Arthur Sullivan: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=AugustMay 20222024}}

[[File:Young Arthur Sullivan.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Sullivan aged 16, in his Royal Academy of Music uniform|alt=Sullivan seated with one leg crossed over another, age 16, in his Royal Academy of Music uniform, showing his thick, curly hair. Black and white.]]

In this decade, Sullivan's conducting appointments included the [[Glasgow]] Choral Union concerts (1875–77) and the [[Royal Aquarium|Royal Aquarium Theatre]], London (1876).<ref>Ainger, p. 121</ref> In addition to his appointment as Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, of which he was a Fellow, he was appointed as the first Principal of the [[Royal College of Music#Background|National Training School forof Music]] in 1876.<ref name=wright/> He accepted the latter post reluctantly, fearing that discharging the duties thoroughly would leave too little time for composing; in this he was correct.{{refn|His successor [[Hubert Parry]] also discovered this to be true.<ref>Legge, Robin H. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/908703 "Charles Hubert Hastings Parry"], ''The Musical Times'', 1 November 1918, pp. 489–491 {{subscription}}</ref>|group= n}} He was not effective in the post, and resigned in 1881.{{refn|In a study of the School and its successor, the Royal College of Music, David Wright comments on Sullivan: "He lacked any fresh perspective on musical training and any vision of what the NTSM needed to achieve if it was to make a mark.&nbsp;... Neither did Sullivan have real sympathy with the Society of Arts' progressive social ideals of scholarship education regardless of social origin, despite having himself gained his education through scholarship support."<ref name=wright>Wright, David. "The South Kensington Music Schools and the Development of the British Conservatoire in the Late Nineteenth Century", ''Journal of the Royal Musical Association'', Oxford University Press, Vol. 130 No. 2, pp. 236–282</ref>|group= n}}

[[File:Sullivan by Millais.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Portrait by [[John Everett Millais|Millais]] (1888) in the [[National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom)|National Portrait Gallery]], London. It hangs next to [[Frank Holl]]'s 1886 portrait of [[W. S. Gilbert|Gilbert]].|alt=Painting of Sullivan, seated with one leg crossed over the other, looking intently at the artist]]

Sullivan's health was never robust – from his thirties his kidney disease often obliged him to conduct sitting down. He died of heart failure, following an attack of bronchitis, at his flat in London[[Westminster]] on 22 November 1900.<ref name=odnb>Jacobs, Arthur. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26772 "Sullivan, Sir Arthur Seymour (1842–1900)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004 (online edition, May 2006), accessed 8 July 2008 {{ODNBsub}}</ref> His ''[[Te Deum Laudamus (Sullivan)|Te Deum Laudamus]]'', written in expectation of victory in the Boer War, was performed posthumously.<ref>Howarth, Paul. [https://gsarchive.net/sullivan/boer/tedeum.html "''Te Deum Laudamus'', A Thanksgiving for Victory"], the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 12 January 2010, accessed 28 July 2018</ref>

Sullivan's operas have often been adapted, first in the 19th century as dance pieces<ref name=DanceArr/> and in foreign adaptations of the operas themselves. Since then, his music has been made into ballets (''[[Pineapple Poll]]'' (1951) and ''[[Pirates of Penzance – The Ballet!]]'' (1991)) and musicals (''[[The Swing Mikado]]'' (1938), ''[[The Hot Mikado (1939 production)|The Hot Mikado]]'' (1939) and ''[[Hot Mikado]]'' (1986), ''[[Hollywood Pinafore]]'' and ''[[Memphis Bound]]'' (both 1945), ''[[The Black Mikado]]'' (1975), etc.). His operas are frequently performed,<ref>Bradley (2005), pp. 30 and 68</ref> and also [[Parody|parodied]], [[pastiche]]d, quoted and imitated in [[Cultural influence of Gilbert and Sullivan|comedy routines, advertising, law, film, television, and other popular media]].<ref name=PeterDowns>Downs, Peter. [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/1147907091.html?dids=1147907091:1147907091&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+18%2C+2006&author=PETER+DOWNS&pub=Hartford+Courant&edition=&startpage=B.3&desc=ACTORS+CAST+AWAY+CARES+ "Actors Cast Away Cares"], ''Hartford Courant'', 18 October 2006 {{subscription}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924100855/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/1147907091.html?dids=1147907091:1147907091&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+18,+2006&author=PETER+DOWNS&pub=Hartford+Courant&edition=&startpage=B.3&desc=ACTORS+CAST+AWAY+CARES+ |date=24 September 2012 }}</ref><ref>Bradley, Chapter 1</ref> He has been portrayed on screen in ''[[The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan]]'' (1953) and ''[[Topsy-Turvy]]'' (2000).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170616224435/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b6b3127 "''The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan'' (1953)"] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20160811134127/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b81789b24 "''Topsy-Turvy''"], British Film Institute, accessed 13 December 2017.</ref> He is celebrated not only for writing the Savoy operas and his other works, but also for his influence on the development of modern American and British musical theatre.<ref name=PeterDowns/><ref>Jones, J. Bush. [https://books.google.com/books?id=WqQH31qkYNoC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=Bordman+pinafore&source=bl&ots=-4A-Dm231B&sig=UwT_XytKbxkRXtLo_OV7-_VTlps&hl=en&ei=RPzlSezEBpeUMcSs4I4J&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#PPA4,M1 ''Our Musicals, Ourselves''], pp. 10–11, 2003, Brandeis University Press: Lebanon, N.H. (2003) 1584653116</ref>

One of Sullivan's best-known devices is what Jacobs terms his "'counterpoint of characters': the presentation by different personages of two seemingly independent tunes which later come together" simultaneously. He was not the first composer to combine themes in this way,{{refn|An earlier exponent of the device was [[Hector Berlioz]], who called it the ''réunion de deux thèmes''. The article on Berlioz in ''Grove'' cites examples including the finale of the ''[[Symphonie fantastique]]'', where the "witches' sabbath" theme is combined with the [[Dies irae]].<ref>[[Hugh Macdonald (musicologist)|Macdonald, Hugh]]. [https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.51424 "Berlioz, (Louis-)Hector"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, 2001 accessed 11 October 2018 {{subscription}}</ref>|group= n}} but in Jacobs's phrase it became almost "the trademark of Sullivan's operetta style".<ref name=grove/><ref name=h78>Hughes, p. 78</ref> Sometimes the melodies were for solo voices, as in "I Am So Proud" (''The Mikado''), which combines three melodic lines.<ref>Hughes, pp. 79 and 81–82</ref> Other examples are in choruses, where typically a graceful tune for the women is combined with a robust one for the men. Examples include "When the Foeman Bares his Steel" (''The Pirates of Penzance''), "In a Doleful Train" (''Patience'') and "Welcome, Gentry" (''Ruddigore'').<ref>Hughes, pp. 79–80</ref> In "How Beautifully Blue the Sky" (''The Pirates of Penzance''), one theme is given to the chorus (in 2/4 time) and the other to solo voices (in 3/4).<ref>Rees, p. 80</ref>

[[File:Mikado-1917.jpg|thumb|upright|Advertisement for the first recording of ''[[The Mikado]]'', 1917|alt=Poster advertising, in plain type, a recording of ''The Mikado'']]

The first commercial recordings of Sullivan's music, beginning in 1898, were of individual numbers from the Savoy operas.{{refn|The first was "Take a pair of sparkling eyes", from ''The Gondoliers''.<ref>Wolfson, John (1973). "A history of Savoyard recordings", Notes to Pearl LP set GEM 118/120</ref>|group= n}} In 1917 the [[Gramophone Company]] (HMV) produced the first album of a complete Gilbert and Sullivan opera, ''The Mikado'', followed by eight more.<ref>Rollins and Witts, Appendix pp. x–xi; and Shepherd, Marc. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/narracou-doc.htm "The First D'Oyly Carte Recordings"], the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 18 November 2001, accessed 5 October 2014</ref> [[Sound recording and reproduction#Electrical|Electrical recordings]] of most of the operas issued by HMV and [[Victor Talking Machine Company|Victor]] followed from the 1920s, supervised by [[Rupert D'Oyly Carte]].<ref>Rollins and Witts, Appendix, pp. xi–xiii; and Shepherd, Marc. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/narrelec.htm "G&S Discography: The Electrical Era"], the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 18 November 2001, accessed 5 October 2014</ref> The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company continued to produce recordings until 1979.<ref>Shepherd, Marc. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/narrster-doc.htm "The D'Oyly Carte Stereo Recordings"], the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 24 December 2003, accessed 5 October 2014</ref> After the copyrights expired, recordings were made by opera companies such as [[Gilbert and Sullivan for All]]<ref>Shepherd, Marc. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/narrster-gsfa.htm "The Gilbert and Sullivan for All recordings"], the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, accessed 8 September 2011, accessed 5 October 2014</ref> and [[Opera Australia|Australian Opera]], and [[Malcolm Sargent|Sir Malcolm Sargent]]<ref>Shepherd, Marc. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/narrster.htm "G&S Discography: The Stereo Era"], the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, accessed 18 November 2001, accessed 5 October 2014</ref> and [[Charles Mackerras|Sir Charles Mackerras]] each conducted audio sets of several Savoy operas.<ref>Shepherd, Marc. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/narrdig-series.htm "G&S Discography: The Digital Era"], the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 27 August 2002, accessed 5 October 2014</ref><ref>Shepherd, Marc. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/narrvisual.htm "G&S on Film, TV and Video"], the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 18 November 2001, accessed 5 October 2014</ref> Since 1994, the [[International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival]] has released professional and amateur CDs and videos of its productions and other Sullivan recordings,<ref>[http://www.gsfestivals.org/product-category/dvds/ "DVDs"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205174946/https://www.gsfestivals.org/product-category/dvds/ |date=5 February 2020 }}, International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, accessed 10 December 2017</ref> and [[Ohio Light Opera]] has recorded several of the operas in the 21st century.<ref>Shepherd, Marc. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/narrdig-other.htm "The Ohio Light Opera Recordings"], the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 18 April 2010, accessed 2 December 2017</ref>

* {{cite book |last=Kreissle von Hellborn|first=Heinrich|translator=Arthur Duke Coleridge |others=Appendix by George Grove | title=The Life of Franz Schubert|volume=2| publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co| year=1869| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hpcPAAAAYAAJ |ref=none}}

[[Category:19th-century English musicianscomposers]]

[[Category:19th-century BritishEnglish male musicians]]