Our topic today is the collaboration of Gilbert and Sullivan, and their contributions

to musical theater. William S. Gilbert (1836-1911) was an English born dramatist and

librettist. Before making a name for himself as a lyricist, he attended Kings College in

London and began studying for the bar exam. While his legal career was very brief, it did

allow him to understand how to cope with the financially haphazard Victorian theater, and

provided inspiration for future musical plots in both his own works and his collaborations

with Sullivan. His first successful play was a musical burlesque called Dulcamara, or The

Little Duck and the Great Quack in 1866.

Unlike American burlesque, which was at its core a variety show, the Europeans saw

it as a dramatic work which ridiculed stage conventions. Dulcamara resembled a short

musical revue with its 5 scene structure based on Donizettis LElisir dAmore a

melodrama giocoso or comic opera which premiered in 1832. While Gilbert wrote the

lyrics for the show, he recycled music from other composers ranging from the source

material by Donizetti, to popular tunes of the day such as Hot Corn and When Johnny

Comes Marching Home. After this success, Gilbert went on to write another four opera

burlesques over the next 3 years which all complied with the traditions of the time:

rhyming couplets for dialogue, puns, new lyrics being set to existing music, and actresses

playing male roles.

Gilberts style was very specific, and often included stories where absurd premises

are taken all the way through to their logical conclusions. His lyrics contain intricate

rhymes, extreme wit for intelligent characters, as well as the use of invented and obscure

words as needed to fit the rhyme scheme of a piece of music for example, the Major
General in Pirates says the scientific names of beings animalcuolous an animalcule is a

microscopic animal, and amilalcuolous is nonsense.

While Gilbert had a varied career as a writer, Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) was

trained as a musician from birth. He was the son of a bandmaster, entered the Chapel Royal

as a chorister in 1854, and had his first sacred song published in 1855 at the age of 13. His

studies sent him to Germany in 1858 where he studied at the Liepzig Conservatory and had

a life devoted to music in various jobs as an organist, ballet composer, and eventually he

contributed to the musical theater canon through his work with Gilbert. Sullivan has his

own unique style with his music orchestrations generally sounded closer to classical

music popular at the time, much like those that Mozart or Haydn would use instead of

Romantic music. Additionally, while his music does not often stray from the initial tonic for

long, he makes frequent use of Tonic pedal tones underneath dominant chords. [PLAY

EXAMPLES AT PIANO AND SHOW SCORE OF POUR OH POUR THE PIRATE SHERRY [Sams

Line] and ACT 1 FINALE [Entrance of Pirates]]

Before we talk about their collaboration, it is important to understand what

European theater looked like leading into the 19th century. Puritan values were imposed on

the country after the civil wars of the mid seventeenth-century. This meant that prominent

holidays including Christmas and Easter were suppressed, and recreational past times such

as gambling and theater were banned. While exceptions were made for virtuous art such

as opera, it wasnt until 1662 that Charles II granted permission to Thomas Killigrew and

William Daveant to allow performances of tragedies, comedies, plays, opera, music, scenes,

and all other entertainment of the stage. These men founded the Theater Royal at Drury
Lane and Covent Garden. These were the only two authorized theaters until 1766 when

King George III granted a patent to Samuel Foote running the Little Theater in the

Haymarket. While these theaters were the only three authorized for performances, other

theater did exist, but remained under threat of interference by authorities.

In 1737, a Licensing Act was passed required all plays to be read and approved by

Lord Chamberlins (senior officer of Royal Household of the UK) office. This act was created

to both protect theater patents, as well as to give the government the ability to censor

shows --- particularly those which involved political attacks on the government. This

underwent revisions in 1843 by limiting the powers given to the Lord Chamberlin by only

allowing performances to be rejected if it is fitting for the preservation of good manners

[and] decorum. Additionally, local authorities were able to license small theaters which

broke the monopoly of the patented theaters of the time. Despite this the patented theaters

saw themselves as the guardians of Shakespeare, spoken comedy and opera, so the smaller

theaters turned to other types of performances including mime, circus, and imported

entertainment such as burletta from Italy.

In order for these comedies to take place, changes had to be made to avoid

confrontations with the patented theaters. Music had to be included, but instead of having

full orchestras, they were often reduced to a simple piano or harpsichord as

accompaniment. Songs become shorter and less frequent, however dialogue was still

written in prose or sung in recitative. According to the Theatrical Inquisitor in 1812 the

tinkling of the piano and the jingling of the rhyme were still the distinctive marks of the

burletta.
 The 19th century gave a rapid expansion of Westminster, particularly of the middle

class, and new audiences were created who were starving for entertainment. The middle

class became more important to the theater with the development of railways and omnibus

services. By the 1860s, it was estimated that 15,000 people attended the theater every

night. However, the theater still had a stigma of illegitimacy, and the middle class who

wanted to keep their new status shied away from the theater. Reforms would have to take

place in the theater to tap into this new audience, and Elizabeth Vestris (manager of the

Covent Garden theater with husband Charles James Matthew) helped to set a new standard.

The backstage area was kept clean and orderly, men were no longer allowed in the wings to

stare at the performers, the green room was furnished in the same way a noblemans

drawing room would be, and only close friends of the performers were allowed to visit it

and were always in their evening dress.

Vestris also brought J.R. Planch into the theater. This playwright helped to develop

a new, lavish production style and introduced the dead-pan acting style which is

associated with Gilbert. This style cemented the importance of playing whatever the

characters said, regardless of how inappropriate or absurd, must be played in a matter-of-

fact way. It is at this time that Gilbert came into burlesque with Dulcamara.

After Gilbert wrote his other burlesques, he was approached by John Hollingshead

of the Gaiety Theater. This led to the creation of Thespis, or The Gods Grown Old, the first

collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan. While Gilbert had written for the theater in the

past, it is unknown exactly how Sullivan became involved in the project. Sullivan was best

known for his serious music, but after the failure of the Royal National Opera which he was
set to conduct in 1871, he was free to explore other collaborations. The arrival of Sullivan

set in motion the transformation of burlesque to operetta. Instead of recycling previous

written music, we were now given new lyrics and new music. Unfortunately, most of the

music for Thespis is lost, but once piece was reused with new lyrics in Pirates of Penzance

(Climbing over rocky mountains a chorus number).

After a successful first collaboration, the two were brought together again in 1874

by Richard Doyly Carte musical director and assistant manager of the Royalty theater. He

needed a companion piece to present with Offenbachs La Perichole, and a one act opera

was created called Trial by Jury (1875). Opening in 1875, the show was considered a hit

running for 131 performances, even outrunning Offenbachs piece. The story concerns a

breach of promise of marriage lawsuit which presented the judge and legal system as

objects of satire. Characters behaved as if the events were reasonable despite their

absurdity, and like most of the G&S operas, featured an absurd plot where everything is

nicely wrapped up in the last scene. The success of this play launched 13 collaborative

works which became known as Savoy Operas. I do want to play a few pieces from this

opera to introduce the first of the Savoy Operas to you which will allow you to get an idea

of the Gilbert and Sullivan sound which remained similar throughout the shows.

The first piece is sung by The Learned Judge, played by Sullivans brother Fred in the

original production. The role is written for a comic baritone, and set the stage for future

patter songs (songs with a fast tempo and a monosyllabic text setting that became a staple

of comic opera, and continues to be used in modern musicals). [PLAY Naxos Music Library

Catalogue Number CHAN10321 Track 21]

absurdity of the plot, as well as the judges unconventional verdict. [PLAY Naxos Music

Library Catalogue Number CHAN10321 Tracks 30 and 31].

The success of the opera led Gilbert and Sullivan to follow a pattern for most of their

future operas. For example, 12 out of 13 open with a chorus number (Yeoman of the Guard

is the exception) and end with a fairly short finale which is primarily a full company

number with various solo lines interspersed. As mentioned before, the baritone/bass

patter song was often used, and the tenor arias being in 6/8 time a fact parodied by opera

singer Anna Russel in her 1953 parody How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan

Opera -- listening to this will be part of your homework for the next class, and while

meant as a parody, the techniques she describes can be found in the majority of G&S

Collaborations. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUvdFMO4Xgg]

Moving forward, after Trial by Jury, several producers wanted to put the team

together to create a full length show. However, Carte was able to bring G&S together in

1877 after forming the Comedy Opera Company which would allow for the production of

full length works. Performances were held at the Savoy Theater, and unlike their prior

collaborations, they would now be able to select their own actors for the performances

instead of simply using those who were under contract with the opera house. They were

able to find talented performers, many of whom had not had a big break yet, and were able

to mold them into the style of the operas. Their first work with this new company was The

Sorcerer in 1877, based upon a story that Gilbert had written in 1876 called An Elixir of
Love. This expanded story was the first full length Savoy Opera created by G&S and

continued to follow the formula set up with Trial by Jury.

The team then made one of their most popular pieces, H.M.S. Pinafore: or, The Lass

That Loved a Sailor. The opera opened in May of 1878 and ran for 571 performances. While

their other shows had all been successful, this was their first mega-hit. In addition to the

long run in Europe, America has now heard of G&S, and touring companies mounted the

show throughout Europe and America unfortunately, these productions were

unauthorized and did not pay the composers royalties. Like other Gilbert and Sullivan

shows, this one retained the same topsy-turvey feel that the duo have successfully written

in the past with a focus on a satire of the Royal Navy, and obsession with social status.

Satire and social status are a major part of their work, and this slide gives a very basic

theme of each of the operas. [SHOW TABLE A]

As you can see, once Trial by Jury opened, they created, rehearsed, and opened a

new opera every one to two years. However, after The Gondoliers, it took 4 years to get the

next play up and running. Up to this point, the shows they wrote have been very successful

over all, and the two were at the peak of their collaboration. In April of 1890, Gilbert wrote

to Sullivan:

"I have had a difficulty with Carte

"I was appalled to learn from him that the preliminary expenses of
the Gondoliers amounted to the stupendous sum of 4,500!!! This
seemed so utterly unaccountable that I asked to see the details and
last night I received a resum of them.... [Costume and set expenses
enumerated.] But the most surprising item was 500 for new carpets
for the front of the house!"
 Gilbert was upset because according to their contract with Carte, expenses for the

production would be deducted first, and then Gilbert, Sullivan, and Carte would divide the

remaining income Gilbert felt that new carpets should not have been taken out of the

show profits, and according to him, Carte refused to reconsider this, and other disputed

items. This led to an escalation where Sullivan eventually sided with Carte, brought to

court, and the partnership was (temporarily) disbanded. While the story of this departure

is infamous, it must be made clear that the dispute was not simply about the money spent

on the carpet instead, Gilbert felt for several years that Carte was not honest in their

business dealings and this was a chance to try and prove that. The judge agreed that Carte

would need to pay Gilbert some additional money, and he felt that this vindicated his

attitude in court. At this point he tried to reach out to Sullivan and Carte, who were not

receptive. It was only after conversations with their publisher that they decided to

collaborate on their final two operas. The lawsuit had left the two with a less collegial

working relationship however, and neither of the two shows were as successful as those

shows in the past.

Throughout their collaboration, as first occurred with Pinafore, unauthorized

productions of their shows were popping up. With the fiasco that happened with Pinafore,

Carte was determined to protect the American rights to Gilbert and Sullivans next opera.

While copyright laws were lax at the time, Carte chose to mount two productions of their

next show, The Pirates of Penzance at the same time. The opera premiered in American on

December 31, 1879 at the 5th Avenue Theater in NYC. This allowed the work to be under

copyright in the US. In order to satisfy copyright London, there was a single production of

the show performed in London on December 30, 1879. The law at the time required a work
by English Subjects must first be performed in England to secure copyright for the piece.

The production rehearsed fully and opened on April 3 of 1880. Today, Pirates of Penzance

and H.M.S. Pinafore are the most popular work of this duo and productions of each are

mounted regularly.

To close out the class today, I want to share a document which allows us to track the

formula used by Gilbert and Sullivan in three of their major shows Pinafore, Pirates, and

Mikado.

TABLE B