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Ruddigore
(Vocal Score). Complete vocal score.
220 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1887
1 person is currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
W.S. Gilbert
577 books35 followersBritish playwright and lyricist Sir William Schwenck Gilbert wrote a series of comic operas, including
Her Majesty's Ship Pinafore
(1878) and
The Pirates of Penzance
(1879), with composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. This English dramatist, librettist, poet, and illustrator in collaboration with this composer produced fourteen comic operas, which include
The Mikado
, one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre. Opera companies, repertory companies, schools and community theatre groups throughout and beyond the English-speaking world continue to perform regularly these operas as well as most of their other Savoy operas. From these works, lines, such as "short, sharp shock", "What, never? Well, hardly ever!", and "Let the punishment fit the crime," form common phrases of the English language.
Gilbert also wrote the Bab Ballads , an extensive collection of light verse, which his own comical drawings accompany.
His creative output included more than 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. According to The Cambridge History of English and American Literature , the "lyrical facility" of Gilbert "and his mastery of metre raised the poetical quality of comic opera to a position that it had never reached before and has not reached since."
Gilbert also wrote the Bab Ballads , an extensive collection of light verse, which his own comical drawings accompany.
His creative output included more than 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. According to The Cambridge History of English and American Literature , the "lyrical facility" of Gilbert "and his mastery of metre raised the poetical quality of comic opera to a position that it had never reached before and has not reached since."
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 23, 2011
ROBIN
My boy, you may take it from me,
That of all the afflictions accurst
With which a man's saddled
And hampered and addled,
A diffident nature's the worst.
Though clever as clever can be –
A Crichton of early romance –
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
ROBIN AND RICHARD
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
ROBIN
Now take, for example, my case:
I've a bright intellectual brain –
In all London city there's no one so witty –
I've thought so again and again.
I've a highly intelligent face –
My features cannot be denied –
But, whatever I try, sir, I fail in – and why, sir?
I'm modesty personified!
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
ROBIN AND RICHARD
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
ROBIN
As a poet, I'm tender and quaint –
I've passion and fervour and grace –
From Ovid and Horace to Swinburne and Morris,
They all of them take a back place.
Then I sing and I play and I paint:
Though none are accomplished as I,
To say so were treason:
You ask me the reason?
I'm diffident, modest, and shy!
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
ROBIN AND RICHARD
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
My boy, you may take it from me,
That of all the afflictions accurst
With which a man's saddled
And hampered and addled,
A diffident nature's the worst.
Though clever as clever can be –
A Crichton of early romance –
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
ROBIN AND RICHARD
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
ROBIN
Now take, for example, my case:
I've a bright intellectual brain –
In all London city there's no one so witty –
I've thought so again and again.
I've a highly intelligent face –
My features cannot be denied –
But, whatever I try, sir, I fail in – and why, sir?
I'm modesty personified!
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
ROBIN AND RICHARD
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
ROBIN
As a poet, I'm tender and quaint –
I've passion and fervour and grace –
From Ovid and Horace to Swinburne and Morris,
They all of them take a back place.
Then I sing and I play and I paint:
Though none are accomplished as I,
To say so were treason:
You ask me the reason?
I'm diffident, modest, and shy!
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
ROBIN AND RICHARD
If you wish in the world to advance,
Your merits you're bound to enhance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance!
December 13, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2023
When I read the cast of characters in the front I started laughing out loud, but unfortunately the rest of the play didn't live up to it, at least reading off the page.
October 28, 2014
Read as part of The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan while watching a performance (a YouTube video).
Ruddigore was fun but not quite as good as the best Gilbert and Sullivan.
Ruddigore was fun but not quite as good as the best Gilbert and Sullivan.
April 7, 2025
At least 10 years before I heard of Oscar Wilde and "The Picture of Dorian Grey", I fell in love with this satirical -and-soulful spoof of an operetta.
How can you not sympathize with a group of professional bridesmaids who have had no weddings to attend for six long months?
Here's a sample of one of the witty arias, this one sung by Sir Despard Murgatroyd --
I'll just share his lines, and leave out the terrific rejoinders from the Chorus:
Oh why am I moody and sad?
And why am I guiltily mad?
Because I am thoroughly bad!
You'll see it at once in my face.
Oh why am I husky and hoarse?
It's the workings of conscience, of course.
And huskiness stands for remorse,
At least it does so in my case.
When in crime one is fully employed --
Your expression gets warped and destroyed.
It's a penalty none can avoid.
I once was a nice-looking youth.
And there's more, of course. Read it, or even better, hear it -- for yourself.
Meanwhile, of course, I'm sending FIVE STARS to Mr. Gilbert and to all you Goodreaders.
How can you not sympathize with a group of professional bridesmaids who have had no weddings to attend for six long months?
Here's a sample of one of the witty arias, this one sung by Sir Despard Murgatroyd --
I'll just share his lines, and leave out the terrific rejoinders from the Chorus:
Oh why am I moody and sad?
And why am I guiltily mad?
Because I am thoroughly bad!
You'll see it at once in my face.
Oh why am I husky and hoarse?
It's the workings of conscience, of course.
And huskiness stands for remorse,
At least it does so in my case.
When in crime one is fully employed --
Your expression gets warped and destroyed.
It's a penalty none can avoid.
I once was a nice-looking youth.
And there's more, of course. Read it, or even better, hear it -- for yourself.
Meanwhile, of course, I'm sending FIVE STARS to Mr. Gilbert and to all you Goodreaders.
June 1, 2017
This is, among Gilbert and Sullivan shows, "the weird one." Seemingly crammed with a number of ideas that never quite gel together, Ruddigore combines professional bridesmaids, mistaken identities, a hearty but rustic sailor, a witch's curse and a haunted castle, then throws in an obvious caricature of Ophelia on top of it all. These elements never entirely fit together, which may account for the abrupt deus ex machina of the ending. Nonetheless, it's a fascinating look at the more experimental side of the G&S partnership, as well as the source of "My Eyes Are Fully Open to My Awful Situation," which is a dark-horse candidate for the best patter song in the canon (but better known from its uses in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and the revised version of "Pirates" staged on Broadway).
March 11, 2021
Another fun operetta with a spooky twist.
October 13, 2010
A pleasant read. Not quite what I expected, but, fun.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews