Sir William Schwenck Gilbert

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (November 18, 1836 – May 29, 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist and illustrator best known for the fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. The most famous of these operas include H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre^[1], The Mikado. Most of their other Savoy operas continue to be performed regularly in the English-speaking world and beyond by opera companies, repertory companies, schools and community theatre groups. Lines from these works have become part of the English language, such as "short, sharp shock", "What never? Well, hardly ever!", and "let the punishment fit the crime".^[2] Image File history File links LinkFA-star. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... October 2, Charles Darwin returns from his voyage around the world. ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Motto:   (the Royal motto3) (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the Queen 4 Capital London Most populous conurbation Greater London Urban Area English (de facto5) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen HM Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister The Rt Hon Tony Blair MP (Labour) Formation    - Union of the Crowns... A dramatist is an author of dramatic compositions, usually plays. ... A libretto is the complete body of words used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. ... Comic opera is a subcategory of opera, and denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature. ... W. S. Gilbert Sir Arthur Sullivan Librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) collaborated on a series of fourteen comic operas in Victorian England between 1871 and 1896. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (May 13, 1842 – November 22, 1900) was an English composer best known for his operatic collaborations with librettist W. S. Gilbert. ... H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass that Loved a Sailor, is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in two acts, with music by composer Arthur S. Sullivan and libretto by William S. Gilbert. ... Poster announcing the copyright performance at the Bijou Theatre, Paignton The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. ... The Savoy Operas are a series of operettas written by Gilbert and Sullivan. ... The phrase Short, sharp shock is taken from Gilbert and Sullivans operetta The Mikado, where it appears in the Act 1 song, I am so proud, if I allowed. In this song, Pooh-Bah, Ko-Ko and Pish-Tush are contemplating the sensation of a cheap and chippy chopper...

Gilbert also wrote the Bab Ballads, an extensive collection of light verse accompanied by his own comical drawings. His creative output included over 75 plays and libretti, numerous stories, poems, lyrics and various other comic and serious pieces. His plays and realistic style of stage direction inspired other dramatists, including Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw.^[3] This article needs to be wikified. ... Realism in the visual arts and literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation. ... It has been suggested that Wildes Manuscripts be merged into this article or section. ... George Bernard Shaw (George) Bernard Shaw[1] (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright based in the United Kingdom. ...

Life and career

Beginnings

Gilbert was born at 17 Southampton Street, Strand, London. His father, also named William, was a naval surgeon who later became a novelist and short story writer. Some of his books were illustrated by his son. Gilbert's mother was the former Ann Morris. Gilbert's parents were distant and stern, and he did not have a particularly close relationship with either of them. Following the breakup of their marriage in 1876, his relationships with them, especially with his mother, became even more strained. Gilbert had three younger sisters: Jane, Maud, and Florence.^[6] William Gilbert (1804-1890) was a British novelist and naval surgeon, author of several popular fantasy stories. ...

As a child, Gilbert traveled in Europe with his parents (they finally settled in London in 1849), and was educated at Boulogne, France (he later kept his diary in French so that the servants could not read it),^[7] and then at the Great Ealing School and King's College London, graduating in 1856. He applied for a military commission in the Gordon Highlanders, but, with the unexpected end of the Crimean War, fewer recruits were needed, and only a line commission was available to Gilbert. He served in the Civil Service instead for four years and hated it. In 1859, he joined the newly formed Volunteer Army, continuing with them until 1878 (in between writing and other work), and reaching the rank of Captain.^[8] Finally, in 1863, he received a bequest of £300 that he used to quit the civil service and take up a brief career as a barrister, but he was not successful, averaging just five clients a year.^[9] Boulogne is the name of several communes in France: Boulogne in the Vendée département Boulogne-Billancourt, in the Hauts-de-Seine département Boulogne-sur-Mer, in the Pas_de_Calais département This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share... Kings College London is the largest college of the federal University of London, and, having received its royal charter in 1829, is Englands third oldest university institution. ... The Gordon Highlanders was a British Army infantry regiment from 1881 until 1994. ... Combatants United Kingdom France Ottoman Empire Kingdom of Sardinia Russian Empire Casualties 17,500 British 90,000 French 35,000 Turkish 2,050 Sardinian killed, wounded and died of disease 256,000 killed, wounded and died of disease The Crimean War lasted from 1854 until 1 April 1856 and was... The Volunteer Army was a citizen army of part-time rifle corps, created as a popular movement in the 19th. ... English barrister A barrister is a lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions who employ a split profession (as opposed to a fused profession) in relation to legal representation. ...

One of Gilbert's illustrations for his Bab Ballad "Gentle Alice Brown".

To supplement his income from 1861 on, Gilbert wrote a variety of stories, comic rants, theatre reviews (many in the form of a parody of the play being reviewed),^[10] and, under the pseudonym "Bab" (his childhood nickname), illustrated poems for several comic magazines, primarily Fun, started in 1861 by H. J. Byron. The poems, illustrated humourously by Gilbert, proved immensely popular and were reprinted in book form as the Bab Ballads.^[11] He would later return to many of these as source material for his various plays and comic operas. Gilbert and his colleagues from Fun, including Tom Robertson, Tom Hood, Clement Scott and F. C. Burnand (who defected to Punch in 1862) frequented the Arundel Club, the Savage Club, and especially Evans's café, where they had a table in competition with the Punch "Round table".^[12] Image File history File links Gentle_Alice_Brown. ... Image File history File links Gentle_Alice_Brown. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Henry James Byron (1834 - 1884) was a dramatist, born at Manchester, entered the Middle Temple, but soon took to writing for the stage, and produced many popular burlesques and extravaganzas. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Thomas William Robertson (1829 - 71), dramatist, belonged to a family famous for producing actors. ... Tom Hood (January 19, 1835 - November 20, 1874), English humorist, son of the poet Thomas Hood, was born at Lake House, Wanstead, Essex. ... -1... From The History of Punch Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (November 29, 1836 – April 21, 1917), often credited as F. C. Burnand, was an editor of Punch, taking over from Tom Taylor in 1880, until 1906, when he was succeeded by Sir Owen Seaman. ... Punch was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002. ... The Savage Club, founded in 1857, remains one of the leading gentlemans clubs in London today. ...

Gilbert married Lucy Agnes Turner in 1867 (she was 11 years younger than he). He wrote many affectionate letters to her over the years. In addition, Gilbert and Lucy were socially active both in London and later at Grim's Dyke, often holding dinner parties and being invited to others' homes for dinner, in contrast to the picture painted by fictionalizations like the film Topsy-Turvy.^[13] Topsy-Turvy is a 1999 film which tells the background story of the creation of The Mikado, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. ...

First plays

Gilbert wrote and directed a number of plays at school, but his first professionally produced play was Uncle Baby, which ran for seven weeks in the fall of 1863.^[14] His next produced work, Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack (an 1866 burlesque of Gaetano Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore), was Gilbert's first commercial success, rushed to the stage in 10 days at the request of his friend Tom Robertson. Dulcamara's popularity ensured a long series of further burlesques, pantomimes and farces, full of awful puns (traditional in burlesques of the period),^[15] though they do, at times, show signs of the satire that would later be a defining part of his work.^[16] For instance: Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack, is one of the earliest plays written by W.S. Gilbert The work is a musical burlesque of Donizettis LElisir dAmore. ... Photo of Lucky St. ... Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was a famous Italian opera composer. ... Lelisir damore (The Elixir of Love) is a comic opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on Eugène Scribes Le Philtre. ... It has been suggested that The British Pantomime be merged into this article or section. ...

That men were monkeys once—to that I bow;

(looking at Lord Margate) I know one who's less man than monkey, now,

That monkeys once were men, peers, statesmen, flunkies—

That's rather hard on unoffending monkeys!^[15]

In Victorian theatre, "[to degrade] high and beautiful themes... had been the regular proceeding in burlesque, and the age almost expected it...."^[16] However, Gilbert's burlesques were considered unusually tasteful compared to the others on the London stage, and he would depart even further from the burlesque style from about 1869 with plays containing original plots and fewer puns.^[6]

The German Reed entertainments and other plays of the early 1870s

Theatre, at the time Gilbert began writing, had fallen into disrepute. Badly translated and adapted French operettas and poorly written, prurient burlesques dominated the London stage. As Jessie Bond vividly described it, "stilted tragedy and vulgar farce were all the would-be playgoer had to choose from, and the theatre had become a place of evil repute to the righteous British householder."^[17] Operetta (literally, little opera) is a performance art-form similar to opera, though it generally deals with less serious topics. ... Photo of Lucky St. ... Jessie Bond (January 10, 1853–June 17, 1942) was an English singer and actress best known for creating most of the mezzo-soprano soubrette roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. ...

From 1869 to 1875, Gilbert joined with one of the leading figures in theatrical reform, Thomas German Reed (and his wife), whose Gallery of Illustration sought to regain some of theatre's lost respectability by offering family entertainments in London.^[18] Three months before the opening of Gilbert's last burlesque (The Pretty Druidess), the first of his pieces for the Gallery of Illustration, No Cards, was produced. Gilbert created six musical entertainments for the German Reeds, some with music composed by Thomas German Reed himself.^[19] Thomas German Reed (June 27, 1817–March 21, 1888) was an English composer and theatrical manager best known for creating the German Reed Entertainments, a genre of musical plays that made theatre-going respectable at a time when the stage was considered disreputable. ... German Reed Entertainment: The dramatic and musical entertainment which for many years was known in London by the title German Reed was a form of theatrical enterprise deserving acknowledgement. ... No Cards is a musical piece in one act for four characters, written by W. S. Gilbert, with music composed and arranged by Thomas German-Reed. ...

The environment of the German Reeds' intimate theatre allowed Gilbert quickly to develop a personal style and freedom to control all aspects of production, including set, costumes, direction and stage management.^[6] These works were a success,^[20] with Gilbert's first big hit at the Gallery of Illustration, Ages Ago, opening in 1869. Ages Ago was also the beginning of a collaboration with the composer Frederic Clay that would last seven years and produce four works.^[21] It was at a rehearsal for Ages Ago that Clay formally introduced Gilbert to his friend, Arthur Sullivan.^[21] Ages Ago is a musical entertaiment with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Frederic Clay that premiered on 22 November 1869. ... Frederic Clay (born August 3, 1838 in Paris; died November 24, 1889 at Great Marlow) was an English musical composer. ... Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (May 13, 1842 – November 22, 1900) was an English composer best known for his operatic collaborations with librettist W. S. Gilbert. ...

Many of the plot elements of the German Reed Entertainments (as well as some from his earlier plays and Bab Ballads) would be reused by Gilbert later in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. These elements include paintings coming to life (Ages Ago, used again in Ruddigore), a deaf nursemaid binding a respectable man's son to a "pirate" instead of to a "pilot" by mistake (Our Island Home, 1870, reused in The Pirates of Penzance), and the forceful mature lady who is "an acquired taste" (Eyes and No Eyes, 1875, reused in The Mikado).^[22] During this time, Gilbert perfected the "topsy-turvy" style that he had been developing in his Bab Ballads, where the humour was derived by setting up a ridiculous premise and working out its logical consequences, however absurd.^[23] W. S. Gilbert Sir Arthur Sullivan Librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) collaborated on a series of fourteen comic operas in Victorian England between 1871 and 1896. ... Ruddigore, or The Witchs Curse, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... Our Island Home is a musical entertaiment with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Thomas German Reed that premiered on June 20, 1870 at the Gallery of Illustration. ... Poster announcing the copyright performance at the Bijou Theatre, Paignton The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... Eyes and No Eyes, or The Art of Seeing is a one-act musical entertainment with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music originally by Thomas German Reed that premiered on July 5, 1875 at St. ... The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. ...

At the same time, Gilbert created several "fairy comedies" at the Haymarket Theatre. This series of plays was founded upon the idea of self-revelation by characters under the influence of some magic or some supernatural interference.^[24] The first was The Palace of Truth (1870), based on a story by Madame de Genlis. In 1871, with Pygmalion and Galatea, one of seven plays that he produced that year, Gilbert scored his greatest hit to date. Together, these plays and their successors such as The Wicked World (1873), Sweethearts (1874) and Broken Hearts (1875), did for Gilbert on the dramatic stage what the German Reed entertainments had done for him on the musical stage: they established that his capabilities extended far beyond burlesque, won him artistic credentials, and demonstrated that he was a writer of wide range, as comfortable with human drama as with farcical humour. The success of these plays, especially Pygmalion and Galatea, gave Gilbert a prestige that would be crucial to his later collaboration with as respected a musician as Sullivan.^[25] See also: Haymarket Theatre (Leicester) Haymarket Theatre, ca. ... The Palace of Truth is a three-act blank verse Fairy Comedy by W. S. Gilbert first produced at the Haymarket Theatre in London on November 19, 1870, adapted from Madame de Genliss fairy story, Le Palais de Vérite. ... Madame de Genlis, full name Stéphanie Félicité Ducrest de St-Aubin, comtesse de Genlis (January 25, 1746 - December 31, 1830) was a French writer and educator. ... Pygmalion and Galatea, an Original Mythological Comedy is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts based on the Pygmalion story. ... Broken Hearts is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts styled An entirely original fairy play. It opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London on December 9, 1875. ...

Though dated, these works demonstrate Gilbert's desire to give respectable and well-educated theatre audiences comedies that were more refined and tasteful than the usual farces and burlesques playing in London.^[6] On the other hand, during the same period, Gilbert pushed the boundaries of how far satire could go in the theatre. He collaborated with Gilbert Arthur à Beckett on The Happy Land (1873), a political satire (in part, a parody of his own The Wicked World), which was briefly banned because of its unflattering caricatures of Gladstone and his ministers.^[6] Similarly, The Realm of Joy (1873) was set in the lobby of a theatre performing a scandalous play (in the Happy Land mold), with many jokes at the expense of the Lord Chamberlain (the "Lord High Disinfectant", as he's referred to in the play), and two men having an affair with the other man's wife.^[26] In Charity (1874), however, Gilbert uses the freedom of the stage in a different way: to provide a tightly-written critique of the contrasting ways in which Victorian society treated men and women who had sex outside of marriage, which anticipated the "problem plays" of Shaw and Ibsen.^[27] Gilbert Arthur à Beckett (1837 – October 15, 1891) was an English writer. ... William Ewart Gladstone (29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British Liberal Party statesman and Prime Minister (1868–1874, 1880–1885, 1886 and 1892–1894). ... The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom, and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State. ... The North-West Passage (1874). ... George Bernard Shaw (George) Bernard Shaw[1] (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright based in the United Kingdom. ... Photo of Henrik Ibsen in his older days Henrik Johan Ibsen (March 20, 1828 – May 23, 1906) was an influential Norwegian playwright who was largely responsible for the rise of the modern realistic drama (dubbed the father of modern drama). It is said that Ibsen is the most frequently performed...

Gilbert as a director

Gilbert was the stage director for his plays and operas and had strong opinions on how they should best be performed. Gilbert was strongly influenced by the innovations in "stagecraft", or what we now call stage direction, by the playwrights James Planche and especially Tom Robertson.^[18] Gilbert attended rehearsals directed by Robertson to learn this art firsthand from the older director, and he began to apply it in some of his earliest plays.^[6] He sought realism in acting, if not in content of his plays, shunned interaction with the audience, and insisted on a standard of characterisation where the characters were never aware of their own absurdity, but were coherent internal wholes.^[28] In Gilbert's burlesque, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (1874), the character Hamlet, in his speech to the players, sums up Gilbert's theory of comic acting: "I hold that there is no such antick fellow as your bombastical hero who doth so earnestly spout forth his folly as to make his hearers believe that he is unconscious of all incongruity". With his work along these lines, Gilbert set the ground for later playwrights such as George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde to be able to flourish on the English stage.^[6] A promotional poster from the Library of Congress collection. ... James Robinson Planche (1796–1880), was a dramatist, officer of arms and miscellaneous writer. ... Thomas William Robertson (1829 - 71), dramatist, belonged to a family famous for producing actors. ... George Bernard Shaw (George) Bernard Shaw[1] (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright based in the United Kingdom. ... It has been suggested that Wildes Manuscripts be merged into this article or section. ...

Gilbert insisted that his actors know their words perfectly and obey his stage directions, which was something quite new to many actors of the day.^[29] Even during long runs and revivals, Gilbert closely supervised the performances of his plays, making sure that the actors did not make unauthorised additions, deletions or paraphrases.^[30] Gilbert was famous for demonstrating the action himself, even as he grew older.^[31] Gilbert himself went on stage in a number of productions throughout his lifetime, including several performances as "the Associate" in the Trial by Jury, as substitute for an ailing actor in his play Broken Hearts, and in charity matinees of his one-act plays, such as King Claudius in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.^[32] Trial by Jury is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in one act (the only single-act Savoy Opera). ... Broken Hearts is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts styled An entirely original fairy play. It opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London on December 9, 1875. ...

The collaboration with Sullivan

First collaborations amidst other works

Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan

In 1871, John Hollingshead commissioned Gilbert to work with Sullivan on a holiday piece for Christmas, Thespis, or The Gods Grown Old, at the Gaiety Theatre. Thespis outran five of its nine competitors for the 1871 holiday season and was later revived for a benefit performance. However, nothing more came of it at that point, and Gilbert and Sullivan went their separate ways. Gilbert worked again with Clay on Happy Arcadia (1872), and with Alfred Cellier on Topsyturveydom (1874), as well as writing several farces, operetta libretti, extravaganzas, fairy comedies, adaptations from novels, translations from the French, and the dramas described above. Also in 1874, he published his last contibution for Fun magazine ("Rosencratz and Guildenstern"), after a gap of three years, then resigned due to disapproval of the new owner's other publishing interests.^[33] This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Thespis (opera) Thespis, or The Gods Grown Old, was the first collaboration between librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan. ... The Gaiety Theatre, London was a musical theatre in Londons Strand area. ... Happy Arcadia is a musical entertaiment with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music originally by Frederic Clay that premiered on October 28, 1872 at the Gallery of Illustration. ... Alfred Cellier (1844 – 1891), English musical composer, was born at Hackney on the 1st of December 1844. ... Topsy­turveydom (sometimes spelled Topsy­turvydom) is a one-act operetta, styled an entirely original musical extravaganza, by W. S. Gilbert with music by Alfred Cellier. ...

It would be nearly four years after Thespis was produced before the two men worked together again. In 1868, Gilbert had published a short comedic piece entitled "Trial by Jury: An Operetta". In 1873, Gilbert arranged with the theatrical manager and composer, Carl Rosa, to expand the piece into a one-act libretto. Rosa's wife was to sing the role of the plaintiff. However, Rosa's wife died in childbirth in 1874. Later in 1874 Gilbert offered the libretto to Richard D'Oyly Carte, but Carte could not use the piece at that time. By early 1875, Carte was managing the Royalty Theatre, and he needed a short opera to be played as an afterpiece to Offenbach's La Périchole. He contacted Gilbert, asked about the piece, and suggested Sullivan to set the work. Sullivan was enthusiastic, and Trial by Jury was composed in a matter of weeks. The little piece was a runaway hit, outlasting the run of La Périchole and being revived at another theatre.^[34] Carl August Nicholas Rosa (22 March 1842, Hamburg - 30 April 1889, Paris) was a German-born English musical impresario. ... Richard DOyly Carte (May 3, 1844 – April 3, 1901) was a London theatrical impresario during the latter half of the nineteenth century. ... The Royalty Theatre was a London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. ... Offenbach holds many meanings. ... Original poster La Périchole is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. ... Trial by Jury is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in one act (the only single-act Savoy Opera). ...

Caricature from Punch, 1881

Gilbert continued his quest to gain respect in and respectability for his profession. One thing that may have been holding dramatists back from respectability was that plays were not published in a form suitable for a "gentleman's library", as, at the time, they were generally cheaply and unattractively published for the use of actors rather than the home reader. To help rectify this, at least for himself, Gilbert arranged in late 1875 for publishers Chatto and Windus to print a volume of his plays in a format designed to appeal to the general reader, with an attractive binding and clear type, containing Gilbert's most respectable plays, including his most serious works, but mischievously capped off with Trial by Jury.^[6] Download high resolution version (552x972, 77 KB)1881 Caricature of W.S. Gilbert: Scanned from Punch, August 6, 1881, page 58. ... Download high resolution version (552x972, 77 KB)1881 Caricature of W.S. Gilbert: Scanned from Punch, August 6, 1881, page 58. ...

After the success of Trial by Jury, there were discussions towards reviving Thespis, but Gilbert and Sullivan were not able to agree on terms with Carte and his backers. The score to Thespis was never published, and most of the music is now lost. It took some time for Carte to gather funds for another Gilbert and Sullivan opera, and in this gap Gilbert produced several works including Tom Cobb (1875), Eyes and No Eyes (1875, his last German Reed Entertainment), and Princess Toto (1876), his last and most ambitious work with Clay, a three-act comic opera with full orchestra, as opposed to the shorter works for much reduced accompaniment that came before. Gilbert also wrote two serious works during this time, Broken Hearts (1875) and Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith (1877).^[19] Tom Cobb or, Fortunes Toy is a farce in three-acts (styled An Entirely Original Farcical Comedy) by W. S. Gilbert. ... Eyes and No Eyes, or The Art of Seeing is a one-act musical entertainment with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music originally by Thomas German Reed that premiered on July 5, 1875 at St. ... Princess Toto is an three-act comic opera by W. S. Gilbert and his long-time collaborator Frederic Clay. ... Broken Hearts is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts styled An entirely original fairy play. It opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London on December 9, 1875. ...

Also during this period, Gilbert wrote his most successful comic play, Engaged (1877), which inspired Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Engaged is a parody of romantic drama written in the "topsy-turvy" satiric style of many of Gilbert's Bab Ballads and the Savoy Operas, with one character pledging his love, in the most poetic and romantic language possible, to every single woman in the play; the "innocent" Scottish rustics being revealed to be making a living through throwing trains off the lines and then charging the passengers for services, and, in general, romance being gladly thrown over in favour of monetary gain. Engaged continues to be performed today by both professional and amateur companies.^[35] A promotional poster from the Library of Congress collection. ... It has been suggested that Wildes Manuscripts be merged into this article or section. ... The Importance of Being Earnest The Importance of Being Earnest is a play by Oscar Wilde, a comedy of manners in either three or four acts (depending on edition) inspired by W. S. Gilberts Engaged. ... The Savoy Operas are a series of operettas written by Gilbert and Sullivan. ...

The peak collaborative years

An early poster showing the first three Gilbert and Sullivan operas after Thespis.

Main article: Gilbert and Sullivan

Carte finally assembled a syndicate in 1877 and formed the Comedy Opera Company to launch a series of original English comic operas, beginning with a third collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan, The Sorcerer in November 1877. This work was a modest success,^[6] and H.M.S. Pinafore followed in May 1878. Despite a slow start, mainly due to a scorching summer, Pinafore became a red-hot favourite by autumn. After a dispute with Carte over the division of profits, the other Comedy Opera Company partners hired thugs to storm the theatre one night to steal the sets and costumes, intending to mount a rival production. The attempt was repelled by stagehands and others at the theatre loyal to Carte, and Carte continued as sole impresario of the newly renamed D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.^[36] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (821x1024, 124 KB) [edit] Summary [edit] Library of Congress Details TITLE: Saville English Opera Company CALL NUMBER: POS - TH - OPT . ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (821x1024, 124 KB) [edit] Summary [edit] Library of Congress Details TITLE: Saville English Opera Company CALL NUMBER: POS - TH - OPT . ... W. S. Gilbert Sir Arthur Sullivan Librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) collaborated on a series of fourteen comic operas in Victorian England between 1871 and 1896. ... Thespis of Icaria (6th century BCE) is claimed to be the first person ever to appear on stage as an actor in a play although the reality is undoubtedly more complex. ... W. S. Gilbert Sir Arthur Sullivan Librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) collaborated on a series of fourteen comic operas in Victorian England between 1871 and 1896. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Sorcerer The Sorcerer is the earliest surviving two-act Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. ... H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass that Loved a Sailor, is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in two acts, with music by composer Arthur S. Sullivan and libretto by William S. Gilbert. ... The DOyly Carte Opera Company staged performances of Gilbert and Sullivans Savoy operas in the UK, Europe, America, South Africa and elsewhere from the nineteenth century to the twenty first. ...

For the next decade, the Savoy Operas (as the series came to be known, after the theatre Carte later built to house them) were Gilbert's principal activity. The successful comic operas with Sullivan continued to appear every year or two, several of them being among the longest-running productions up to that point in the history of the musical stage.^[37] After Pinafore came The Pirates of Penzance (1879), Patience (1881), Iolanthe (1882), Princess Ida (1884), The Mikado (1885), Ruddigore (1887), The Yeomen of the Guard (1888), and The Gondoliers (1889). Gilbert not only directed and oversaw all aspects of production for these works, but he actually designed the costumes himself for Patience, Iolanthe, Princess Ida, and Ruddigore.^[38] The Savoy Operas are a series of operettas written by Gilbert and Sullivan. ... Savoy Theatre London, December 2003 The Savoy Theatre, which opened on 10 October 1881, was built by Richard DOyly Carte (1844 - 1901) on the site of the old Savoy Palace in London as a showcase for the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, which became known as the Savoy Operas... Poster announcing the copyright performance at the Bijou Theatre, Paignton The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Patience (operetta) Patience (video tape cover) Patience (video tape cover) This article refers to the Savoy Opera. ... Iolanthe, or The Peer and the Peri, is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in two acts. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Princess Ida Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Princess (Tennyson) Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant, is the eighth operetta written by Gilbert and Sullivan. ... The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. ... Ruddigore, or The Witchs Curse, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... The Yeomen of the Guard, or The Merryman and his Maid, is the eleventh of Gilbert and Sullivans operettas. ... The Gondoliers, or The King of Barataria, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ...

During this time, Gilbert and Sullivan also collaborated on one other major work, the oratorio The Martyr of Antioch, premiered at the Leeds music festival in October 1880. Gilbert arranged the original epic poem into a libretto suitable for the music, and it contains some original work. During this period, Gilbert occasionally wrote plays to be performed elsewhere – both serious dramas (for example The Ne'er-Do-Weel, 1878) and humorous works (for example Foggerty's Fairy, 1881). However, he no longer needed to turn out multiple plays each year, as he had done before. Indeed, during the more than nine years that separated The Pirates of Penzance and The Gondoliers, he wrote just three plays outside of the partnership with Sullivan.^[19] Only one of these works, Comedy and Tragedy, proved successful.^[39] The Martyr of Antioch is an oratorio (originally described as A Sacred Musical Drama) by the English composer, Arthur Sullivan. ...

The Carpet Quarrel and end of the collaboration

Gilbert sometimes had a strained working relationship with Sullivan, partly caused by the fact that each man saw himself allowing his work to be subjugated to the other's, and partly caused by the opposing personalities of the two—Gilbert was often confrontational and notoriously thin-skinned (though prone to acts of extraordinary kindness), while Sullivan eschewed conflict. In addition, Gilbert imbued his libretti with "topsy-turvy" situations in which the social order was turned upside down. After a time, these subjects were often at odds with Sullivan's desire for realism and emotional content.^[40] In addition, Gilbert's political satire often poked fun at those in the circles of privilege, while Sullivan was eager to socialize among the wealthy and titled people who would become his friends and patrons.^[41]

Throughout their collaboration, Gilbert and Sullivan quarreled several times over the choice of a subject. After both Princess Ida and Ruddigore, which were less successful than the seven other operas from H.M.S. Pinafore through The Gondoliers, Sullivan asked to leave the partnership, saying that he found Gilbert's plots repetitive and that the operas were not artistically satisfying to him. While the two artists worked out their differences, Carte kept the Savoy open with revivals of their earlier works. On each occasion, after a few months' pause, Gilbert responded with a libretto that met Sullivan's objections, and the partnership was able to continue successfully.^[42]

During the run of The Gondoliers, however, Gilbert challenged Carte over the expenses of the production. Carte had charged the cost of a new carpet for the Savoy Theatre lobby to the partnership. Gilbert believed that this was a maintenance expense that should be charged to Carte alone. As scholar Andrew Crowther has explained:

After all, the carpet was only one of a number of disputed items, and the real issue lay not in the mere money value of these things, but in whether Carte could be trusted with the financial affairs of Gilbert and Sullivan. Gilbert contended that Carte had at best made a series of serious blunders in the accounts, and at worst deliberately attempted to swindle the others. It is not easy to settle the rights and wrongs of the issue at this distance, but it does seem fairly clear that there was something very wrong with the accounts at this time. Gilbert wrote to Sullivan on 28 May, 1891, a year after the end of the "Quarrel", that Carte had admitted "an unintentional overcharge of nearly £1,000 in the electric lighting accounts alone."^[43]

The Drawing Room Scene from Utopia, Limited.

Sullivan sided with Carte, who was building a theatre in London for the production of new English grand operas, with Sullivan's Ivanhoe as the inaugural work. While the protracted quarrel worked itself out in the courts and in public, Gilbert wrote The Mountebanks with Alfred Cellier and the flop Haste to the Wedding with George Grossmith.^[19] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x438, 139 KB)[edit] Summary Library of Congress Information: TITLE: DOyly Cartes Opera Co. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x438, 139 KB)[edit] Summary Library of Congress Information: TITLE: DOyly Cartes Opera Co. ... Utopia, Limited, or The Flowers of Progress is a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. ... Ivanhoe is a romantic opera in three acts based on the novel by Sir Walter Scott, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Julian Sturgis. ... The Mountebanks is a comic opera in two acts with music by Alfred Cellier and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... Alfred Cellier (1844 – 1891), English musical composer, was born at Hackney on the 1st of December 1844. ... Haste to the Wedding is a three-act comic opera with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by George Grossmith. ... George Grossmith, as illustrated in The Idler magazine, 1897 George Grossmith (December 9, 1847 - March 1, 1912) was an English actor and comic writer, best remembered for his work with Gilbert & Sullivan. ...

In 1891, after many failed attempts at reconciliation by the pair, Tom Chappell, the music publisher responsible for printing the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, stepped in to mediate between two of his most profitable artists, and within two weeks had succeeded.^[44] Two more operas resulted: Utopia, Limited (1893) and The Grand Duke (1896). Gilbert also offered a third libretto to Sullivan (His Excellency, 1894), but Gilbert's insistance on casting Nancy McIntosh, his protegée from Utopia, led to Sullivan's refusal.^[45] Utopia was a very modest success, and The Grand Duke was an outright failure, after which the partnership ended for good.^[46] William Chappell (20 November 1809 - 20 August 1888) was an English writer on music, a member of the London musical firm of Chappell and Company. ... Utopia, Limited, or The Flowers of Progress is a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. ... The Grand Duke, or The Statutory Duel, was the final operetta written by William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. ... His Excellency is a two-act comic opera with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by F. Osmond Carr. ... Nancy McIntosh (1874 – February 20, 1954) was an American-born singer and actress on the London stage, and one of the last of W. S. Gilberts protegées. ...

Later years

Gilbert moved to Grim's Dyke Harrow in 1890,^[47] and, in 1891, was appointed Justice of the Peace for Middlesex.^[48] After casting Nancy McIntosh in Utopia, Limited, he and Lady Gilbert developed an affection for her, and she eventually gained the status of an unofficially adopted daughter, moving to Grim's Dyke to live with them. She continued living there, even after Gilbert's death, until Lady Gilbert's death in 1936.^[49] Grims Ditch or Grims Dyke (also Grimsdyke in derivative names) is a name shared by a number of bank and ditch earthworks found on the chalk uplands of southern England. ... Alternative meanings: Harrow, London, a place in the London Borough of Harrow; Harrow School, a famous public school in the United Kingdom; The Harrow, a fantasy and horror magazine. ... A Justice of the Peace (JP) is a puisne judicial officer appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. ... Middlesex is one of the 39 historic counties of England and the second smallest (after Rutland). ...

Although Gilbert announced a retirement from the theatre after the poor initial run of his last work with Sullivan, The Grand Duke (1896), he produced four more plays over the last 15 years of his life, including an unsuccessful opera, Fallen Fairies (1909), with Edward German.^[50] Gilbert also continued to supervise the various revivals of his works by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.^[51] His last play, The Hooligan, produced just four months before his death, is a study of a young condemned thug in a prison cell. The piece was so grim and powerful that, according to Mrs. Alec Tweedie, "women [in the audience] had gone out fainting". The Hooligan was one of Gilbert's most successful serious dramas, and experts conclude that, in those last months of Gilbert's life, he was developing a new style, a "mixture of irony, of social theme, and of grubby realism,"^[52] to replace the old "Gilbertianism" that he had grown weary of.^[53] The Grand Duke, or The Statutory Duel, was the final operetta written by William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. ... Fallen Fairies; or, The Wicked World, is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Edward German. ... Sir Edward German (17 February 1862 - 11 November 1936) was a musician and composer. ... The Hooligan, A Character Study is a one-act play by W. S. Gilbert. ...

Memorial to W. S. Gilbert on Victoria Embankment, London

As Bond wrote, Gilbert "was quick-tempered, often unreasonable, and he could not bear to be thwarted, but how anyone could call him unamiable I cannot understand."^[54] Indeed, he could be extraordinarily kind. During the final illness of the theatre critic Clement Scott in 1904, for instance, Gilbert donated to a fund for him, visited nearly every day, and assisted Scott's wife, ^[55] despite having not been on friendly terms with him for the previous sixteen years.^[56] Similarly, Gilbert had written several plays at the behest of comic actor Ned Sothern. However, Sothern died before he could perform the last of these, Foggerty’s Fairy. Gilbert purchased the play back from his grateful wife.^[57] In addition, as the writings about Gilbert by husband and wife Seymour Hicks and Ellaline Terriss (frequent guests at his home), vividly illustrate, Gilbert's relationships with women were generally more successful than his relationships with men.^[58] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (572x640, 265 KB) Summary Photo taken by lonpicman Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (572x640, 265 KB) Summary Photo taken by lonpicman Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Victoria Embankment, London The Victoria Embankment, previously the Thames Embankment is a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in London in the cities of Westminster and London. ... -1... Edward Askew Sothern (April 1, 1826–January 21, 1881), English actor known for his comic roles. ... Seymour Hicks Seymour Hicks (30 January 1871 - 6 April 1949) was a British actor and music hall performer. ... Ellaline Terriss, born Ellaline Lewin (April 13, 1871 – June 16, 1971), was a popular English actress and singer. ...

Gilbert was knighted in 1907 in recognition of his contributions to drama. Sullivan had been knighted for his contributions to music almost a quarter of a century earlier, in 1883. Gilbert was, however, the first British writer ever to receive a knighthood for his plays alone—earlier dramatist knights, such as Sir William Davenant and Sir John Vanbrugh, were knighted for political and other services.^[59] A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ... Sir William Davenant (February, 1606 - April 7, 1668), also spelled DAvenant, was an English poet and playwright. ... Sir John Vanbrugh in Godfrey Knellers Kit-cat portrait, considered one of Knellers finest portraits. ...

On 29 May 1911, Gilbert was giving swimming lessons to two young ladies in the lake of his home Grim's Dyke when one of them lost her footing and called for help. Gilbert dived in to save her, but suffered a heart attack in the middle of the lake and drowned.^[6] He was buried in a cemetery in Stanmore. May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Grims Ditch or Grims Dyke is an area of countryside in the London Borough of Harrow. ... Stanmore is a place in the London Borough of Harrow, in London, England. ...

See also

• Bibliography of W.S. Gilbert
• List of W. S. Gilbert dramatic works

This is a selected list of W. S. Gilberts works, including all with their own articles. ... The following is a list of dramatic works by the dramatist and author W. S. Gilbert. ...

Notes

The Daughter of the Regiment is a comic opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. ... Topsy­turveydom (sometimes spelled Topsy­turvydom) is a one-act operetta, styled an entirely original musical extravaganza, by W. S. Gilbert with music by Alfred Cellier. ... Sir Henry Lytton (born London, 3 January 1865, died London 15 August 1936) was the leading exponent of the patter roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas in the early part of the twentieth century. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy. ...

References

• Ainger, Michael (2002). Gilbert and Sullivan – A Dual Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Bond, Jessie (1930). The Life and Reminiscences of Jessie Bond, the Old Savoyard (as told to Ethel MacGeorge). London: John Lane, The Bodley Head.

• Cox-Ife, William (1978). W. S. Gilbert: Stage Director. Dobson. ISBN 0-234-77206-9.

• Crowther, Andrew (2000). Contradiction Contradicted – The Plays of W. S. Gilbert. Associated University Presses. ISBN 0-8386-3839-2.

• Gilbert, W. S. (1908). The Bab Ballads, with which are included Songs of a Savoyard (6th edition). London: MacMillan and Co., Limited. (A collection of material from several books published previously.)

• Gilbert, W. S. (1890). Foggerty's Fairy and Other Tales. London: George Routledge and Sons.

• Gilbert, W. S. (1985). Peter Haining, ed. The Lost Stories of W.S. Gilbert. London(?): Robson Books. ISBN (US) 0-88186-735-X / (Britain) 0-86051-337-8. (Contains mostly stories from Foggerty's Fairy and Other Tales.)

• Gilbert, W. S. (1875). Original Plays: First Series. London: Chatto and Windus.

• Jacobs, Arthur (1992). Arthur Sullivan – A Victorian Musican, Second Edition, Portland, OR: Amadeus Press.

• Stedman, Jane W. (1996). W. S. Gilbert, A Classic Victorian & His Theatre. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-816174-3.

• Stedman, Jane W. (2000). W. S. Gilbert's Theatrical Criticism. London: The Society for Theatre Research. ISBN 085430-068-6.

• Scott, Mrs. Clement (c1910). Old Days in Bohemian London. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company. p. 71-72.

• Wolfson, John (c1976). Final Curtain: The Last Gilbert and Sullivan Operas. London: Chappell & Company Ltd.. ISBN 0-903443-12-0.

Foggertys Fairy and Other Tales is an 1890 book by W. S. Gilbert, collecting several of the short stories and essays he wrote in his early career as a magazine writer. ...

Further Reading

• Benford, Harry (1999). The Gilbert & Sullivan Lexicon, 3rd Revised Edition. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The Queensbury Press. ISBN 0-9667916-1-4.
• Gilbert, W. S. (1969). Edited and with an Introduction by Jane W. Stedman. Gilbert Before Sullivan – Six Comic Plays by W. S. Gilbert. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
• Hayter, Charles (1987). Gilbert and Sullivan. Basingstoke: Macmillan. (Macmillan Modern Dramatists series)
• McIntosh, Nancy. "The Late Sir W.S. Gilbert's Pets" in the W. S. Gilbert Society Journal, Brian Jones, ed. Vol. 2 No. 18: Winter 2005 (reprinted from Country Life, 3 June 1911), pp. 548-56
• Sutton, Max Keith (1975). W. S. Gilbert. Boston: Twayne.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

W. S. Gilbert

Wikisource has original works written by or about:

W. S. Gilbert

• The Life of W. S. Gilbert, by Andrew Crowther
• List of Gilbert's works, with links to most of them, at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive
• Some of Gilbert's short stories
• Interview of Gilbert by Harry How
• Works by W. S. Gilbert at Project Gutenberg
• The W. S. Gilbert Society
• A Stage Play, by W.S.Gilbert
• The Babliophile, An Internet Magazine for the Seriously Deranged W.S. Gilbert Enthusiast
• Profile of Gilbert
• Views on Gilbert by Seymour Hicks and Ellaline Terriss
• "The Controversy Surrounding Gilbert's Last Opera" by Robert Morrison