The Sensational Song Scriber, Sir Arthur Sullivan

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received songs sold in large numbers and were an important part of his income; many of them were adapted as dance pieces” (Sands). During this time he began conducting. He conducted at the Glasgow Choral union concerts and for the Royal Aquarium in London. In 1876 he became a professor of composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Sullivan was later appointed as the first principal for the National training School for Music. However, he resigned in 1881 because he did not have enough time to create new compositions.

“Sullivan’s next collaboration with Gilbert, The Sorcerer (1877), ran for 178 performances, a success by the standards of the day, but H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), which followed it, turned Gilbert and Sullivan into an international phenomenon” (Crowther). Interestingly enough, the then-second-longest running show in history with 571 performances was written whilst Sullivan was suffering from tremendous kidney stones. Pinafore was followed by Pirates of Penzance in 1879, which was another international success. The show opened in New York and then ran in London for 363 performances. Popular music from this opera include: “Oh, Better Far to Live and Die,” “I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major General,” and “When a Felon’s not engaged in his Employment” amongst many more. (Rollins and Witts) In 1880 Sullivan was appointed the director of the Leeds Music Festival where he was commissioned to write a sacred work. He chose a dramatic poem by Henry Hart Milman based on the life and death of Saint Margaret the Virgin. Gilbert adapted the libretto for Sullivan and titled it The Martyr of Antioch and it premiered in October of 1880. Sullivan conducted this piece; however, he was not a showy conductor, and some even thought he was dull and old fashioned on the podium.

After the run of The Pirates of Penzance, Carte opened the next Gilbert and Sullivan piece, Patience, in April 1881 at London’s Opera Comique, where their past three operas had played. “In October, Patience transferred to the new, larger, state-of-the-art Savoy Theatre, built with the profits of the previous Gilbert and Sullivan works. The rest of the partnership’s collaborations were produced at the Savoy, as a result of which they are widely known as the "Savoy Operas." Iolanthe (1882), Gilbert and Sullivan’s fourth hit in a row, was the first of the operas to premiere at the new theatre.” (Jacobs) Sullivan, despite the financial security of writing for the Savoy, increasingly viewed his work with Gilbert as unimportant, beneath his skills, and also repetitious. After Iolanthe, Sullivan had not intended to write a new work with Gilbert, but he suffered a serious financial loss when his broker went bankrupt in November 1882. “Therefore, he concluded that his financial needs required him to continue writing Savoy operas. In February 1883, he and Gilbert signed a five-year agreement with Carte, requiring them to produce a new comic opera on six months’ notice.” (Ainger 217-219)

On May 22, 1883, Queen Victoria knighted Arthur Sullivan. He was night for his more “serious music” rather than his popular comic operas. Many critics said that Sullivan should stop writing comic operas, and that a knight should only write grand operas. Sullivan felt trapped since he was still in a five-year contract to continue writing comic operas with his pal Gilbert. They continued writing and their next opera, Princess Ida, opened in 1884. Sullivan’s score was praised, however the show lacked in sales and closed soon after opening. Some popular music from this opera includes: “Search Throughout the Panorama,” “We are Warriors Three” and “Would You Know the Kind of Maid.” Gilbert and Sullivan’s next work in 1885, The Mikado, was a hard one for the two to write together. They struggled in agreeing with the plot line for sometime, but eventually they agreed upon a very well written one for it was their most successful show. Famous songs from this opera include: “If You Want to Know Who We Are,” “As Some Day It May Happen” and “The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring.” The Mikado ran for 672 performances and was the second longest running show of the time. (Rollins and Witts)

In 1888, Gilbert proposed to Sullivan that they write a more serious opera and Sullivan immediately agreed. Although it was not considered a grand opera, The Yeomen of the Guard provided Sullivan the opportunity to write his most ambitious stage work to date. Songs from this opera include: “When Maiden Loves, She Sits and Sighs,” “Is Life a Boob” and “Strange Adventure.” Sullivan grew tired of writing comic operas and he did not particularly want to do another one until he got a brilliant new idea for one. Sullivan got back together with Gilbert and they wrote The Gondoliers. This piece of art was described as the pinnacle of Sullivan’s achievement. Popular songs from this comic opera include: “List and Learn,” “O Rapture, When Alone Together” and “Of Happiness the Very Pith.” The Gondoliers was the last great Gilbert and Sullivan success. (Hughes 24)

“The relationship between Gilbert and Sullivan suffered its most serious breach in April 1890, during the run of The Gondoliers, when Gilbert objected to Carte’s financial accounts for the production, including a charge to the partnership for the cost of new carpeting for the Savoy Theatre lobby.” (Stedman 270) Gilbert believed that this was a maintenance expense that should be charged to Carte alone. Carte was building a new theatre for Sullivan’s up and coming grand opera, therefore, Sullivan sided with Carte. “Gilbert took legal action against Carte and Sullivan and vowed to write no more for the Savoy, and so the partnership came to an acrimonious end.” (Stedman 274) Sullivan became physically and mentally ill over the business and wrote to Gilbert in 1890 saying “I have not yet got over the shock of seeing our names coupled ... in hostile antagonism over a few miserable pounds." (Ainger 312)

Sullivan’s one and only grand opera opened at the Royal English Opera House on January 31, 1891. It was titled, Ivanhoe, which was based on the Walter Scott novel. This was a tough one for Sullivan to write, for he did not meet Carte’s deadline costing the theatre money. Carte forced Sullivan to pay 3,000 pounds to the theater for his delay. The run of this opera only lasted for 155 performances and Ivanhoe is blamed for the failure of the opera house. After this, Sullivan returned to comic writing. Because of his severed ties with longtime partner Gilbert, Sullivan needed a new collaborator. He soon partnered up with Sydney Grundy and together they wrote Haddon Hall, which premiered in 1892. “Although still comic, the tone and style of the work was considerably more serious and romantic than most of the operas