“G. & S. ”

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10950, 12 July 1921, Page 5

“G. & S. ”

IMMORTAL PARTNERSHIP GILBERT AND SULLIVAN AND THEIR OPERAS. DELIGHT OF A GENERATION. “The immortal partnership.” These words, which have often been applied to the association of Gilbert •and Sullivan, in the production of Comic operas, whose revival ie now delighting- all classes of the theatreloving folk of New Zealand, recall events that surrounded the early history ,of “The Mikado” and other efforts by the famous collaborators. IN EARLY YEARS. Gilbert was born in London in 1836, and his career may be said to have commenced at the age of two years, when he was kidnapped by bandits at Naples, '*hnd ransomed for £25. He showed an early capacity for dramatic production' and long before he rose to he head coy at the Great Ealing School he was writing plays for his schoolmates, painting the scenery and aoting in them himself., He spent four years in what he described as “tho ill-organised and ill-governed office of the education department of the Privy Council,” where he gained much material for his later caricatures of the officers of the Civil Service. As‘ unexpected legacy of £3OO brought: him to “the happiest day of ,my life,’’ when he resigned. He then entefifed the - Inner Temple as a barris~ter, but earned only £75 in two years. .Meantime, he was contributing articles to humour magazines, but his association with “punch” terminated 4vhen the editor refused to accept his “Wreck of the Nancy Bell,” for the reason that it was too cannibalistic for. its readers. Then he took to writing burlesques, but it was not till the appearance of “Bab Ballads,” called after Gilbert’s pet-name, that . he established his reputation as a whimsical humourist in verse. Then he met Sullivan. Sullivan was born m a musciai atmosphere, six years after Gilbert. His father was a bandmaster, and professor of tlie clarionet. When he was fourteen, he won the Mendelssohn Scholarship, and continued Lis studieg at the Leipzig Conservatoriuro, where he was a contemporary of Bach and Carl Rosa. He was launched into London musical society by his music to Shakespeare’s “Tempest.” -His first operetta of note was “Cox and Box,” an adaptation of a well-known farce, set, by Sullivan with a brightness and drollery that at once put ,him in the highest rank as a comic coinuoser. ' > *s ~ ' THE FIRST ASSOCIATION. The first association of Gilbert and Sullivan, .in their “immortal partnership,” is believed to have been in “Thespis, or the Gods Grown . Old,” an operable extravaganza. “Trial hy J ury ” had a great run, owing in part to the humorous conception of the character of the judge hy Sullivan’s brother, Frederick. Neither of these, however, took a real hold on the puhlie. “The Sorcerer” was a new departure, and ran for 175 nights. The oompany formed for this piece, hy D’Oyley Carte included tho admirable artist, George Groespiith, and it was retained for the production of “H.M.S. Pinafore,” three years later, in 1878. Gilbert went down to Portsmouth, and was rowed about the harbour, visiting several warships, and finally pitched pn the quarter-deck ef the Victory for the “Pinafore” scenery, obtaining permission to sketch, and model the ship in every detail. “Pinafore’’ ran for’ 700 nights in London, and, according to a writer in “Scribner's Monthly,” was received in New York “with enthusiasm, bordering on insanity.” An attempt to bring opt the piece in Berlin as “Amor/ am Bord” failed, owing t<j the impossibility of anything like political caricature in Germany. The fund of' droll satire oh currfent topics is fully kept up in “The Pirates of Penzance” and “Patience,” the latter being a satire on the aesthetic movement of the day. During its run, the company moved to the Savoy Theatre, built specially for these operas in 1881. “lolanthe” was produced towards the end of 1882, ‘‘Prmcess Ida” in January, 1884, and the most successful of the whole series, “The Mikado,” on March 14th, 1885. ' The “Yeoanen of the Guard” appeared in 1888, and “The Gondoliers’’ in the following yeair. “The Mikado” ran for t?vo years, and wag staged for 5000 nights in America. It is stated that Gilbert, Sullivan and D’Oyley Oarte each made £BO,OOO out of it. . “OLD SAVOY DAYS.” Up to this time, the triple partnership had remained ..unbroken, and uniform favour grew with successive undertakings. From the time of the rupture the, people ? pined for “the old Savoy days,” and there was 'national rejoicing when, in October; 1893, the next Gilbert and Sullivan opera, “Utopia, Limited,” appeared. Tlie continuance of tlie famous collaboration was once more broken in 1896. It was found impossible to keep the • vogue the theatre had so long enjoyed, and the more educated portions of the publia showed a 'decided, (inclination to return to the Savoy form of entertainment, and, while the popularity of the operas never' decreased, the -curious prohibition of “The Mikado,” owing to its possible offence to Japan, and the still more curious withdrawal of the prohibition, placed it higher in popular favour than ever before. It was. at this time generally felt that Sulliv an was devoting himself too exclusively to the light music in which he was so accomplished a master, and a new theatre 'was built at •Cambridge Oircus by ITOyley Carte to realise the hope that he’ would apply his gifts to the production of a serious opera on some subject of national interest. “Ivanhoe,” a grand opera in three acts, to a libretto by Julian Sturgis, was produced, but circumstances contributed to the failure of the undertaking. HYMN AND SATIRE. Sir Arthur Sullivan’s hymn tunes—there are 56 in all—would have made him famous alone. Some of them, such as “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” have become great favourites. His vocal w;arks were as well known in his day as his operas. “Among tho better known are the “Arabian Love Song” qnd, “The Lost Chord.” 'His last composition in the shape of a single song, was “Tlie Absent-Minded Beggar.” to the words of Kipling, which served itp purpose of obtaining monetary aid for the charities consequent on tho Boer War. Sir William Gilbert was the most outstanding figure among Victorian playwrights. Few contemporary writers for the stage made so much money; none aoquired so wide a fame. In all hie writings there is, an effort at literary grace and finish. His humour consists mainly in illogical topsy-turvy-dom, in a vein so peculiar to Gilbert a® to justify the bestowal on it of the epithet, “Galbertian.” The success of hie writings was due to three main causes—they satirised current fciblca.

were entirely free from coarseness or vulgarity, and were associated with the excellent lyrics of. Sullivan. He died through heart failure, brought ou by over-exertion in saving a young woman from drowning.