Beaconsfield Operatic Society, Blyth
established 1924

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GILBERT AND SULLIVAN

William Schwenk Gilbert was the dramatist and Arthur Seymour Sullivan the composer of fourteen operettas, which remain very popular today, over a hundred years since the death of Sullivan.

Gilbert took most of his ideas from a number of Bab Ballads, written by himself when younger. Although he wrote with a number of other musicians, nothing else he wrote has endured in the same way as these operettas.

Sullivan was often frustrated by Gilbert's obsession with "the lozenge plot", which involved the characters taking some form of magic potion and changing an attribute, and he yearned to write grand opera, encouraged by Queen Victoria. Although he wrote such items as "Ivanhoe" and "The Golden Legend", like Gilbert, nothing he created has endured like these operettas.

The fourteen operettas, including any alternative title and when and where they were first performed:

*Unfortunately,the majority of "Thespis" is lost, having only been published privately. Only two songs remain - "Little Maid of Arcadee", and "Climbing Over Rocky Mountains" which survives in "The Pirates of Penzance.

There is also Cox and Box, which is often associated with Gilbert and Sullivan, although it was actually written by Sullivan and F. C. Burnand, with its first performance in 1867 - before Gilbert and Sullivan began to work together. This "triumviretta in one act" is often performed along with another of the operettas. Gilbert was something of a theatre critic, and actually reviewed Cox and Box, saying that Sullivan's music was too good, and therefore unsuitable for the playlet.

Significant works are Trial By Jury - unique among the Gilbert and Sullivan shows for comprising only one act, and also for having no dialogue, only music. Frederic Sullivan, the brother of the composer, created the role of the Learned Judge.

Princess Ida is unique for having three acts, rather than the usual two.

The Mikado is probably the most popular show, although nearly all of them remain in vogue. The two last shows, Utopia Limited and The Grand Duke are generally considered not quite as good as the other works, and are probably performed less often. Similarly, Trial By Jury is less popular, although it is occasionally performed alongside another opera. In the history of Beaconsfield Operatic Society, The Grand Duke has been performed once, Trial By Jury has been performed once, and we have never yet performed Utopia Limited.

Beaconsfield's tally is:

Mikado 6
Pirates of Penzance 5
Gondoliers 5
Ruddigore 4
Iolanthe 3
Yeomen of the Guard 3
HMS Pinafore 3
Sorcerer 2
Patience 2
Princess Ida 1
Sorcerer 1
Grand Duke 1
Trial By Jury 1
Cox and Box has been performed once, alongside HMS Pinafore, in 1987

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