Gilbert and Sullivan

“ When you marry, merry maiden, Then the air with joy is laden; All the corners of the earth Ring with music sweetly played, Worry is melodious mirth, Grief is joy in masquerade; CHORUS. Sullen night is laughing day— All the year is merry May! (At the end of the song, Don Alhambra enters at back. The Gondoliers and Contadine shrink from him, and gradually go off, much alarmed.) GIU. And now our lives are going to begin in real earnest! What's a bachelor? A mere nothing—he's a chrysalis. He can't be said to live—he exists. MAR. What a delightful institution marriage is! ”

“ Ah, it's a thousand pities he's such a poor opinion of himself, for a finer fellow don't walk! Well, I'll do my best for him. "Plead for him as though it was for your own father"—that's what my heart's a-remarkin' to me just now. But here she comes! Steady! Steady it is! (Enter Rose—he is much struck by her.) By the Port Admiral, but she's a tight little craft! Come, come, she's not for you, Dick, and yet—she's fit to marry Lord Nelson! By the Flag of Old England, I can't look at her unmoved. ROSE. Sir, you are agitated— RICH. Aye, aye, my lass, well said! ”

“ ERN. You won't be haunted much longer. The law must be on its last legs, and in a few hours I shall come to life again—resume all my social and civil functions, and claim my darling as my blushing bride! JULIA. Oh—then you haven't heard? ERN. My love, I've heard nothing. How could I? There are no daily papers where I come from. JULIA. Why, Ludwig challenged Rudolph and won, and now he's Grand Duke, and he's revived the law for another century! ERN. What! But you're not serious—you're only joking! JULIA. My good sir, I'm a light-hearted girl, but I don't chaff bogies. ”

“ LIEUT. Sir, you bear this bravely, as a brave man should. FAIRFAX Why, sir, it is no light boon to die swiftly and surely at a given hour and in a given fashion! Truth to tell, I would gladly have my life; but if that may not be, I have the next best thing to it, which is death. Believe me, sir, my lot is not so much amiss! PHOEBE [aside to MERYLL] Oh, father, father, I cannot bear it! MERYLL My poor lass! FAIRFAX Nay, pretty one, why weepest thou? Come, be comforted. Such a life as mine is not worth weeping for. ”

“ Gilbert and Sullivan have only themselves to please, only themselves and their piece to consider; they are monarchs of all they Savoy—I should say "survey"—they are masters of the situation, and if they allow any piece of theirs to be produced in a hurry, with incomplete appointments, with inappropriate scenery, faulty dresses, or after insufficient rehearsal, on their own heads be it and on no one else's. ”

“ Thou art the cause of all offending! DR. D. Die thou! Yield to this decree unbending! ALL. Die thou! MR. W. So be it! I submit! My fate is sealed. To public execration thus I yield! (Falls on trap) Be happy all—leave me to my despair— I go—it matters not with whom—or where! (Gong) (All quit their present partners, and rejoin their old lovers. Sir Marmaduke leaves Mrs. Partlet, and goes to Lady Sangazure. Aline leaves Dr. Daly, and goes to Alexis. Dr. Daly leaves Aline, and goes to Constance. Notary leaves Constance, and goes to Mrs. Partlet. All the Chorus makes a corresponding change.) ”

“ You are a lucky fellow, sir—a very lucky fellow! ALEXIS Father, I am welling over with limpid joy! No sicklying taint of sorrow overlies the lucid lake of liquid love, upon which, hand in hand, Aline and I are to float into eternity! SIR M. Alexis, I desire that of your love for this young lady you do not speak so openly. You are always singing ballads in praise of her beauty, and you expect the very menials who wait behind your chair to chorus your ecstasies. It is not delicate. ALEXIS Father, a man who loves as I love— SIR M. Pooh pooh, sir! ”

“ In setting Gilbert’s lyrics to music, Sullivan was always capable of finding the musical mot juste to catch every nuance of Gilbert’s wit and satire. So neatly, even inevitably, does the music fit the words that it is often difficult to think of one without the other. Like Gilbert, Sullivan was a master of parody and satire; he liked particularly to mock at the pretensions of grand opera, oratorio, and the sentimental ballad, pretensions of which he himself was a victim when he endeavored to work in those fields. ”

“ The brilliant composer and musician, Arthur Sullivan, was our much-loved friend for thirty years. We first knew him about the time he and W. S. Gilbert were made known to each other by Frederic Clay. His great career began, like many others, very simply, for he was one of the "Children of the Chapel Royal," as they are still called, before his more serious {95} studies began at the Royal Academy of Music and at Leipzig. He returned with his music to The Tempest, to be followed by The Light of the World.
His wonderful partnership with Gilbert has given joy to every land. ”

“ Certainly it was fortunate both to him and to us that circumstances, in the romantic manner this book itself describes, first turned his early steps towards Gilbert and Sullivan, and thus opened a career that was to make him one of the greatest, as he is now the last, of the Savoyards. Like the natural humorist he is, he could be and has been a success in ordinary musical comedy rôles, but it is in these wonderful operas that he was bound to find just his right sphere. Lytton in Gilbert and Sullivan is the "true embodiment of everything that is excellent." ”

“ Rise, sweet one, I have long pardoned you. (Ruth rises) RUTH: The two words were so much alike! FREDERIC: They were. They still are, though years have rolled over their heads. But this afternoon my obligation ceases. Individually, I love you all with affection unspeakable; but, collectively, I look upon you with a disgust that amounts to absolute detestation. Oh! pity me, my beloved friends, for such is my sense of duty that, once out of my indentures, I shall feel myself bound to devote myself heart and soul to your extermination! ALL: Poor lad — poor lad! ”

“ But a time will come, and then—- ROSE. Nay, let me plead with him. (To Robin.) Sir Ruthven, have pity. In my book of etiquette the case of a maiden about to be wedded to one who unexpectedly turns out to be a baronet with a curse on him is not considered. Time was when you loved me madly. Prove that this was no selfish love by according your consent to my marriage with one who, if he be not you yourself, is the next best thing—your dearest friend! BALLAD—ROSE. In bygone days I had thy love— Thou hadst my heart. But Fate, all human vows above, Our lives did part! ”

“ Gilbert and Sullivan’s pieces. Objection was taken to the title, and in deference to public opinion the first word was altered from Ruddygore to Ruddigore, whilst several passages which occur in the published version of the libretto are either altered, or omitted, in representation, and generally the piece runs more smoothly than it did when first produced.
That Mr. Gilbert himself had some mistrust of his own passion for logical paradoxes may 137 be inferred from the fact that the following passage has, from the first, been omitted in the performance:
Rod. It’s not too late, is it? ”

“ Wilfred— has no reprieve arrived? WILFRED None. Thine adored Fairfax is to die. PHOEBE Nay, thou knowest that I have naught but pity for the poor condemned gentleman. WILFRED I know that he who is about to die is more to thee than I, who am alive and well. PHOEBE Why, that were out of reason, dear Wilfred. Do they not say that a live ass is better than a dead lion? ”

“ IOL. To be near my son, Strephon. QUEEN. Bless my heart, I didn't know you had a son. IOL. He was born soon after I left my husband by your royal command—but he does not even know of his father's existence. FLETA. How old is he? IOL. Twenty-four. LEILA. Twenty-four! No one, to look at you, would think you had a son of twenty-four! But that's one of the advantages of being immortal. We never grow old! Is he pretty? IOL. He's extremely pretty, but he's inclined to be stout. ALL (disappointed) . Oh! QUEEN. I see no objection to stoutness, in moderation. CELIA. And what is he? ”

“ CHORUS OF BRIDESMAIDS. Fair is Rose as bright May-day; Soft is Rose as the warm west-wind; Sweet is Rose as the new-mown hay— Rose is queen of maiden-kind! Rose, all glowing With virgin blushes, say— Is anybody going To marry you to-day? SOLO—ZORAH. Every day, as the days roll on, Bridesmaids' garb we gaily don, Sure that a maid so fairly famed Can't long remain unclaimed. Hour by hour and day by day, Several months have passed away, Though she's the fairest flower that blows, No one has married Rose! ”

“ And when he's of age, If he will, I'll engage, He may capture the heart of a queen, the heart of a queen! ALL It is purely a matter of skill, Which all may attain if they will. But every Jack He must study the knack If he wants to make sure of his Jill! If he wants to make sure of his Jill! ELSIE If he's made the best use of his time, His twig he'll so carefully lime That every bird Will come down at his word, Whatever its plumage and clime. He must learn that the thrill of a touch May mean little, or nothing, or much ”

“ SIR M. No high-born exacting beauty Blazing like a jewelled sun— But a wife who'll do her duty, As that duty should be done! MRS. P. I'm no saucy minx and giddy— Hussies such as them abound— But a clean and tidy widdy Well be-known for miles around! DR.D. All the village now have mated, All are happy as can be— I to live alone am fated: No one's left to marry me! ENSEMBLE. She will tend him etc. (Exeunt Sir Marmaduke, Mrs. Partlet, and Aline, with Alexis. Dr. Daly looks after them sentimentally, then exits with a sigh.) ”

“ Oh no, King Hildebrand, I am no snob! Hildebd: (Furiously) Stop that tongue, Or you shall lose the monkey head that holds it! Gama: Bravo! Your King deprives me of my head, That he and I may meet on equal terms! Hildebd: Where is she now? (Threatening) Gama: In Castle Adamant, One of my many country houses. There She rules a woman's University, With full a hundred girls, who learn of her. Cyril: A hundred girls! A hundred ecstasies! Gama: But no mere girls, my good young gentleman; With all the college learning that you boast, The youngest there will prove a match for you. ”

“ I'll go bail You hit the nail, And if you fail, The deuce is in it! King: You grow up and you discover What it is to be a lover. Some young lady is selected— Poor, perhaps, but well-connected. Whom you hail (for Love is blind) As the Queen of fairy kind. Though she's plain—perhaps unsightly, Makes her face up—laces tightly, In her form your fancy traces All the gifts of all the graces. Rivals none the maiden woo, So you take her and she takes you. ”

“ SIR ROD. Better? ROB. Yes—better now! Whew! SIR ROD. Well, do you consent? ROB. But it's such an ungentlemanly thing to do! SIR ROD. As you please. (To Ghosts.) Carry on! ROB. Stop—I can't stand it! I agree! I promise! It shall be done! SIR ROD. To-day? ROB. To-day! SIR ROD. At once? ROB. At once! I retract! I apologize! I had no idea it was anything like that! CHORUS. He yields! He answers to our call! We do not ask for more. A sturdy fellow, after all, This latest Ruddigore! All perish in unheard-of woe Who dare our wills defy ”

“ GIANETTA and TESSA (together) . Farewell, my love; on board you must be getting; But while upon the sea you gaily roam, Remember that a heart for thee is fretting— The tender little heart you've left at home! GIA. Now, Marco dear, My wishes hear: While you're away It's understood You will be good And not too gay. To every trace Of maiden grace You will be blind, And will not glance By any chance On womankind! If you are wise, You'll shut your eyes Till we arrive, And not address A lady less Than forty-five. You'll please to frown On every gown That you may see ”

“ It seems that she's a fairy From Andersen's library, And I took her for The proprietor Of a Ladies' Seminary! PEERS. We took her for The proprietor Of a Ladies' Seminary! QUEEN. When next your Houses do assemble, You may tremble! CELIA. Our wrath, when gentlemen offend us, Is tremendous! LEILA. They meet, who underrate our calling, Doom appalling! QUEEN. Take down our sentence as we speak it, And he shall wreak it! (Indicating Strephon.) PEERS. Oh, spare us! QUEEN. Henceforth, Strephon, cast away Crooks and pipes and ribbons so gay— Flocks and herds that bleat and low ”

“ ANGELA Sir, will it please you read to us? GROS. [sighing] Yes, child, if you will. What shall I read? ANGELA One of your own poems. GROS. One of my own poems? Better not, my child. They will not cure thee of thy love. [All sigh.] ELLA Mr. Bunthorne used to read us a poem of his own every day. SAPHIR And, to do him justice, he read them extremely well. GROS. Oh, did he so? Well, who am I that I should take upon myself to withhold my gifts from you? What am I but a trustee? Here is a decalet — a pure and simple thing, a very daisy — a babe might understand it. ”

“ Indeed, to the conventionally villainous among fictive sea-faring persons of song, Gilbert and Sullivan seem to have done something that cannot now ever be undone.
[Pg 164]
The poems in the volume one does turn back to again and again are those with the great singing tones, that pour forth with originality, with inexpressible free grace and native power. Again and again you will read A Creed, C. L. M., Born for Nought Else, Roadways, Truth, The Wild Duck, Her Heart, and—
But at the falling of the tide The golden birds still sing and gleam. ”

“ CAPT. Don't say that, your honour—love levels all ranks. SIR JOSEPH. It does to a considerable extent, but it does not level them as much as that. (Handing JOSEPHINE to RALPH.) Here — take her, sir, and mind you treat her kindly. RALPH and JOS. Oh bliss, oh rapture! CAPT. and BUT. Oh rapture, oh bliss! SIR JOSEPH. Sad my lot and sorry, What shall I do? I cannot live alone! HEBE. Fear nothing—while I live I'll not desert you. I'll soothe and comfort your declining days. SIR JOSEPH. No, don't do that. HEBE. Yes, but indeed I'd rather— SIR JOSEPH (resigned) . ”