As a firm believer in the music of the spheres,
in the curative powers of cheerful dance and song, and as an enemy of
dissonance and discord everywhere, I wish to celebrate the Savoy Operas
of Gilbert and Sullivan, which gave late Victorian England and the whole world
a wonderful abundance of melodic music, rib-tickling comedy and innocent pleasure.
Gilbert and Sullivan (“G&S”) collaborated,
with some interruptions, from 1871 to 1896, They produced 14 Savoy
Operas, named after the Savoy Theatre which D’Oyly Carte built and opened to
house them in 1880. The Savoy Operas were immensely successful, most notably HMS
Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Patience, Iolanthe, The Mikado and The
Gondoliers. Indeed, so substantial were the profits they generated that
D’Oyly Carte was able to acquire the land adjoining his theatre and erect the
palatial Savoy Hotel which opened in 1889, for long London’s best luxury hotel.
Richard D’Oyly Carte
Sullivan was often berated by the snooty music
establishment for “wasting” his talent on the popular genre of operetta,
when he might have rivalled Brahms in composing concertos and symphonies. Yet he
had a great lyric talent as can be seen in his Overture to the Yeomen
of the Guard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv7plNo0j18&ab_channel=AcademyofSt.MartinintheFields-Topic
Gilbert was renowned for his “topsy-turvy”
plots, the more far-fetched the better, involving fairies, peers, pirates,
long-lost children, executioners and emperors. Typical is Faint Heart
from Iolanthe where the Lord Chancellor is steeled by fellow-peers to
propose to a pretty ward of court.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQqgoHklUs4&ab_channel=FriendsofthePeccadilloPlayers
From the same opera is the mock-patriotic song,
When Britain really ruled the waves parodying the House of Lords:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyimj8CEypU&ab_channel=D%27OyleCarteOperaCompany-Topic.
Gilbert gloried in alliteration and word-play –
this from The Mikado:
To sit in Solemn silence in a dull, dark dock
In a pestilential prison with a life-long lock
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big, black
block!
Gilbert’s speciality was the patter-song, a
satirical song with an ever-rising tempo. Now I am the ruler of the Queen’s Navee
from HMS Pinafore is a typical example. WH Smith, bookseller and Tory MP,
became known as “Pinafore” Smith when he was appointed to run the Admiralty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfao1s3Tiek&ab_channel=StratfordFestival.
Sometimes Gilbert contented himself with a
comic song attacking contemporary targets, constantly updated by new
generations of singer – famously, I’ve got a little list from The
Mikado
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NLV24qTnlg&ab_channel=OperaAustralia
G&S have a wry look at equality with the
delightful There was a king from The Gondoliers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie4OwwmFj8o&ab_channel=Gilbert%26SullivanAustin
One could go on forever selecting one’s
favourites, so let me sign off with two lovely songs from The Gondoliers
and The Mikado. - Take a pair of sparkling eyes and He’s going
to marry Yum Yum!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FMldbPNZzg&ab_channel=stevethetenor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnaHqL4bkX8&ab_channel=jlf180
Both Gilbert and Sullivan were deservedly
knighted. Sullivan produced an opera Ivanhoe which was a moderate
success but the Savoy Operas were their apogee. D’Oyly Carte retained the copyrights and their
touring companies delighted audiences in the UK, USA, Australia and elsewhere
for generations. Schoolmasters and many “Savoyards” could recite the operas
backwards but fashions change and expensive touring ended when the UK Arts
Council withdrew their grant in 1982.
G&S’s
Savoy Operas were for many a highly agreeable stepping stone weaning them to
Grand Opera and opening up the world of music to much larger audiences. Their
influence on the American musical was considerable with patter-songs from
Rodgers and Hart (Zip) or Cole Porter (Anything Goes) widely enjoyed.
Let’s lift our glasses in gratitude to Gilbert
and Sullivan!
SMD
1.11.22
Text copyright © Sidney
Donald 2022
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