ARTHUR SEYMOUR SULLIVAN

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1506, 10 January 1901, Page 23

ARTHUR SEYMOUR SULLIVAN

THE TYPICAL ENG'IiIS'H -COMPOSE®/. “Great Britain a non-musical nation? .. That notion was exploded long ago ; yon f! will find %iore music in this oountry than in any other country in the world.” ■.So said Sir Arthur Sullivan to an interviewer a year or two ago, and the remark was not only the expression or a strong belief, but also the secret of the late composer’s success. Half Irish and half Italian, he was essentially. English. He understood the English; he knew exactly what they wanted—and gave it to them. There was nothing tempestuous about his genius, nothing revolutionary, nothing bizarre. He was always tasteful, always mindful of the proprieties always English. _ ; So' his music- is part of our national life. The opening bars of ‘The Lost •Chord” bring an appreciative 'burst of applause fro m any concert audience whether the song is to : be sung by a Clara Butt or played on the cornet by a Howard Reynolds. “The Absent-Minded Beggar” was whistled! over haJlf the world a week after it was composed. The martial awing of ' “Onward/, Christian Coldlers” lias aroused the enthusiasm of thousands

cf persons at every sort of religious assembly, while the tender strains or “Nearer, my God, to Thee” have become the typical accompaniment to devotion all over the English-speaking world. THE GILBERT AND' SULLIVAN OPERAS. But it is in his collaboration with Mr W. S, Gilbert in the creation of Savoy opera that Sir Arthur Sullivan’s fame will live. Together they found a recipefor an entertainment bright, clever, ex. hilarating, and, at the same time, entirely wholesome and clean. The Offenbach operas bouffes may have been smarter, their music may have had the touch of absolute genius, but they were Parisian, and Empire Parisian, and, however bowdlerised their librettos might be, they never could become acclimatised in this country. There Ms not much to be proud of in the original light musical compositions of the Victorian era, but in j-a wilderness of sillj' burlesques and inane musical comedies the Gilbert and Sullivan operas i*emain as. artistically perfect as they are delightfully humorous.

One great reason of the success cf the famous collaboration was Sir Arthur Sullivan’s great faculty for catching the •humorous intent of his librettist and exactly fitting the music to the words. It is only necessary to read Mr Gilbert’s verses to understand how difficult it must have been to write melodious settings for them at all, and Arthur (Sull'ivaul’s ' entire success is the measure of his genius. Th e operas, the characters, and the songs are household words. Who, for instance, does not know the policeman’s song in the “Pirates of Penzance,” the “Ruler of the Queen’s Navee” in “Pinafore,” the sentry’s song in “lolantlie,” the “Very Intense Young Man” from “Pa_ tience,” the madrigal and half a dozen ether airs from “The -Mikado,” the “Merry Man and! the Maid,” from -“The Yeoman of the Guard,” and so on ? UNIVERSALLY POPULAR. The fact is, the Gilbert and Sullivan operas are so universally known because they appeal to t-h© whole English' public and not to a section of it. It is said that the Savoy audience is recruited mainly from Ciapham and Brixton, but though Ciapham and Brixton are always well represented, Mayfair ancl Bloomsbury are always there too. Smart society and til© “"music-ball young man” may both pose as considering the Savoy Theatre dull, but the former make a point of buying stalls, while the latter wait hours to get into the gallery. Persons who would never be seen at the Gaiety,. and may even have qualms about the Lyceum, will visit the Savoy alternately with Maskelyne and) Cook and the Crystal Palace. At the Savoy you find the curate, the Dissenting minister, and the “aunt from the country,” cheek by jowl with the * ‘man about town” and the hardened playgoer. The audience is a thoroughly representative assemblage of Englishmen, come to witness a thoroughly representative English entertainment. In the provinces the operas have had the same vogue as in London. The visits of the famous D’Oyly Carte “C” Company, with its repertoire of operas, are still eagerly looked for in the principal towns, and the seats booked weeks before hand. PERMANENTLY POPULAR. ' That the operas will live- has been shown- by the complete success of the recent revivals. “Trial by Jury,” “The Sorcerer,” “H.M.S. Pinafore,” “The Pirates of Phnzance,” and “Patience,” have ail been fo,und ; to still posses a large measure of attraction. Mr Gilbert’s satire may have become a little out of date, but- the humour of the story and! the beauty of the mu-sie remain, and the public, weary of the meaningless librettos and “three in a bar” scores of variety farces, has willingly revived “memories of the past.” When the differences arose and the partntiship was broken. Savoy comic opera practically cam© to an end. MiGilbert might try new composers and Sil* Arthur Sullivan new authors, hut the result was by comparison mere “sounding brass and tinkling cymbals.” Each man’s work was a complement of the- other’s, and without the other neither could do much. As far as Sir Arthur Sullivan was concerned he was perhaps the mostsuccessful with Captain Basil Hood, and “The Rose of Persia” had a good deal of the old L time atmosphere and charm. “The Emerald Isle,” on which he was engaged with Captain Hood at the time of his death, was his first essay on an Irish subject, and as it- was practically completed Mr Carte will doubtless arrange for its production, as soon as possible. HIS CHORAL WORKS. Sir Arthur Sullivan could not have been* as typically English a-s he was without writing for that most English cf institutions, the Choral Society, for which, by the way, he had a very great admiration. He was for nearly twenty years the conductor of the Leeds Festival, where his “Martyr of Antioch” was first played in 1883. Many competent critics consider that “The Light of the World” contains his most musicianly and inspired work, and “The Golden Legend” is of course among the most popular items of the Albert Hall Society’s repertoire.

There mar be mar.v doubts as to wnetner, ,despite ©ir Aiviiars -coimJ.an.ee, we English do know much or core- muok about music. Bur the fact that he has been -o long and so generally recognised as the people's "musical laureate” must surely be counted to us for righteousness. It is sad to think that Sir Arthur Sullivan is dead and that Mr Gilbert ,is very unlikely ever to write again, and •that there is no one to take their place, but perhaps the most reasonable -feeling is thankfulness to them for having given us so much. In his sense of humour, in his gift of melody, and in his power for graceful orchestration Sir Arthur Sullivan, has had few equals among musicians, and if may be said with confidence that h© will always be remembered as the typical English composer of the latter half of the nineteenth century. Personally, h© was the .most amiable of men. In bis capacity of artist it is said he was severe and exigent, but as a companion he was delightful. Hewas welcomed as a friend in the highest circles, and his discretion was perfect. Society pleased him. as much -as he charmed it, for he was interested in everything and knew everything. ll© warmed both hands at the fire- of life, and he greeted the approach or death, which had long been apparent, with cf cheery smile and a. courtly composure.