THREE SAVOYARD KNIGHTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 130, 4 June 1930, Page 6

THREE SAVOYARD KNIGHTS.

At the age of sixty-three, that doyen of all Savoyards, Harry A. Lytton, has had the honour ■of a knighthood conferred upon him. It is said in the picturesque phraseology of leader writers and other stylists that titles are conferred on those "the King delights to honour." Certainly, Henry A. Lytton has on many occasions delighted King George, whose favourite Gilbert and Sullivan opera is "The Gondoliers." t Tkis makes the third knighthood for the Saroy, as both Gilbert and Sullivan were similarly honoured. Gilbert's title was conferred rather belatedly, and was not received with enthusiasm by the great librettist, who was knighted by King Edward on June 30, 1907. Only six months before, When he had been sounded on the matter, says Isaac Goldberg, Gilbert had written to a. friend |hat the knighthood was a "tin-pot, twopenny-halfpenny sort of distinction, but as no dramatic author as such ever had it' for dramatic .-authorship alone, I felt I ought not to refuse it. I suppose it is to be given to me as a sort of impalpable, old age pension in consideration of my being a brokendown old ruin. Possibly the King may forget all about it (which wouldn't cause me a moment's annoyance), but those who know about these things say it is sure to bei" Gilbert looked the gift horse in the mouth and found several teeth missing. "S went yesterday to the investiture at Buckingham Palace," he wrote directly after he had been knighted, "and was duly tapped on both sliDujders by Edward VII., and then kissed hands, fl found myself politely described in the official list as Mr. William Gilbert, playwright, suggesting that my work was analogical to that of a wheelwright or a millwright .or .a wainwrightfor a shipwright, as regards the mechanical character of the process by which our respective rcs-iults arc achieved. There is an excellent word 'dramatist' which seems to fit the situation, but ; ,it is not applied until we are dead, and then we become dramatists, as oxen, sheep.and pigs' are transfigured into beef, mutton and pork alter their demise. You never hear of a novclwright or a picturewright or a poemwright;' and why a play wright? When 'The Gondoliers' was ooinmanded at Windsor by her late Majesty, the piece was described as 'by Sir Arthur Sullivan,' t)>e librettist being too insignificant an insect to be worth mentioning on a programme which contained the name of the wig-maker in bold type! And I had to pay £S7 10/ as my share of sending the piece down to Windsor, besides forfeiting my share of the night's profits at the Savoy!"

Now to turn to Sullivanj On December 6, ISS2, Mr. Gladstone sent Sullivan a letter of thanks for the privilege of witnessing "lolanthe." "Nothing," he wrote, in the very style of the Lord Chancellor, "could be:happier than the manner in which the comic ,tstrain of the piece was blended with its harmonies of sight and sound, so good in taste arid so admirable in execution from beginning to end." In the following year, on May 3, he further wrote to Sullivan, "I have the pleasure to inform you that I am permitted by Her Majesty' to propose that you should receive the honouf' of knighthood, in recognition of your distinguished talents as a composer and. of the services which, you have rendered to=,the promotion of music generally in this country. I. hope it may he agreeable to you to accept the proposal." .

Sullivan notes in his diary for 1S81: "I ran down to Cowes for a night to stay with the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh at Osborne Cottage to discuss the question of knighthood. I firmly and strongly declined it—or, rather, would decline it if it were offered to me. lj don't want to be one of a batch, nor do I care for a knighthood at all." On May 27, going to Windsor to receive the decoration,. Sullivan [was accompanied by Macfaren and George Grove, who were also knighted at the same investiture. "The Musical Review" contained the following extraordinary statements in an article on Sullivan following the conferring of the tit|c: 'To use a slightly stale expression, nohlessk oblige, some things that Mr. Arthur Sullivan may do, Sir Arthur Sullivan ought not to do. In other words, it will look rather more than odd to see announced in the papers that a new I comic opera is in preparation, the book by MrJW.S. Gilbert and the music by Sir Arthur Sullivan. A musical knight can hardly write shop ballads, either; he must not dare to soil his hand with anything less than an anthem, or a, madrigal; oratorio, in which he has so conspicuously /shone, and symphony, must now be his lino. "Here is' not only an opportunity, but a positive obligation for him to return to : the sphere from which he has too long descended. Again we would beg him' to remember that he alone of all his brother knights possesses youth and strength, and, therefore, it is to him that we look, to wield the knightly sword—to. do battle for [the honour of English art. Let him, with all jliis native activity and energy, with that scorn of the dol.ee far nienic which characterises hiifi, stand forth as the champion and leader against all foreign rivals, and arouse us thoroughly-from our present halftorpid condition. Let our' musical daze be broken by our musical knight, find that night prove the forerunner of brighter days." Luckily for us this stupid advice to drop Writing comic opera was never taken by Sullivan,-'otherwise wc would have had no "Princess Ida,"'"Mikado," "Rudcli<*ore " "Yeoman of the Guard,*' "Gondoliers," "Utopia, Ltd*," or "Grand Duke.'* Had Gilbert's sourness and soreness anything f?o do with the fact that almost a quarter of a fcentury divided the two knighthoods ?

Now for number three'. For over five and forty years Henry A. Lytton has played in Savoy opera, his various parts totalling thirty. Engaged by Mr. D'Oyly Carte, lie "has never looked back. "Not mucjh of a voice,'' was the conductor's verdict. "Never mi ml," replied Mr. Carte, "he will do as understudy for David Fisher as 'King Gania.'" His salary was £2 a" week, but. as his wife was engaged' also at the same salary they were in clover, especially on top of heart-breaking unprofitable touring in■ the provinces with a band ..of seven optimists .who thought they wore actors. To get into the company Lytton and his bride (Louie Henri) passed off as brother and sister, and this led to com-

plications, but the entanglement was ultimately straightened out. Lytton admits that he can not read a line of music, but as his sense of rhythm has always been very strong, this has helped him enormously, both in his. songs and dances. The interest in Gilbert and Sullivan operas is, in the opinion of Sir jgreater •; to-day' than iu those days when Savoy 'ffirst nights" were events of almost national importance, and newsboys rushed along the Strand with placards bearing the magic words, "Nfcwf Savoy Production." Iu his opinion Gilbert and Sullivan lovers are growing not only in numbers, but in keenness.

It is a remarkable thijig, in his opinion, that the operas are still given exactly as they were in the time of the two geniuses who created them. No "cuts" are permitted or alterations allowed, and this, no doubt, probably accounts in some measure for their continued success. In honouring the.ablest, active, surviving Savoyard, His Majesty is expressing by an act of gracioushess the affection in which Gilbert and Sullivan opera and its most distinguished exponent sre held the wide world over. Honour to whom honour is due.