By the middle of the nineteenth century, the state of British musical theatre had begun to deteriorate. What operetta there was, was imported, mainly works from France such as those of Offenbach. Victorian theatre was burlesques, vulgar and suggestive and, horrors! women dressed as men. The proper Victorians did not go to the 'immoral' theatre, they went to Oratorios. Sullivan was already famous for this genre and considered to be the only hope for British music. (Meanwhile, Gilbert was writing burlesques.)
Gilbert and Sullivan restored British musical theatre, making it proper to attend. Their work was rooted in British social satire and British music. They were first brought together by John Hollinghead who, in 1871, commissioned them to write Thespis or The Gods Grown Old which was produced at the Gaiety Theatre on December 23, 1871. By then, they were both successful on their own and, although they knew each other, no idea of a permanent collaboration was considered. Thespis was a 'grotesque' opera. Gilbert directed it and it had a modest run. Its music has now been lost except for some Sullivan used again in The Pirates of Penzance. They did not then work together again for four years. (Attempts to find the music of Thespis included the use of a clairvoyant.)
COLLABORATION
General
Together, Gilbert and Sullivan founded a new school
of British music. In their usual procedure, Gilbert polished a scenario then
sent Sullivan the songs, revising them if necessary. Only then did he begin
the dialogue. The chorus was always an integral part of the cast. Richard
D'Oyly Carte gave them full control in their departments and never interfered.
Stravinsky compared them to Richard Strauss and Hofmannsthal.
Their operas gallop along like happy colts, not like cart horses. They are also moral. The characters are good and bad, and the moral is always clearly drawn, although I do not overlook the sophistication of the satire. ... While they depend on conventions, their attack on conventions is always progressive.
They were vastly different in their personalities and in their physiques. While they usually worked well together, their collarboration was often stormy. , Although they did occasionally dine at each others houses, they did not usually mix socially. Gilbert was extremely tall and carried himself stiffly. Sullivan was short, stocky and outgoing. To minimize this obvious difference when they were taking curtain calls, they entered from opposite sides of the stage and did not stand very close together. Sullivan smiled and bowed in acknowledgement of the applause; Gilbert stood stiffly and bowed only with head jerks.
The only time they were regularly in each other's company was on an 1879 trip to America where they made a good impression. The New York Herald wrote: "Two more amiable, modest, simple, good-natured and vivacious men could not easily be imagined. They fairly brim over with animation, high spirits and the jolliest kind of bonhomie". The members of the company were in awe of them but respected them. They felt a patriotic desire to show other countries what Englishmen could do. All of their shows and characters, no matter how disguised, are quitessentially the English of their day. Soon many in the audiences got to know the words and music almost as well as the actors and would prompt them if they made a mistake. Yet they are almost as popular in America as in Britain, even though they may need some translatiion to be completely understood.
Specific Operas
Their first success under the auspices of D'Oyly
Carte, was Trial by Jury which featured Sullivan's brother Frederick
as the Judge. This was followed by The Sorcerer for Carte's newly formed
Comedy Opera Company. They
were able to pick the artists they wanted and to train them for their sorts
of roles. When Gilbert approached him, George
Grossmith (later Ko-Ko in The
Mikado and The Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe)
had been giving song recitals and recitations to working men in the provinces.
He said: "I should have thought you required a fine man with a fine voice".
Gilbert relied: "No, that is just what we don't want". As a reflection of
the attitude toward regular theatre, Grossmith was afraid that if he appeared
on professional stage the Christian institutes such as YMCA for which he had
been appearing would not longer hire him. He required some persuasion to join
the company. Of Rutland
Barrington (Pooh-Bah in The
Mikado and Mountararat in Iolanthe)
Gilbert said: "He's a staid, stolid, swine, and that's what I want".
The Sorcerer was followed by H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Patience, Iolanthe, and Princess Ida before the hugely successful The Mikado, the only one to achieve popularity in non-English speaking countries. It was followed by Ruddigore, The Yeoman of the Guard, The Gondoliers, Utopia Unlimited and The Grand Duke. After that, Gilbert and Sullivan led completely separate lives. Only one later meeting between them has been recorded. However, disagreements between the two men have been overrated. No doubt Sullivan felt his role was subordinate to Gilbert's who had complete control over not only the text, but also the staging, costumes, etcetera. (Tellingly, 'Gilbert and Sullivan' is a very unusual billing. Usually, the composer is listed first.)
THE CARPET AFFAIR
The latter part of their collaboration was marred by the 'infamous carpet
affair'. This is a brief summary. For all of the details see: http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/html/quarrel.html.
According
to the contract between Carte, Gilbert and Sullivan, "all expenses and charges
of producing the ... operas and all the performances of the same, including
... repairs incidental to the performance" were to be deducted from the profits
before these were shared. When Gilbert discovered that the expense of new
carpets for the front of the theatre had been deducted, he became incensed,
thinking they had no connection with the productions. Sullivan refused to
side with Gilbert (he was very involved with Carte in the building of the
new Opera House and the production of his Ivanhoe),
and Gilbert wrote to him: "The time for putting an end to our collaboration
has at last arrived. In accordance, therefore, with the contents of my note
to you of this morning, I am writing a letter to Carte (of which I enclose
a copy) giving him notice that he is not ro produce or perform any of my libretti
after Christmas 1890. In point of fact, after the withdrawal of The Gondoliers,
our united work will be heard in public no more". The case ended up in court.
However, in spite of this violent disagreement, they did work together on
Utopia, Unlimited and on The Grand Duke and, according to Gilbert
at any rate, at the time of Sullivan's death the differences between them
had been bridged, and the relationship between them was cordial.
Gilbert and Sullivan are two of the few English artists to have outdoor monuments; churches are the usual site. Both are on the Embankment near the Savoy Theatre.
Revised December
2006
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