Sir A. Sullivan's Golden Legend.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 181, 4 December 1886, Page 2

Sir A. Sullivan's Golden Legend.

As to Sir Arthur Sullivan's " (-iouien Legend," the composer looks upon thi- as hie best work, not from the theory that the last baby is always the pet of the father, but; because in construction and in instrumentation it is more elaborate and more o refully worked out than anything he has yefc done. A peal of four bells has beers i-po-cially cast for the Prologue, in which i ucifer and the powers of the air are tryin<; to tear down the cross from the top ct iffiaaburg Cathedral. The words, as I eta ted months ago, are taken from Longfollow'a well-known poem, and have beon selected and arranged with his usual skill by Mi j; Bennett. The legend is a very old one, and exists in French and in German. Longfellow's poem has been set several times before—by Dudley Buck, an American, by the; Rev. H. Hodson, and others. Sullivan's setting iB in pix scenes, a prologue and epilogue. Each scene is continuous and dramatic, and with one exception the Evening Hymn chorus, there is no isolated number that can be taken out and performed separately. The composer has made use of the bass clarinet, not as a polo instrument, but as an integral part of the orchestra. lam not sorry that those who think so little of comic operas that one would think they need only sit down and pour out half a dozen any day, should hear of what Sullivan has shown himself capable in " The Golden Leffend."