Arthur Sullivan

Sir Arthur S. Sullivan (May 13, 1842 - November 22, 1900) was a British composer best known for his operatic collaborations with librettist William S. Gilbert.

Sullivan was born in London. His father was a military bandmaster, and by the time Arthur had reached the age of 8, he was proficient with all the instruments in the band. Following a stay at private school in Bayswater, he was admitted to the choir of the Chapel Royal, attending its school in Cheyne Walk under Thomas Helmore. While there, he began to compose anthems and songs. In 1856, he received the first Mendelssohn prize and became a student at the Royal Academy of Music until 1858.

In 1858, Sullivan travelled to Leipzig, where he continued his studies and took up conducting. He credited this period with tremendous musical growth, and his return to London in 1862 saw the production of his incidental music to Shakespeare's The Tempest performed at the Crystal Palace. He began building a reputation as Britain's premier composer, and 1866 saw the first performance of his Symphony in E (Irish). Other pieces from this period include the overture In Memoriam (1866), the song The Lost Chord (1877), the oratorio The Prodigal Son (1869) and the well-known tune to the hymn Onward Christian Soldiers (1872).

In 1866, he supplemented his income by producing the musical score to a one act operetta, Cox and Box. This led to his most famous and lucrative works as a composer for the musical theatre.

In the autumn of 1867, he travelled with Sir George Grove to Vienna, returning with a treasure-trove of undiscovered Schubert scores.

In 1872, John Hollingshead commissioned Sullivan to work with Gilbert to create the operetta Thespis for the Gaiety Theatre. The show was not a success and the score was subsequently lost, though one number was later re-used in The Pirates of Penzance.

Gilbert and Sullivan's real collaborative efforts began in 1875 when Richard D'Oyly Carte commissioned them to write a one act piece, Trial by Jury. Its success was so great that the three men formed an often turbulent partnership which lasted for twenty years and fourteen operettas. Trial was followed in 1877 by The Sorcerer, and in 1878 by their greatest success so far, HMS Pinafore. This last was much pirated in America, and in 1879, Gilbert and Sullivan crossed the Atlantic to protect their copyrights, producing The Pirates of Penzance in New York.

Shortly after returning to England, Sullivan was knighted by Queen Victoria.

Despite the financial solvency the Savoy operas gave him, Sullivan always viewed his work with Gilbert as unimportant and beneath his skills. Furthermore he was unhappy that he was having to tone down his music to ensure that Gilbert's words could be heard. In 1890, Sullivan broke away from Gilbert following the production of The Gondoliers and, with D'Oyly Carte, produced his only grand opera, Ivanhoe, at the new English Opera House. He returned to work with Gilbert on two more operettas and wrote three more with other collaborators.

Sullivan, who had suffered from ill health throughout his life, painfully succumbed to bronchitis on November 22, 1900. A monument in his memory was erected in the Victoria Gardens (London).