actor from 1853–57, sometimes in his own plays and sometimes in those of T. W. Robertson or others, but had little success. He described his attempts at acting, and the hardships of the journeyman touring actor, in an 1873 essay for The Era Almanack. He began writing burlesques of melodramas and extravaganzas in the mid-1850s, in 1857, his burlesque of Richard of the Lion Heart premièred at the Royal Strand Theatre. This was so well received that Byron abandoned the law to concentrate full-time on theatre, another successful Strand burlesque in 1858 was The Maid and the Magpie, or, The Fatal Spoon an early play to include a dance at the end of a song. This starred Marie Wilton as Pippo and was revived in New York. In 1859, he wrote another successful burlesque, The Babes in the Wood, Byron also wrote for periodicals, and in 1861, he became the first editor of Fun magazine, where he showcased the comic talents of the then-unknown W. S. Gilbert. He became editor of Comic News in 1863 and he also founded the short-lived Comic Trials and wrote a three-volume novel, Paid in Full, in 1865. In 1867, he became the editor of Wag, another humour magazine and he wrote numerous dramatic critiques and humorous essays for magazines, including the rival of Fun, Punch. During this period, he was a well-known man-about-town, joining, Henry Morley acknowledged with dismay Byrons position in the literary world as chief punster but found in him a true power of fun that makes itself felt by high and low. He became a Member of the Dramatic Authors Society by 1860, at the same time, he continued writing for the Strand, the Adelphi, the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, the Haymarket Theatre and the Princesss, among other London theatres. Another success was George de Barnwell, or Harlequin Folly in the Realms of Fancy, several of these early plays were revived in Britain and received New York productions
8.
Tom Hood
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Tom Hood, was an English humorist and playwright, and son of the poet and author Thomas Hood. A prolific author, in 1865 he was appointed editor of the magazine Fun and he founded Tom Hoods Comic Annual in 1867. Hood was born at Lake House, Leytonstone, England, the son of the poet Thomas Hood, after attending University College School and Louth Grammar School, he entered Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1853. There he studied for the Church and passed all the examinations for the degree of BA, at Oxford he wrote his Farewell to the Swallows and Pen and Pencil Pictures. He began to write for the Liskeard Gazette in 1856, in 1861 he wrote Quips and Cranks, and Daughters of King Daher, and other Poems. His novels included A Disputed Inheritance, A Golden Heart, The Lost Link, Captain Masterss Children, in 1866 he translated Ernest LÉpines La Légende de Croquemitaine. He also wrote two books on English verse composition, several books, and a body of magazine. Hood drew with considerable facility, and illustrated several of his fathers comic verses, some of which were collected in his fathers book, meanwhile, in 1860, the younger Hood obtained a position in the War Office, which he served for five years. In 1865 he left when selected as editor of Fun, the comic paper, in private life, Hoods geniality and sincere friendliness secured him the affection and esteem of a wide circle of acquaintance. Some of these friends became contributors to his publications, for example, he befriended the dramatist W. S. Gilbert and the American journalist Ambrose Bierce, both frequent contributors to Fun. Hood wrote the burlesque, Robinson Crusoe, or, The Injun Bride, Hoods Fun gang also included playwright Thomas W. Robertson, among others. In 1867 he first issued Tom Hoods Comic Annual, Hood died suddenly in his cottage at Peckham Rye, Surrey in November 1874. Lutwidge by his famous nom de plume — there is more than a suspicion of resemblance in some particulars, alices Adventures in Wonderland narrowly escapes challenging a comparison with From Nowhere to the North Pole. The idea of both is so similar that Mr. Carroll can hardly have been surprised if people have believed he was inspired by Hood. Hoods From Nowhere to the North Pole, first published in 1864. May I mention, first, that I have never read Mr. Hoods book, secondly, that I composed mine in the summer of 1862, thus it will be seen that neither book could have been suggested by the other. Between TOM HOOD and Mr. LEWIS CARROLL there is more than a suspicion of resemblance in some particulars, alices Adventures in Wonderland narrowly escapes challenging a comparison with From Nowhere to the North Pole. The idea of both is so similar that Mr. Carroll can hardly have been surprised if people have believed he was inspired by HOOD
9.
Charles Dickens
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Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the worlds best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era and his works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity, born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors prison. Dickenss literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers, within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the publication of narrative fiction. The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audiences reaction, and he modified his plot. For example, when his wifes chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities and his plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the poor chipped in hapennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up. Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age and his 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also adapted, and, like many of his novels. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London, Dickens has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of depth, loose writing. The term Dickensian is used to something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, at 1 Mile End Terrace, Landport in Portsea Island and his father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office and was temporarily stationed in the district. He asked Christopher Huffam, rigger to His Majestys Navy, gentleman, Huffam is thought to be the inspiration for Paul Dombey, the owner of a shipping company in Dickenss eponymous Dombey and Son. In January 1815 John Dickens was called back to London, when Charles was four, they relocated to Sheerness, and thence to Chatham, Kent, where he spent his formative years until the age of 11. His early life seems to have been idyllic, though he himself a very small. Charles spent time outdoors but also read voraciously, including the novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding, as well as Robinson Crusoe
10.
Savoy opera
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Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard DOyly Carte built to house the Gilbert and Sullivan pieces, and later, the Savoy operas were seminal influences on the creation of the modern musical. Most of the literature on Gilbert and Sullivan since that time refers to these works as Savoy Operas, comic operas. However, the Penguin Opera Guides and many other general music dictionaries and encyclopedias classify the Gilbert, to their contemporaries, the term Savoy Opera referred to any opera that appeared at that theatre, regardless of who wrote it. Aside from curtain raisers, the G&S operas were the works produced at the Savoy Theatre from the date it opened until The Gondoliers closed on 20 June 1891. Over the next decade, there were two new G&S pieces, both of which had comparatively brief runs. To fill the gap, Carte mounted G&S revivals, Sullivan operas with different librettists, Richard DOyly Carte died on 3 April 1901. If the nexus of Carte and the Savoy Theatre is used to define Savoy Opera, then the last new Savoy Opera was The Rose of Persia, after Cartes death, his wife Helen Carte assumed management of the theatre. She continued to new pieces in the G&S style, along with G&S revivals. Counting the pieces that Mrs. DOyly Carte and the DOyly Carte Opera Company produced, the last Savoy Opera was A Princess of Kensington and this is the point that Cyril Rollins and R. John Witts adopt as the end of the Savoy Operas. Workman assumed control of the theatre, producing three new pieces, including one by Gilbert himself, Fallen Fairies. The last of these Workman-produced works came in early 1910, Two Merry Monarchs, by Arthur Anderson, George Levy, the contemporary press referred to these works as Savoy Operas, and S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald regarded Workmans pieces as the last Savoy Operas. Fitz-Gerald wrote his book, The Story of the Savoy Opera, in 1924, but over time, all of the works produced at the Savoy by composers and librettists other than Gilbert and Sullivan were largely forgotten. The term Savoy Opera came to be synonymous with the thirteen extant works of Gilbert, given its lack of a DOyly Carte or Savoy connection, Thespis has a tenuous claim to be a Savoy Opera. However, Rollins & Witts include it in their compendium of the Savoy Operas, as does Geoffrey Smith, the following table shows all of the full-length operas that could be considered Savoy Operas under any of the definitions mentioned above. Curtain-raisers and afterpieces that played with the Savoy Operas are included in the table below. The fashion in the late Victorian era and Edwardian era was to present long evenings in the theatre, during the original runs of the Savoy Operas, each full-length work was normally accompanied by one or two short companion pieces. A piece that began the performance was called a curtain raiser, W. J. MacQueen-Pope commented, concerning the curtain raisers, This was a one-act play, seen only by the early comers
11.
Iolanthe
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Iolanthe, or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert, in the opera, the fairy Iolanthe has been banished from fairyland because she married a mortal, this is forbidden by fairy law. Her son, Strephon, is an Arcadian shepherd who wants to marry Phyllis, All the members of the House of Peers also want to marry Phyllis. When Phyllis sees Strephon hugging a young woman, she assumes the worst, the opera satirises many aspects of British government, law and society. Iolanthe opened in London on 25 November 1882, at the Savoy Theatre to a reception, and ran for 398 performances. The opera opened simultaneously in New York, and touring companies were sent around the UK, the first Australasian touring production followed in 1885, and the opera was revived in London beginning in 1901. The DOyly Carte Opera Company toured the opera nearly continuously in repertory from 1891 until 1982, numerous other professional and amateur productions have been given of this enduring work, and various other recordings have been issued. W. S. Gilbert presented his idea for a new opera to Arthur Sullivan in October 1881. Gilberts earliest ideas for the story of Iolanthe originated in his Bab Ballad, The Fairy Curate, Once a fairy / Light, the fairy marries a prosaic attorney and bears him a son. After her son grows up, she visits him on Earth, Sullivan found the premise funny, and Gilbert set to work on fleshing out the story. By December, he had some lyrics for Sullivan to look at. During these months, Sullivan took a trip to Egypt, Italy. Upon his return to London in April 1882, he moved into a new home, in May, by the end of July 1882, Gilbert had supplied Sullivan with lyrics to several of the songs, and Sullivan began work setting them to music. Over the next two months, Sullivan met Gilbert to discuss the libretto as more lyrics were completed, Music rehearsals began in September, and staging began in October, scheduled around performances of Gilbert and Sullivans previous opera, Patience, which had transferred to the Savoy Theatre. Sullivan was still composing more numbers for the opera until 20 October, uncharacteristically, Sullivan composed the overture himself, instead of assigning it to an assistant. Two casts rehearsed simultaneously, as the opera was to open on the night in London and New York City. Gilbert had targeted the aristocracy and political officials for satiric treatment in earlier works, in this opera, the House of Lords is lampooned as a bastion of the ineffective, privileged and dim-witted, whose only qualification to govern is noble birth. The political party system, the law and other institutions also come in for a dose of satire, in fact, Gilbert later refused to allow quotes from the piece to be used as part of the campaign to diminish the powers of the House of Lords
12.
Copyright
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Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution. This is usually only for a limited time, the exclusive rights are not absolute but limited by limitations and exceptions to copyright law, including fair use. A major limitation on copyright is that copyright protects only the expression of ideas. Copyright is a form of property, applicable to certain forms of creative work. Some, but not all jurisdictions require fixing copyrighted works in a tangible form and it is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders. These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, copyrights are considered territorial rights, which means that they do not extend beyond the territory of a specific jurisdiction. While many aspects of copyright laws have been standardized through international copyright agreements. Typically, the duration of a copyright spans the authors life plus 50 to 100 years, some countries require certain copyright formalities to establishing copyright, but most recognize copyright in any completed work, without formal registration. Generally, copyright is enforced as a matter, though some jurisdictions do apply criminal sanctions. Most jurisdictions recognize copyright limitations, allowing fair exceptions to the exclusivity of copyright. Copyright came about with the invention of the press and with wider literacy. As a legal concept, its origins in Britain were from a reaction to printers monopolies at the beginning of the 18th century, Copyright laws allow products of creative human activities, such as literary and artistic production, to be preferentially exploited and thus incentivized. Different cultural attitudes, social organizations, economic models and legal frameworks are seen to account for why copyright emerged in Europe and not, for example, however, with copyright laws, intellectual production comes to be seen as a product of an individual, with attendant rights. The most significant point is that patent and copyright laws support the expansion of the range of human activities that can be commodified. This parallels the ways in which led to the commodification of many aspects of social life that earlier had no monetary or economic value per se. Often seen as the first real copyright law, the 1709 British Statute of Anne gave the rights for a fixed period. The act also alluded to individual rights of the artist and it began, Whereas Printers, Booksellers, and other Persons, have of late frequently taken the Liberty of Printing. Books, and other Writings, without the Consent of the Authors. to their very great Detriment, and too often to the Ruin of them and their Families
13.
Huntington Library
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In addition to the library, the institution houses an extensive art collection with a focus in 18th and 19th-century European art and 17th to mid-20th-century American art. The property also includes approximately 120 acres of specialized botanical landscaped gardens, most notably the Japanese Garden, the Desert Garden, as a landowner, businessman and visionary, Henry Edwards Huntington, played a major role in the growth of southern California. Huntington was born in 1850, in Oneonta, New York, in 1892, Huntington relocated to San Francisco with his first wife, Mary Alice Prentice, and their four children. He was one of the founders of the City of San Marino, before his death in 1927, Huntington amassed far and away the greatest group of 18th-century British portraits ever assembled by any one man. In accordance with Huntingtons will, the collection, then worth $50 million, was opened to the public in 1928. On October 17,1985, a fire erupted in a shaft of the Huntington Art Gallery. After a year-long, $1 million refurbishing project, the Huntington Gallery reopened in 1986, with its artworks cleaned of soot and stains. Most of the funds for the cleanup and refurbishing of the Georgian mansion and its artworks came from donations from the Michael J. Connell Foundation, corporations and individuals. Both the Federal art-supporting establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Library building was designed in 1920, by the southern California architect Myron Hunt in the Mediterranean Revival style. Hunts previous commissions for Mr. and Mrs. Huntington included the Huntingtons residence in San Marino in 1909, and the Huntington Hotel in 1914. The library contains a collection of rare books and manuscripts, concentrated in the fields of British and American history, literature, art. Spanning from the 11th century to the present, the librarys holdings contain 7 million items, over 400,000 rare books, and over a million photographs, prints, and other ephemera. Highlights include one of 11 vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible known to exist,1410, and letters and manuscripts by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln. The Librarys Main Exhibition Hall showcases some of the most outstanding rare books and manuscripts in the collection, the Dibner Hall of the History of Science is a permanent exhibition on the history of science with a focus on astronomy, natural history, medicine, and light. Use of the collection for research is restricted to qualified scholars, generally requiring a degree or at least candidacy for the PhD. Through a rigorous program, the institution awards approximately 150 grants to scholars in the fields of history, literature, art. Through the Huntington Library Press, the produces the Huntington Library Quarterly. Scholarly pursuits lead to best-selling books, Pulitzer prizes, acclaimed documentary films, the Huntington also hosts numerous scholarly events, lectures, conferences, and workshops
14.
Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News
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The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News was an English weekly magazine founded in 1874 and published in London. In 1945 it changed its name to the Sport and Country, the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News was founded in 1874. The paper covered, as its title indicates, both sporting and theatrical events, including news and criticism and it also contained original pieces of fiction in serials and a story or two in each issue. There were numerous publications in Britain at the time, including The Illustrated London News. In 1883, the published an cartoon showing Oscar Wilde in convict dress. Twelve years later, Wilde was convicted of indecency and sentenced to two years penal labour. The paper is a source of illustrations from sporting and theatre events. Notable illustrators included Louis Wain, Frank R. Grey, D. H. Friston, Alfred Concanen, in 1920, its address was 172, Strand, London WC2. Notable editors included James Wentworth Day, who served in the post between 1935 and 1937, the magazines published fiction included W. S. The Irish chess grand master George Alcock MacDonnell wrote a chess column under the name of Mars. According to a Catalogue of Printed Books in the Library of the British Museum, the University of Wisconsin–Madison has all but three of the first twenty-five volumes in its English and Irish Periodicals collection
15.
Stanley Holloway
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Stanley Augustus Holloway, OBE was an English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen and he was also renowned for his comic monologues and songs, which he performed and recorded throughout most of his 70-year career. Born in London, Holloway pursued a career as a clerk in his teen years, in 1921, he joined a concert party, The Co-Optimists, and his career began to flourish. At first, he was employed chiefly as a singer, but his skills as an actor, by the 1930s, he was in demand to star in variety, pantomime and musical comedy, including several revues. After the war, he appeared in the film Brief Encounter and made a series of films for Ealing Studios, including Passport to Pimlico, The Lavender Hill Mob and The Titfield Thunderbolt. In 1956 he was cast as the irresponsible and irrepressible Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady, a role that he played on Broadway, the West End and in the film version in 1964. The role brought him fame, and his performances earned him nominations for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Holloway was married twice and had five children, including the actor Julian Holloway, Holloway was born in Manor Park, Essex, the younger child and only son of George Augustus Holloway, a lawyers clerk, and Florence May née Bell, a housekeeper and dressmaker. He was named after Henry Morton Stanley, the journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa, there were theatrical connections in the Holloway family going back to Charles Bernard, an actor and theatre manager, who was the brother of Holloways maternal grandmother. Holloways paternal grandfather, Augustus Holloway, an orphan, was brought up by John Stone, a sailmaker, Augustus became a wealthy shopkeeper, running his own brush-making business. He married Amelia Catherine Knight in September 1856, and they had three children, Maria, Charles and George, in the early 1880s the family moved to Poplar, London. When Augustus died, George Holloway moved to nearby Manor Park and became a clerk for a city lawyer, George married Bells daughter Florence in 1884, and they had two children, Millie and Stanley. George left Florence in 1905 and was never seen or heard again by his family. During his early years, Holloway attended the Worshipful School of Carpenters in nearby Stratford and joined a local choir. He left school at the age of 14 and worked as a clerk in a boot polish factory. He began performing part-time as Master Stanley Holloway – The Wonderful Boy Soprano from 1904, a year later, he became a clerk at Billingsgate Fish Market, where he remained for two years before commencing training as an infantry soldier in the London Rifle Brigade in 1907. Holloways stage career began in 1910, when he travelled to Walton-on-the-Naze to audition for The White Coons Show, Pepper, father of Harry S. Pepper, with whom Holloway later starred in The Co-Optimists. This seaside show lasted six weeks, in 1913 Holloway was recruited by the comedian Leslie Henson to feature as a support in Hensons more prestigious concert party called Nicely, Thanks
16.
Jim Broadbent
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James Jim Broadbent is an English actor. His early stage work included appearances as Patrick Barlows assistant in the mock National Theatre of Brent and he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Iris and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Moulin Rouge. He had a sister who died at birth. And All The Worlds A Globe and these were hits at the Edinburgh Fringe, in London, and on tour. Later stage work included the productions of Kafkas Dick and Our Countrys Good at the Royal Court Theatre. Work on the stage with Mike Leigh includes Goosepimples and Ecstasy and he had worked with Stephen Frears in The Hit and Terry Gilliam in Time Bandits and Brazil before establishing himself in Mike Leighs Life Is Sweet. He played The Shy Doctor in the 1999 Comic Relief parody Doctor Who sketch, Doctor Who, in 2001, Broadbent starred in three of the years most successful films, Bridget Joness Diary, Moulin Rouge. For which he won a BAFTA, and Iris, for which he won an Oscar for his portrayal of John Bayley, Broadbent voiced Madame Gasket in the 2005 film Robots. Broadbent also appeared as DCI Roy Slater, a character in the enormously popular sitcom Only Fools. The character appeared in three episodes over an eight-year period and he had originally been offered the lead role of Del Boy in the series, but he turned it down due to other commitments. He has also played a role in the Inspector Morse series, other comic roles include the lead role in the sitcom The Peter Principle and occasional guest appearances in Not The Nine OClock News, Only Fools and Horses, and Victoria Wood As Seen on TV. He portrayed Don Speekingleesh in The Queen of Spains Beard in the first series of The Black Adder in 1983 and he also played the role of Prince Albert in Blackadders Christmas Carol, first broadcast in 1988. He joined Rowan Atkinson in his Spider-Man spoof Spider-Plant Man, as a disgruntled Batman, Broadbent played the lead role of the TV film Wide-Eyed and Legless. Based on a story, the drama tells of Deric Longdens wife, Diana. It began as a type of flu but it grew progressively worse and she was subject to blackouts and became so debilitated that she could barely get out of her wheelchair. It led to years of pain and paralysis that ended in her death, Broadbent appeared as Inspector Frank Butterman in Hot Fuzz in 2007. He appeared in the radio production of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. He was also a regular in Stephen Frys radio comedy show Saturday Night Fry, in 2008, he starred as pro-Newtonian physicist Sir Oliver Lodge in the fact-based single drama Einstein and Eddington for the BBC
17.
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
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The company was revived for short seasons and tours from 1988 to 2003, and with Scottish Opera it later co-produced two productions. In 1875, Richard DOyly Carte asked the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, when that work, Trial by Jury, became a success, Carte put together a syndicate to produce a full-length Gilbert and Sullivan work, The Sorcerer, followed by H. M. S. After Pinafore became a sensation, Carte jettisoned his difficult investors and formed a new partnership with Gilbert. The company produced the succeeding ten Gilbert and Sullivan operas and many operas and companion pieces at the Savoy Theatre in London. The company also mounted tours in Britain, New York and elsewhere, Cartes able assistant, Helen Lenoir, became his wife in 1888 and, after his death in 1901, she ran the company until her own death in 1913. By this time, it had become a year-round Gilbert and Sullivan touring repertory company, Cartes son Rupert inherited the company. Beginning in 1919, he mounted new seasons in London with new set and costume designs, while continuing the year-round tours in Britain, with the help of the director J. M. Gordon and the conductor Isidore Godfrey, Carte ran the company for 35 years. He redesigned the Savoy Theatre in 1928 and sponsored a series of recordings over the years that helped to keep the operas popular, after Ruperts death in 1948, his daughter Bridget DOyly Carte inherited the company and hired Frederic Lloyd as general manager. The company continued to tour for 35 weeks each year, issue new recordings and play London seasons of Gilbert and it re-formed in 1988 with a legacy left by Bridget DOyly Carte, played short tours and London seasons, and issued some popular recordings. Denied significant funding from the English Arts Council, it suspended productions in 2003, with Scottish Opera, it co-produced The Pirates of Penzance 2013 and The Mikado in 2016. Some of the performers, over the decades, became stars of their day. The company licensed the operas for performance in Australasia and to numerous amateur troupes in Britain and elsewhere, providing orchestra parts and prompt books for hire. The company kept the Savoy operas in the eye for over a century and left an enduring legacy of production styles. By 1874, Richard DOyly Carte, a musician and ambitious young impresario, had begun producing operettas in London. He announced his ambitions on the front of the programme for one of his productions that year, in early 1875, Carte was managing Londons Royalty Theatre. Needing a short piece to round out an evenings entertainment featuring the popular Offenbach operetta La Périchole he brought W. S. Gilbert, on tour in 1871, Carte had conducted Arthur Sullivans one-act comic opera Cox and Box, which received an 1874 London revival. In 1873, W. S. Gilbert had offered a libretto to Carte about an English courtroom, but at the time Carte knew of no composer available to set it to music. At the Theatre Royal, in Dublin, Ireland in September 1875, while managing the first tour of Trial by Jury, Carte met a young Scottish actress
18.
Brian Mitchell and Joseph Nixon
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Brian Mitchell and Joseph Nixon are a British comedy writing team. Yet their main work is in the theatre and their plays include Spy, Moonlight over India, Eurovision, Seven Studies in Salesmanship, The Opinion Makers, Those Magnificent Men and the multiple award-winning Big Daddy Vs Giant Haystacks. The author and illustrator Philip Reeve, a friend and collaborator, has written, Two of the best writers I know are friends of mine from my Brighton days, Brian Mitchell, Brian Mitchell also managed the Brighton Open Air Theatre during its first season in 2015. Mitchell and Nixon met at school in a colliery village in Derbyshire. In 1988, Mitchell, a musician, moved to Brighton. Nixon, following a degree in American Literature at the University of Essex and it was in Brighton, in 1992, that they founded The Ornate Johnsons, a sketch troupe named after a character they had created in a Damon Runyonesque play set in 1920s USA. Mitchell told Time Out that their aim was to bring energy, drama and extravagant performances to the world of sketch comedy. People forget how oppressively right-on everything was around 1989 and they were later joined, at various times, by Glen Richardson, Paul Putner, Louise Law, Beth Fitzgerald, Jo Neary and Clea Smith. Nixon, familiarly known as ‘the unseen Johnson’, does not perform, in 2007, BBC4 broadcast the Ornate Johnsons Edwardian Spectacular, recorded at Wiltons Music Hall. This one-hour show brings together the events and discoveries of the day – from the exploration of the Polar Regions, via Pavlov’s dogs. Not even the Great Houdini can escape, and there’s a man with a wooden arse. In 1994, Mitchell and Nixon gave up comedy to write a dramatic trilogy, Three Short Plays about Shops. The first was Moonlight over India, a comedy, in the style of Guys and Dolls. The central character, Ed the Bean, is a chocoholic whose girlfriend, Myrtle, Ed is saved from Myrtle by Lara, a tough dame who also loves chocolate. They find love by sharing a Moonlight over India, the second play was The Bargain, a farce set in the 19th century Russia of Gogol and Chekhov. The central character is the pawnbroker, Riskin, a conceited, indecisive, Riskin lives with his disapproving mother, and the pair have a comic double act reminiscent of Galton and Simpson. The plot has many twists and turns, commented on in soliloquoy by Riskin, Oh. Right – I must tackle this logically – I’m good at logic, was it not I who recognised, in my early twenties, the important link between over-eating and obesity
19.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
20.
Wikisource
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Wikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project, the projects aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, the project officially began in November 24,2003 under the name Project Sourceberg. The name Wikisource was adopted later that year and it received its own domain name seven months later, the project has come under criticism for lack of reliability but it is also cited by organisations such as the National Archives and Records Administration. The project holds works that are either in the domain or freely licensed, professionally published works or historical source documents, not vanity products. Verification was initially made offline, or by trusting the reliability of digital libraries. Now works are supported by online scans via the ProofreadPage extension, some individual Wikisources, each representing a specific language, now only allow works backed up with scans. While the bulk of its collection are texts, Wikisource as a whole hosts other media, some Wikisources allow user-generated annotations, subject to the specific policies of the Wikisource in question. Wikisources early history included several changes of name and location, the original concept for Wikisource was as storage for useful or important historical texts. These texts were intended to support Wikipedia articles, by providing evidence and original source texts. The collection was focused on important historical and cultural material. The project was originally called Project Sourceberg during its planning stages, in 2001, there was a dispute on Wikipedia regarding the addition of primary source material, leading to edit wars over their inclusion or deletion. Project Sourceberg was suggested as a solution to this, perhaps Project Sourceberg can mainly work as an interface for easily linking from Wikipedia to a Project Gutenberg file, and as an interface for people to easily submit new work to PG. Wed want to complement Project Gutenberg--how, exactly, and Jimmy Wales adding like Larry, Im interested that we think it over to see what we can add to Project Gutenberg. It seems unlikely that primary sources should in general be editable by anyone -- I mean, Shakespeare is Shakespeare, unlike our commentary on his work, the project began its activity at ps. wikipedia. org. The contributors understood the PS subdomain to mean either primary sources or Project Sourceberg, however, this resulted in Project Sourceberg occupying the subdomain of the Pashto Wikipedia. A vote on the name changed it to Wikisource on December 6,2003. Despite the change in name, the project did not move to its permanent URL until July 23,2004, since Wikisource was initially called Project Sourceberg, its first logo was a picture of an iceberg
21.
LibriVox
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On 6 August 2016, the project completed project number 10,000. Most releases are in the English language, but many works are also available. There are multiple affiliated projects that are providing additional content, LibriVox is closely affiliated with Project Gutenberg from where the project gets some of its texts, and the Internet Archive that hosts their offerings. LibriVox was started in August 2005 by Montreal-based writer Hugh McGuire, who set up a blog, the first recorded book was The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. LibriVox is an invented word inspired by Latin words liber in its genitive form libri and vox, the word was also coined because of other connotations as liber also means child and free, independent, unrestricted. As the LibriVox forum says it, We like to think LibriVox might be interpreted as child of the voice, finally, the other link we like is library so you could imagine it to mean Library of Voice. There has been no decision or consensus by LibriVox founders or the community of volunteers for a single pronunciation of LibriVox and it is accepted that any audible pronunciation is accurate. LibriVox is a volunteer-run, free content, Public Domain project and it has no budget or legal personality. The development of projects is managed through an Internet forum, supported by an admin team, in early 2010, LibriVox ran a fundraising drive to raise $20,000 to cover hosting costs for the website of about $5, 000/year and improve front- and backend usability. Volunteers can choose new projects to start, either recording on their own or inviting others to join them, once a volunteer has recorded his or her contribution, it is uploaded to the site, and proof-listened by members of the LibriVox community. Finished audiobooks are available from the LibriVox website, and MP3, recordings are also available through other means, such as iTunes, and, being free of copyright, they are frequently distributed independently of LibriVox on the Internet and otherwise. LibriVox only records material that is in the domain in the United States. Because of copyright restrictions, LibriVox produces recordings of only a number of contemporary books. These have included, for example, the 9/11 Commission Report and it contains much popular classic fiction, but also includes less predictable texts, such as Immanuel Kants Critique of Pure Reason and a recording of the first 500 digits of pi. The collection also features poetry, plays, religious texts and non-fiction of various kinds, in January 2009, the catalogue contained approximately 55 percent fiction and drama,25 percent non-fiction and 20 percent poetry. By the end of 2016, the most viewed item was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in a 2006 solo recording by John Greenman, around 90 percent of the catalogue is recorded in English, but recordings exist in 31 languages altogether. Chinese, French and German are the most popular languages other than English amongst volunteers, LibriVox has garnered significant interest, in particular from those interested in the promotion of volunteer-led content and alternative approaches to copyright ownership on the Internet. It has received support from the Internet Archive and Project Gutenberg, intellectual freedom and commons proponent Mike Linksvayer described it in 2008 as perhaps the most interesting collaborative culture project this side of Wikipedia
22.
Richard D'Oyly Carte
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Richard DOyly Carte was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. Carte started his working for his father, Richard Carte, in the music publishing. As a young man, he conducted and composed music, Carte believed that a school of wholesome, well-crafted, family-friendly, English comic opera could be as popular as the risqué French works dominating the London musical stage in the 1870s. To that end, he brought together the dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan and, together with his wife Helen Carte and he founded the DOyly Carte Opera Company and built the state-of-the-art Savoy Theatre to host the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Carte also built the Savoy Hotel in London, and acquired other luxury hotels and his opera company, later operated by Helen and then by his son, Rupert, and granddaughter, Bridget, promoted those works for over a century, and they are still performed regularly today. Carte was born in Greek Street in the West End of London on 3 May 1844 and he was the eldest of six children. His father, Richard Carte, was a flautist, and his mother was the former Eliza Jones, they had eloped, to the disappointment of her father, Thomas Jones and his siblings were Blanch, Viola, Rose, Henry and Eliza. Carte was of Welsh and Norman ancestry, DOyly is a Norman French name which was a forename, to supplement his income as a performer, Cartes father joined the firm of Rudall, Rose & Co. musical instrument makers and music publishers, in 1850. After he became a partner in the business, it changed its name to Rudall, Rose, Carte and Co. and later to Rudall, Carte was brought up in Dartmouth Park Road. His cultured mother exposed her family to art, music and poetry, the family spoke French at home two days a week, and his parents often took their children to the theatre. He was educated at University College School, which he left in 1860, in 1861, he achieved First Class level in the matriculation examination and then attended University College, London. However, he later that year to work in his fathers business, along with his brother. He studied music during this time and composed pieces, which he dedicated to the actress Kate Terry. He also acted in amateur theatricals, spencer Mott, at Londons Opera Comique in 1871, and Happy Hampstead, with librettist Frank Desprez, which debuted on an 1876 provincial tour and then played at the Royalty Theatre in 1877. On tour in 1871, Carte conducted Cox and Box by composer Arthur Sullivan, burnand, in tandem with English adaptations of two Offenbach pieces, called Rose of Auvergne and Breaking the Spell, in which Cartes client Selina Dolaro appeared. Cartes musical talent would be later in his career, as he was able to audition singers himself from the pianoforte. Hesketh Pearson said of Carte, His acute business sense was aided by a frank and he took what other people thought were risks, but he felt were certainties. And his practical judgement was as sure as his sense of artistry, Carte announced his ambitions on the front of the programme for the latter, It is my desire to establish in London a permanent abode for light Opera
23.
Thespis (opera)
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Thespis, or The Gods Grown Old, is an operatic extravaganza that was the first collaboration between dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan. No musical score of Thespis was ever published, and most of the music has been lost, Gilbert and Sullivan went on to become the most famous and successful artistic partnership in Victorian England, creating a string of comic opera hits, including H. M. S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado, which continue to be popular, Thespis premièred in London at the Gaiety Theatre on 26 December 1871. Like many productions at that theatre, it was written in a broad, burlesque style, considerably different from Gilbert and it was a success, for a Christmas entertainment of the time, and closed on 8 March 1872, after a run of 63 performances. It was advertised as An entirely original Grotesque Opera in Two Acts, the story follows an acting troupe headed by Thespis, the legendary Greek father of the drama, who temporarily trade places with the gods on Mount Olympus, who have grown elderly and ignored. The actors turn out to be comically inept rulers, having seen the ensuing mayhem down below, the angry gods return, sending the actors back to Earth as eminent tragedians, whom no one ever goes to see. A renewed interest in the began in the 1950s, and numerous productions have been performed since, either with music taken from Sullivans other works. Scene, A Ruined Temple on the Summit of Mount Olympus On Mount Olympus, Mercury complains that the older gods are lazy and leave all their duties to him, while he gets no credit for all his drudgery. Jupiter says that matters have reached a crisis, but he is unsure what can be done about it, just then, the gods see a swarm of mortals ascending the mountain and withdraw to observe them from a distance. Thespiss acting company enters for a picnic celebrating the marriage of two of its members, Sparkeion and Nicemis, the actors, being cheap, have failed to contribute substantial food items to the picnic. Sparkeion flirts with his former fiancée, Daphne, which annoys Nicemis, in retaliation, Nicemis flirts with her old suitor, Thespis, but he declines to flirt back. Thespis explains to his troupe that a manager must be aloof from those he manages. All of the actors flee in terror, except for Thespis, Jupiter asks Thespis whether he is impressed with the father of the gods. Thespis replies that the gods are unimpressive and suggests that they go down to earth in disguise to mingle and they agree to invest the actors with their powers, as they take a merry holiday below on Earth. Thespis agrees that he and his company will keep things running on Mount Olympus during the gods absence, each actor takes the place of one of the gods, with Thespis himself replacing Jupiter. Mercury stays behind to offer any advice the actors may need, the Same Scene, One Year Later, with the Ruins Restored Under Thespiss direction, Olympus has been restored to its former splendour, and the Thespians enjoy ambrosia and nectar. Thespiss rule is very liberal, and he has advised his troupe not to be hampered by routine and red tape and precedent. The celestial assignments, however, have caused difficulties, as the romantic entanglements of the actors in real life conflict with those of the gods that they are playing
24.
The Sorcerer
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The Sorcerer is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duos third operatic collaboration, the plot of The Sorcerer is based on a Christmas story, An Elixir of Love, that Gilbert wrote for The Graphic magazine in 1876. A young man, Alexis, is obsessed with idea of love levelling all ranks, to promote his beliefs, he invites the proprietor of J. W. Wells & Co. Family Sorcerers, to brew a love potion and this causes everyone in the village to fall in love with the first person they see and results in the pairing of comically mismatched couples. In the end, Wells must sacrifice his life to break the spell, the opera opened on 17 November 1877 at the Opera Comique in London, where it ran for 178 performances. It was considered a success by the standards of that time and encouraged the collaborators to write their next opera, the Sorcerer was revised for an 1884 revival, and it is in that version that it is usually performed today. The Sorcerer was the first Savoy opera for which the author and composer had nearly total control over the production, several of the actors chosen went on to create principal roles in most of the later Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The modest success of The Sorcerer was overshadowed by the popularity of Gilbert and Sullivans later collaborations. The satire in the piece concerns Victorian-era class distinctions and operatic conventions with which audiences are less familiar. Nevertheless, the opera was important to the development of the Gilbert, in 1871, W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan had written Thespis, an extravaganza for the Gaiety Theatres holiday season that did not lead immediately to any further collaboration. Carte was able to bring Gilbert and Sullivan together again to write the piece, called Trial by Jury. The piece was witty, tuneful and very English, in contrast to the bawdy burlesques, Trial by Jury proved even more popular than La Périchole, becoming an unexpected hit, touring extensively and enjoying revivals and a world tour. After the success of Trial by Jury, several attempted to reunite Gilbert and Sullivan. Gilbert and Sullivan continued their careers, though both continued writing light opera. Finally, in 1877, Carte organised a syndicate of four financiers and formed the Comedy Opera Company, by July 1877, Gilbert and Sullivan were under contract to produce a two-act opera. They chose talented actors, most of whom were not well-known stars, and so did not command high fees, Then, they tailored their work to the particular abilities of these performers. Carte approached Mrs Howard Paul to play the role of Lady Sangazure in the new opera, Mr and Mrs Howard Paul had operated a small touring company booked by Cartes agency for many years, but the couple had recently separated. She conditioned her acceptance of the part on the casting of her 24-year-old protege, when Barrington auditioned before W. S. Barrington was given the role of Dr Daly, the vicar, which was his first starring role on the London stage
25.
H.M.S. Pinafore
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Pinafore, or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivans fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation. The story takes place aboard the ship HMS Pinafore, the captains daughter, Josephine, is in love with a lower-class sailor, Ralph Rackstraw, although her father intends her to marry Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty. She abides by her fathers wishes at first, but Sir Josephs advocacy of the equality of humankind encourages Ralph and they declare their love for each other and eventually plan to elope. The captain discovers this plan, but, as in many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, drawing on several of his earlier Bab Ballad poems, Gilbert imbued this plot with mirth and silliness. The operas humour focuses on love between members of different social classes and lampoons the British class system in general, Pinafore also pokes good-natured fun at patriotism, party politics, the Royal Navy, and the rise of unqualified people to positions of authority. The title of the piece comically applies the name of a garment for girls and women, pinafores extraordinary popularity in Britain, America and elsewhere was followed by the similar success of a series of Gilbert and Sullivan works, including The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Their works, later known as the Savoy operas, dominated the stage on both sides of the Atlantic for more than a decade and continue to be performed today. The structure and style of these operas, particularly Pinafore, were copied and contributed significantly to the development of modern musical theatre. In 1875, Richard DOyly Carte, who was managing the Royalty Theatre for Selina Dolaro, brought Gilbert and Sullivan together to write their second show. With this theatre company, Carte finally had the resources, after many failed attempts, to produce a new full-length Gilbert. This next opera was The Sorcerer, which opened in November 1877 and it too was successful, running for 178 performances. Sheet music from the show well, and street musicians played the melodies. Instead of writing a piece for production by a proprietor, as was usual in Victorian theatres, Gilbert, Sullivan. They were therefore able to choose their own cast of performers and they then tailored their work to the particular abilities of these performers. For until then no living soul had seen upon the stage such weird, eccentric, conjured into existence a hitherto unknown comic world of sheer delight. The success of The Sorcerer paved the way for another collaboration by Gilbert, Carte agreed on terms for a new opera with the Comedy Opera Company, and Gilbert began work on H. M. S. Pinafore before the end of 1877, Gilberts father had been a naval surgeon, and the nautical theme of the opera appealed to him
26.
The Pirates of Penzance
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The Pirates of Penzance, or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The operas official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences and critics. Its London debut was on 3 April 1880, at the Opera Comique, the story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year, is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley, and the two people fall instantly in love. Frederic soon learns, however, that he was born on the 29th of February and his indenture specifies that he remain apprenticed to the pirates until his twenty-first birthday, meaning that he must serve for another 63 years. Bound by his own sense of duty, Frederics only solace is that Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully, Pirates was the fifth Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and introduced the much-parodied Major-Generals Song. The opera was performed for over a century by the DOyly Carte Opera Company in Britain and by other opera companies. Pirates remains popular today, taking its place along with The Mikado, Pinafore as one of the most frequently played Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The Pirates of Penzance was the only Gilbert and Sullivan opera to have its premiere in the United States. At the time, American law offered no protection to foreigners. After the pairs previous opera, H. M. S, however, Gilbert, Sullivan, and their producer, Richard DOyly Carte, failed in their efforts, over the next decade, to control the American performance copyrights to Pirates and their other operas. Fiction and plays about pirates were ubiquitous in the 19th century, walter Scotts The Pirate and James Fenimore Coopers The Red Rover were key sources for the romanticised, dashing pirate image and the idea of repentant pirates. Both Gilbert and Sullivan had parodied these ideas early in their careers, Sullivan had written a comic opera called The Contrabandista, in 1867, about a hapless British tourist who is captured by bandits and forced to become their chief. Gilbert had written several works that involved pirates or bandits. In Gilberts 1876 opera Princess Toto, the character is eager to be captured by a brigand chief. Gilbert had translated Jacques Offenbachs operetta Les brigands, in 1871, as in Les brigands, The Pirates of Penzance absurdly treats stealing as a professional career path, with apprentices and tools of the trade such as the crowbar and life preserver. While Pinafore was running strongly at the Opera Comique in London, Gilbert was eager to get started on his and Sullivans next opera and he re-used several elements of his 1870 one-act piece, Our Island Home, which had introduced a pirate chief, Captain Bang. Bang was mistakenly apprenticed to a band as a child by his deaf nursemaid
27.
Patience (opera)
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Patience, or, Bunthornes Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. Henceforth, the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas would be known as the Savoy Operas, Patience was the sixth operatic collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan. It ran for a total of 578 performances, which was seven more than the earlier work. Pinafore, and the second longest run of any work of theatre up to that time. Called Art for Arts Sake, the movement valued its ideals of beauty above any pragmatic concerns, although the output of poets, painters and designers was prolific, some argued that the movements art, poetry and fashion was empty and self-indulgent. That the movement was so popular and also so easy to ridicule as a meaningless fad helped make Patience a big hit, the same factors made a hit out of The Colonel, a play by F. C. Burnand based partly on the cartoons of George du Maurier in Punch magazine. The Colonel beat Patience to the stage by several weeks, modern productions of Patience have sometimes updated the setting of the opera to an analogous era such as the hippie 1960s, making a flower-child poet the rival of a beat poet. The two poets in the opera are given to reciting their own verses aloud, principally to the chorus of rapturous maidens. The style of poetry Bunthorne declaims strongly contrasts with Grosvenors, the formers, emphatic and obscure, bears a marked resemblance to Swinburnes poetry in its structure, style and heavy use of alliteration. The latters, simpler and pastoral, echoes elements of Coventry Patmore, Gilbert scholar Andrew Crowther comments, Bunthorne was the creature of Gilberts brain, not just a caricature of particular Aesthetes, but an original character in his own right. According to Gilberts biographer Edith Browne, the character, Patience, was made up. Patience was not the first satire of the movement played by Richard DOyly Cartes company at the Opera Comique. Grossmith himself had written a sketch in 1876 called Cups and Saucers that was revived as a piece to H. M. S. Pinafore in 1878, which was a satire of the blue pottery craze, a popular misconception holds that the central character of Bunthorne, a Fleshly Poet, was intended to satirise Oscar Wilde, but this identification is retrospective. Rossetti had been attacked for immorality by Robert Buchanan in an article called The Fleshly School of Poetry, published in The Contemporary Review for October 1871, nonetheless, Wildes biographer Richard Ellmann suggests that Wilde is a partial model for both Bunthorne and his rival Grosvenor. Carte, the producer of Patience, was also Wildes booking manager in 1881 as the poets popularity took off, although a satire of the aesthetic movement is dated today, fads and hero-worship are evergreen, and Gilbert’s pen was rarely sharper than when he invented Reginald Bunthorne. Gilbert originally conceived Patience as a tale of rivalry between two curates and of the ladies who attended upon them
28.
Princess Ida
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Princess Ida, or, Castle Adamant is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen, Princess Ida opened at the Savoy Theatre on 5 January 1884, for a run of 246 performances. The piece concerns a princess who founds a womens university and teaches that women are superior to men, the prince to whom she had been married in infancy sneaks into the university, together with two friends, with the aim of collecting his bride. They disguise themselves as students, but are discovered. The opera satirizes feminism, womens education and Darwinian evolution, which were controversial topics in conservative Victorian England. Princess Ida is based on a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson called The Princess. He lifted much of the dialogue of Princess Ida directly from his 1870 farce and it is the only Gilbert and Sullivan opera in three acts and the only one with dialogue in blank verse. By Savoy Opera standards, Princess Ida was not considered a success due, in part, to a hot summer in London in 1884. Nevertheless, the piece is performed today by both professional and amateur companies, although not as frequently as the most popular of the Savoy operas. Princess Ida is based on Tennysons serio-comic narrative poem of 1847, The Princess, Gilbert had written a blank verse musical farce burlesquing the same material in 1870 called The Princess. He reused a good deal of the dialogue from earlier play in the libretto of Princess Ida. He also retained Tennysons blank verse style and the story line about a heroic princess who runs a womens college. He and his two friends infiltrate the college disguised as female students, Gilbert had to write entirely new lyrics for Princess Ida, since the lyrics to his 1870 farce were written to previously existing music by Jacques Offenbach, Rossini and others. Tennysons poem was written, in part, in response to the founding of Queens College, London, when Gilbert wrote The Princess in 1870, womens higher education was still an innovative, even radical concept. Girton College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge, was established in 1869, however, by the time Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated on Princess Ida in 1883, a womens college was a more established concept. Westfield College, the University of Londons first womens college, had opened in 1882, thus, womens higher education was in the news in London, and Westfield is cited as a model for Gilberts Castle Adamant. He also gave his consent to Gilbert to continue with the adaptation of The Princess as the basis for their next opera, later that spring, Sullivan was knighted by Queen Victoria and the honour was announced in May at the opening of the Royal College of Music. Although it was the operas with Gilbert that had earned him the broadest fame, having just signed the five-year agreement, Sullivan suddenly felt trapped
29.
The Mikado
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The Mikado, or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. Before the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, the Mikado remains the most frequently performed Savoy Opera, and it is especially popular with amateur and school productions. The work has translated into numerous languages and is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history. Setting the opera in Japan, a locale far away from Britain, allowed Gilbert to satirise British politics. Gilbert and Sullivans opera immediately preceding The Mikado was Princess Ida, which ran for nine months, on 22 March 1884, Carte gave Gilbert and Sullivan contractual notice that a new opera would be required within six months. Sullivans close friend, the conductor Frederic Clay, had suffered a stroke in December 1883 that effectively ended his career. Gilbert, who had started work on a new libretto in which people fall in love against their wills after taking a magic lozenge, was surprised to hear of Sullivans hesitation. Gilbert was much hurt, but Sullivan insisted that he could not set the lozenge plot, in addition to the improbability of it, it was too similar to the plot of their 1877 opera, The Sorcerer. Sullivan returned to London, and, as April wore on, Gilbert tried to rewrite his plot, but he could not satisfy Sullivan. However, by 8 May 1884, Gilbert was ready to back down, writing, am I to understand that if I construct another plot in which no element occurs. A consistent plot, free from anachronisms, constructed in perfect good faith & to the best of my ability, the stalemate was broken, and on 20 May, Gilbert sent Sullivan a sketch of the plot to The Mikado. It would take ten months for The Mikado to reach the stage. A revised version of their 1877 work, The Sorcerer, coupled with their one-act piece Trial by Jury, played at the Savoy while Carte, Gilbert eventually found a place for his lozenge plot in The Mountebanks, written with Alfred Cellier in 1892. A trifling accident inspired him with an idea, One day an old Japanese sword that, for years, had been hanging on the wall of his study, fell from its place. This incident directed his attention to Japan, Just at that time a company of Japanese had arrived in England and set up a little village of their own in Knightsbridge. The story is an one, but it is largely fictional. Gilbert was interviewed twice about his inspiration for The Mikado, in both interviews the sword was mentioned, and in one of them he said it was the inspiration for the opera, although he never said that the sword had fallen. Gilbert scholar Brian Jones, in his article The Sword that Never Fell, notes that the further removed in time the writer is from the incident and it suggested the broad idea, as he said later
30.
Ruddigore
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Ruddigore, or, The Witchs Curse, originally called Ruddygore, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and it was first performed by the DOyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Theatre in London on 22 January 1887. The first night was not altogether a success, as critics, after some changes, including respelling the title, it achieved a run of 288 performances. The piece was profitable, and the reviews were not all bad, in the former respect, the charm of graceful melody prevails, while, in the latter, the music of the most grotesque situations is redolent of fun. There were further changes and cuts, including a new overture, although never a big money-spinner, it remained in the repertoire until the company closed in 1982. A centenary revival at Sadlers Wells in London restored the opera to almost its original first-night state, in 2000, Oxford University Press published a scholarly edition of the score and libretto, edited by Sullivan scholar David Russell Hulme. After The Mikado opened in 1885, Gilbert, as usual, heinrich Marschners 1828 opera, Der Vampyr, involves a Lord Ruthven who must abduct and sacrifice three maidens or die. Locals claim that the Murgatroyd ancestors in Ruddigore are based on the Murgatroyd family of East Riddlesden Hall, according to his biographers, Dark and Grey, Gilbert also drew on some of his earlier verse, the Bab Ballads for some plot elements. Sir Roderics Act II Ghost song had its forerunner in one of Gilberts verses published in Fun magazine, The opera also includes and parodies elements of melodrama, the ghosts come back to life, foiling the curse, and all ends happily. Sullivan delayed in setting Ruddigore to music through most of 1886 and he had committed to a heavy conducting schedule and to compose a cantata, The Golden Legend, for the triennial Leeds Music Festival in October 1886. He also was squiring Fanny Ronalds to numerous social functions, fortunately, The Mikado was still playing strongly, and Sullivan prevailed on Gilbert to delay production of Ruddigore. He got down to business in early November, however, during the Act II ghost scene, it would be impossible for the cast to see Sullivans baton when the stage was darkened for the Ancestors reincarnation. A technological solution was found, Sullivan used a glass tube containing a platinum wire that glowed a dull red. The opera encountered some criticism from audiences at its opening on 22 January 1887, and one critic wondered if the libretto showed signs of the failing powers of the author. After a run shorter than any of the earlier Gilbert and Sullivan operas premiered at the Savoy except Princess Ida, Ruddigore closed in November 1887, to make way for a revival of H. M. S. To allow the revival of the work to be prepared at the Savoy. It was not revived in the lifetimes of the composer or author, all of the eligible young men are hopeful of a union with Rose Maybud, the prettiest maiden in the village, yet they are too timid to approach her. The desperate bridesmaids ask Roses aunt, Dame Hannah, if she would consider marrying, many years previously, she had been betrothed to a god-like youth who turned out to be Sir Roderic Murgatroyd, one of the bad baronets of Ruddigore
31.
The Yeomen of the Guard
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The Yeomen of the Guard, or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and this was the eleventh collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan. The dialogue, though in prose, is quasi-Shakespearian, or early modern English and this was the first Savoy Opera to use Sullivans larger orchestra, including a second bassoon and third trombone. Most of Sullivans subsequent operas, including those not composed with Gilbert as librettist, pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Before the premiere of Yeomen, Sullivan had recently been lauded for the successful oratorio The Golden Legend and would produce his grand opera, Ivanhoe, on Christmas Day,1887, he read to Sullivan and Carte his plot sketch for an opera set at the Tower of London. Sullivan was immensely pleased and, with relief, accepted it, writing in his diary, Pretty story, no topsy turvydom, very human. Although not an opera, Yeomen provided Sullivan with the opportunity to write his most ambitious score to date. The two set to work on the new opera, taking longer to prepare it than they had taken many of their earlier works. Gilbert made every effort to accommodate his collaborator, even writing alternative lyrics to some songs, Sullivan had trouble setting one lyric in particular, I have a song to sing-O. with its increasing length in each stanza. He asked Gilbert if he had anything in mind when writing it, Gilbert hummed a few lines from a sea shanty, and Sullivan knew what to do. The first act was rather long and contained a number of sentimental pieces. As opening night approached, Gilbert became increasingly apprehensive, would the audience accept this serious, sentimental tone from one of the duos comic operas. Gilbert and Sullivan cut two songs from Act I and part of the Act I finale, partly to decrease the number of sentimental pieces near the beginning of the opera. Jessie Bond, who was to open the show with a song alone on stage, finally said to him, For Heavens sake, Mr. Gilbert, go away and leave me alone. Phoebe Meryll sits at the wheel, sighing about the pain of love. Wilfred Shadbolt, the jailer and assistant torturer at the Tower of London enters. Wilfred, who is in love with Phoebe, has noticed her interest in one of the prisoners at the Tower and he gleefully conveys the news that Fairfax is to be beheaded, for the crime of sorcery, that very day. Phoebe replies that Fairfax is merely a scientist and alchemist and leaves Wilfred to suffer from his love for her, the citizens and Yeomen arrive, singing of the Yeomens bravery and valiant deeds
32.
The Gondoliers
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The Gondoliers, or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances and this was the twelfth comic opera collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan. The story of the concerns the young bride of the heir to the throne of the fictional kingdom of Barataria who arrives in Venice to join her husband. It turns out, however, that he cannot be identified, to complicate matters, the King of Barataria has just been killed. The two young gondoliers must now jointly rule the kingdom until the nurse of the prince can be brought in to determine which of them is the rightful king. Moreover, when the queen arrives to claim her husband. A last complicating factor is that she, herself, is in love with another man, the Gondoliers was Gilbert and Sullivans last great success. In this opera, Gilbert returns to the satire of class distinctions figuring in many of his earlier librettos, the Gondoliers was preceded by the most serious of the Gilbert and Sullivan collaborations, The Yeomen of the Guard. Moreover, to speak from my own point of view. Anybody — Hersee, Farnie, Reece — can write a libretto for such a purpose, personally. Again, the success of the Yeoman — which is a step in the direction of serious opera — has not been so convincing as to warrant us in assuming that the public want something more earnest still. On 12 March, Sullivan responded, I have lost the liking for writing comic opera and you say that in a serious opera, you must more or less sacrifice yourself. I say that this is just what I have been doing in all our joint pieces, Gilbert tried to encourage his collaborator, You say that our operas are Gilberts pieces with music added by you. Sullivans acceptance came with the proviso that we are agreed upon the subject. Can you not develop this with something we can go into with warmth and enthusiasm and thus give me a subject in which we can both be interested. The long opening number was the idea, and it gave Sullivan the opportunity to establish the mood of the work through music. The costumes were designed by Percy Anderson and sets were by Hawes Craven and they worked all summer and autumn, with a successful opening on 7 December 1889. Press accounts were almost entirely favourable, and the opera enjoyed a run longer than any of their joint works except for H. M. S
33.
Utopia, Limited
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Utopia, Limited, or, The Flowers of Progress, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was the second-to-last of Gilbert and Sullivans fourteen collaborations, premiering on 7 October 1893 for a run of 245 performances and it did not achieve the success of most of their earlier productions. Gilberts libretto satirises limited liability companies, and particularly the idea that a company could leave creditors unpaid without any liability on the part of its owners. It also lampoons the Joint Stock Company Act by imagining the absurd convergence of natural persons with legal commercial entities under the limited companies laws, in addition, it mocks the conceits of the late 19th-century British Empire and several of the nations beloved institutions. In mocking the adoption by a country of the cultural values of an advanced nation. The libretto was criticised as too long and rambling by some critics and later commentators, Utopia is performed much less frequently than most other Gilbert and Sullivan operas. It can be expensive to produce, requiring a large principal cast, Bernard Shaw wrote in his highly favourable October 1893 review of the show in The World, I enjoyed the score of Utopia more than that of any of the previous Savoy operas. Sullivan sided with Carte and was made a defendant in the case, Gilbert vowed to write no more operas for the Savoy, and after The Gondoliers closed in 1891, Gilbert withdrew the performance rights to his libretti. It was not until October 1891, after conversations with their publisher Tom Chappell, after fulfilling their respective open commitments Gilbert and Sullivan were able to plan to renew their collaboration on a new opera, Utopia, Limited. In November 1892, after lengthy and delicate discussions over the arrangements for a new opera, Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte were able to reach an agreement. On 27 January 1893, Gilbert read the outline for the libretto to Sullivan. Gilbert suffered from bad gout throughout the summer and autumn of 1893 and had to attend rehearsals in a wheelchair, Gilbert and Sullivan disagreed on several matters, including the character of Lady Sophy, and Sullivan found some of Gilberts lyrics difficult to set. Their lack of the cohesion during the writing and editing of Utopia was in marked contrast with what Sullivan called the oneness of their previous collaborations since Trial by Jury in 1875, for Utopia, the creators engaged Hawes Craven to design the sets, which were much praised. Craven was the designer for Henry Irvings spectacular Shakespeare productions at the Lyceum Theatre, the scenery, properties and costumes cost an unprecedented total of £7,200. In 1893, the year Utopia, Limited was produced, Princess Kaiulani of the independent monarchy of Hawaii attended a school in England. She was the talk of the society pages, with speculation as to the influence English civilization would have on the Princess. Two decades earlier, in 1870, Anna Leonowens first wrote about her stint as governess to the children of the king of Siam in The English Governess at the Siamese Court. The two ladies and their stories are likely to have influenced the characters of Princess Zara and Lady Sophy, respectively
34.
The Grand Duke
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The Grand Duke, or, The Statutory Duel, is the final Savoy Opera written by librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, their fourteenth and last opera together. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 March 1896, despite a successful opening night, the production had a relatively short run and was the partnerships only financial failure, and the two men never worked together again. In recent decades, the opera has been revived professionally, first in the US, in The Grand Duke, Gilbert and Sullivan come full circle, back to the theme of their first collaboration, Thespis, a troupe of actors taking political power. The plot hinges on the mis-interpretation of a 100-year-old law regarding statutory duels, the baffled leading man of the troupe, Ludwig, spearheads the rebellion against the hypochondriac, miserly Grand Duke and becomes engaged to four different women before the plot is resolved. Sullivans varied score includes lilting Viennese waltz music, Sullivan sided with Carte, and the partnership disbanded. After The Gondoliers closed in 1891, Gilbert withdrew the rights to his libretti. Gilbert and Sullivans penultimate opera, Utopia, Limited, was a very modest success compared with their earlier collaborations and it introduced Gilberts last protege, Nancy McIntosh, as the heroine, who received generally unfavourable press. Sullivan refused to another piece if she was to take part in it. Meanwhile, Sullivan had written an opera for the Savoy Theatre with F. C. Burnand, The Chieftain, but that had closed in March 1895, Gilbert had begun working on the story of The Grand Duke in late 1894. The story also contains the germ of the character of Ernest, in 1888, The Dukes Dilemma was adapted as The Prima Donna, a comic opera by H. B. Farnie that contains other details seen in The Grand Duke, including the Shakespearean costumes, in addition, the plot shows similarities with the first Gilbert and Sullivan opera, Thespis, in which a company of actors gain political power. The theme of Ernest being legally dead while still alive was used in earlier works by Gilbert and, separately by Sullivan, for example Tom Cobb. Gilbert sold the libretto of the new piece to Carte and Sullivan for £5,000, rutland Barringtons role, Ludwig, became the leading comedian of the theatrical company and the central role in the opera. While Gilbert and Sullivan finished writing the show, the Cartes produced a revival of The Mikado at the Savoy Theatre, rehearsals for The Grand Duke began in January. Sullivan wrote the overture himself, effectively weaving together some of the best melodies in the opera, Gilbert made a few additional changes to the libretto shortly before opening night to avoid giving offense to Kaiser Wilhelm, possibly at the request of Sullivan, who valued the Kaisers friendship. These included changing the name of the character from Wilhelm to Rudolph. The opera premiered on 7 March 1896, and Sullivan conducted the orchestra, the opening night was a decided success, and the critics praised Gilberts direction, Pálmays singing and acting, Walter Passmore as Rudolph, and the cast in general
35.
Helen Carte
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Helen Carte Boulter, also known as Helen Lenoir, was the second wife of impresario and hotelier Richard DOyly Carte. She is best known for her stewardship of the DOyly Carte Opera Company and Savoy Hotel from the end of the 19th century, born in Wigtown, Scotland, she attended the University of London from 1871–74 and pursued brief teaching and acting careers. In 1875, she met Richard DOyly Carte and soon became his assistant and she helped produce all of the Gilbert and Sullivan and other Savoy Operas, beginning with The Sorcerer in 1877 and for the rest of her life, and helped Carte with all of his business interests. One of her assignments was to superintend arrangements for American productions and tours of the Gilbert. Her grasp of detail and her diplomatic skills surpassed even those of her husband and she married Richard DOyly Carte in 1888. During the 1890s, with her husbands health declining, Helen assumed greater and greater responsibility for the businesses, taking full control upon his death in 1901. She remarried in 1902 but continued to own the company and run most of the Carte business interests until her death. By the time of her death in 1913, the company had become a repertory touring company. Helen hired J. M. Gordon to preserve the unique style. In her will, she left the Savoy Theatre, the Savoy Hotel and the company to Rupert. Susan Helen Couper Black was born in Wigtown, Scotland, to George Couper Black, procurator fiscal and banker, and his wife, Ellen, née Barham, one of her brothers, John McConnell Black, later became a well-known botanist. Her grandfather, Robert Couper, M. D. was a Scottish physician and she attended the University of London from 1871–74 and was a gifted student, passing the examinations for Special Certificates in mathematics and in logic and moral philosophy. She registered at the university as Helen Susan Black, after her studies, she taught mathematics and had a brief acting career, during which she changed her name to Helen Lenoir. She appeared at the Gaiety Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, in The Great Divorce Case, while a member of the Theatre Royal, in Dublin, Ireland in September 1875, Helen met Richard DOyly Carte. He was there to manage the first tour of Trial by Jury and she gave up her next engagement to join his theatrical organisation. In 1877, Helens mother, then a widow, relocated with Helens sister, Helen had just become secretary to Richard DOyly Carte and remained in London to help with production of The Sorcerer at the Opera Comique. She became the manager of the company and was also responsible for the Savoy Hotel. One of Helens early tasks was to produce the British copyright performance of The Pirates of Penzance in Paignton and she made fifteen visits to America to promote Cartes interests, superintending arrangements for American productions and tours of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas
36.
Rupert D'Oyly Carte
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Rupert DOyly Carte was an English hotelier, theatre owner and impresario, best known as proprietor of the DOyly Carte Opera Company and Savoy Hotel from 1913 to 1948. Son of the impresario and hotelier Richard DOyly Carte, Rupert inherited the businesses from his stepmother Helen. The new productions retained the original text and music of the operas. Carte launched international and provincial tours, as well as the London seasons and he also rebuilt the half-century-old Savoy Theatre in 1929, opening the house with a season of Gilbert and Sullivan. He also increased marketing activities, including marketing, of the hotels. P. G. Wodehouse based a character in his novels, Psmith, at his death, Carte passed the opera company and hotels to his only surviving child, Bridget DOyly Carte. The Gilbert and Sullivan operas, nurtured by Carte and his family for over a century, continue to be produced frequently today throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. Rupert DOyly Carte was born in Hampstead, London, the son of the impresario Richard DOyly Carte and his first wife Blanche. Like his brother, Lucas, he was given his fathers middle name and he was educated at Winchester College, noted as among the most intellectually rigorous of English public schools. He then worked for a firm of accountants before joining his father as an assistant in 1894 and he was elected a director of the Savoy Hotel Limited in 1898, joining his father and Sir Arthur Sullivan, who had served on the board since the Savoy Hotel was built. By 1899 he was assistant managing director, Ruperts elder brother, Lucas, a barrister, was not involved in the family businesses and died of tuberculosis, aged 34. At this time, the group was officially valued at £2,221,708. He immediately issued £300,000 of debentures to raise capital for an extension to the Savoy. Like his father, Carte was willing to go to lengths to secure the best employees for his hotels. When Claridges needed a new chef in 1904, he secured the services of François Bonnaure, between 1906 and 1909, Helen Carte, Ruperts stepmother, staged two repertory seasons at the Savoy Theatre. Directed by Gilbert and received much success, they revitalised the DOyly Carte Opera Company. He joined with other London theatre managers, including Herbert Beerbohm Tree, George Edwardes, in the same year, together with Herbert Sullivan and theatre managers including Beerbohm Tree and Squire Bancroft, Carte was an instigator of a memorial to W. S. Gilbert at Charing Cross. In 1913, Ruperts stepmother Helen Carte died and she left all her holdings in the Savoy Hotel group, the Savoy Theatre and the DOyly Carte Opera Company to her stepson
37.
Bridget D'Oyly Carte
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Dame Bridget Cicely DOyly Carte, DBE, was the granddaughter of impresario Richard DOyly Carte and the only daughter of Rupert DOyly Carte. She was head of the DOyly Carte Opera Company from 1948 until 1982, S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, as well as all of her familys business interests. She had begun to assist her father in managing the Savoy Hotel in 1933 and she hired Frederic Lloyd as general manager of the opera company in 1951 and moved to keep the Savoy operas fresh, marketing them as a bridge between popular and classical music. After the copyrights to the Gilbert and Sullivan works expired in 1961, in 1972, Carte founded the DOyly Carte Charitable Trust to support charitable causes in the fields of the arts, medical welfare and the environment. She was created a DBE in 1975, with no children of her own or surviving siblings, she was the end of her family line. Bridget Cicely Carte was born at Suffolk Street, Pall Mall, London and her father was Rupert DOyly Carte, and her mother was the former Lady Dorothy Milner Gathorne-Hardy, the youngest daughter of the 2nd Earl of Cranbrook. In 1926, when she was only 18, she married her first cousin, John David Gathorne-Hardy, the fourth Earl of Cranbrook, as a result of her marriage, Carte was styled as Countess of Cranbrook, and her married name was Gathorne-Hardy. They soon separated and finally divorced in 1931, she relinquished her title and resumed her maiden name by deed poll in 1932, also dropping the name Cicely, which she disliked. She then resumed her education at Dartington Hall in Devon from 1931 to 1933, there she met designer Peter Goffin who became a long-time friend. The accidental death of her brother, Michael, made Carte the heir to her fathers hotel. As a child, however, she had been reluctant to assume the family legacy and she later told The Gramophone magazine, At home, you know, we werent allowed to hum Gilbert and Sullivan, in fact we were fined for it, because it annoyed my father. We were allowed to sing it properly, but my brother, so I went through a phase when I was very anti-Gilbert and Sullivan, I became rather a highbrow, and my father thought I was a bit of a snake-in-the-grass because of it. From 1933 to 1939, Carte was an assistant to her father at the Savoy Hotel, taking responsibility for furnishing and interior decoration, for which she had training and aptitude. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, however, she undertook child welfare work, the family home was Coleton Fishacre, a house that her parents had built in Devon between Paignton and Kingswear in 1925. The house is known for its design features and garden with exotic tropical plants. After her parents divorce in 1941, Bridget DOyly Carte took over the house, which her father, shortly after her fathers death, she sold Coleton Fishacre, and it is now owned by the National Trust. In 1949 she bought Shrubs Wood, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, designed by the architects Erich Mendelsohn, here she pursued her love of gardening and gave summer parties for disadvantaged or disabled children. In 1953, Carte was a member of the overseeing the decorations for the Coronation Ball at the Savoy Hotel in honour of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
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Cultural influence of Gilbert and Sullivan
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For nearly 150 years, Gilbert and Sullivan have pervasively influenced popular culture in the English-speaking world. Lines and quotations from the Gilbert and Sullivan operas have become part of the English language, such as short, sharp shock, Let the punishment fit the crime, and A policemans lot is not a happy one. The Savoy operas heavily influenced the course of the development of musical theatre. They have also influenced political style and discourse, literature, film and television and advertising, and have been widely parodied by humorists. Because they are well-known, and convey a sense of Britishness. The operas have so pervaded Western culture that events from the lives of their characters from the operas are memorialized by major news outlets. For instance, a New York Times article on 29 February 1940, noted that Frederic, johnny Mercer said, We all come from Gilbert. Yip Harburg said, Perhaps my first great literary idol was W. S. Gilbert, Gilberts satirical quality entranced us – his use of rhyme and meter, his light touch, the marvelous way his words blended with Sullivans music. Miranda commented, I always felt like mineral wasn’t the best possible rhyme, Sullivan was also admired and copied by early composers such as Ivan Caryll, Lionel Monckton, Victor Herbert, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Ivor Novello, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Noël Coward wrote, According to theatre historian John Kenrick, H. M. S, Pinafore, in particular, became an international sensation, reshaping the commercial theater in both England and the United States. Many other musicals parody or pastiche the operas, however, the influence of Gilbert and Sullivan on goes beyond musical theatre to comedy in general. Allusions to their work have made their way into our own popular culture, after the formation of amateur Gilbert and Sullivan troupes in the 1880s licensed to perform the operas, professionals recognised that the amateur groups support the culture of music and the drama. They are now accepted as useful training schools for the legitimate stage, Cellier and Bridgeman attributed the rise in quality and reputation of the amateur groups largely to the popularity of, and infectious craze for performing, the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The National Operatic and Dramatic Association was founded in 1899 and it reported, in 1914, that nearly 200 British amateur troupes were producing Gilbert and Sullivan operas that year. There continue to be hundreds of groups or societies performing the Gilbert. It is not surprising, given the focus of Gilbert on politics, the phrase A short, sharp shock, from the Act I song I am so proud in The Mikado, has been used in political manifestos. Likewise Let the punishment fit the crime, from the title characters Act II song, is mentioned in the course of British political debates. Political humour based on Gilbert and Sullivans style and characters continues to be written, in 1996, Virginia Bottomley, heritage secretary under John Major, sent up Tony Blair in a parody of When I Was a Lad from Pinafore
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International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival
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The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival was founded in 1994 by Ian Smith and his son Neil and is held every summer in England. The two- or three-week Festival of Gilbert and Sullivan performances and fringe events attracts thousands of visitors, including performers, supporters, beginning in 2014, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, hosts the festival, which was held in Buxton, Derbyshire, from 1994 to 2013. At the festival, about a dozen amateur Gilbert and Sullivan performing societies from around the world compete on the main stage each year for awards including International Champion. At the weekends there are professional Gilbert and Sullivan performances, including each year by the festivals homegrown National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company. A smaller nearby theatre and other venues host the festival fringe, which consists of dozens of performances, lectures, a memorabilia fair, and other events. The festival was founded in 1994 and continues to be produced by Ian Smith and his son Neil to enhance the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the works of Gilbert and it also has a goal of reinstating G&S and the performing arts in schools in Britain. Occasionally, the festival has added a week of performances in the United States, the festival relocated to Harrogate in 2014 and is scheduled to remain there at least to 2018. The festival has more than 25,000 tickets in some years. Sky Arts notes that the festival is one of the most colourful, melodic and it is forward-looking and fun presenting contemporary as well as traditional productions of G&S. The festivals professional orchestra accompanies the main stage performances, at the core of the festival is a competition of a dozen or more amateur G&S performing troupes who travel from all over Britain and the world to present their shows. Over the three weeks of the festival, on weeknights, the best non-professional groups from the UK, a professional adjudicator critiques each amateur performance immediately after the curtain falls. The adjudicator then scores each performance, and both group and individual awards are announced at the end of the festival, at the first Festival in 1994, first prize was awarded to the production of Utopia, Limited presented by the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Maine. Festival Productions, Ireland, won in three years,2007 to 2009. Individual awards are presented for performers, directors and musical directors. John Owen Edwards, David Russell Hulme, or David Steadman often serve as director of the company. Sky Arts calls these some of the UK’s finest exponents of musical theatre. With good stars like Jill Pert and Richard Suart in key roles, care is always taken with the staging and lighting of these. Productions and, as with Princess Ida last year, they can match a West End show, the strength of singing from the twenty-strong chorus in forte passages was spectacular
The Bab Ballads public domain audiobook at LibriVox
