The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan.

Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan

by Arthur Sullivan

Gilbert and Sullivan, librettist and composer, were classically Victorian gentlemen whose comic operas for the Savoy Theater under impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte have endured down to the present day despite the disappearance of the British imperial world which they lampooned. Theirs was a happy combination of Sullivan's cheerily catchy tunes and Gilbert's witty lyrics which captured the comedy of universal human nature. Ian Bradley, annotator of an earlier Gilbert and Sullivan collection, completes and updates the record with the inclusion here of the last collaborations of the two, and new introductions to the operettas that reflect modern interpretations.

Genres: Music, Plays, Reference, Humor, Nonfiction, Drama, Theatre

Hardcover

First published January 2, 1996

About the author

Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan was an English composer. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Sullivan composed 23 operas, 13 major orchestral works, eight choral works and oratorios, two ballets, incidental music to several plays, and numerous hymns and other church pieces, songs, and piano and chamber pieces. The best known of his hymns and songs include "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "The Lost Chord".

Reviews

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An indispensable volume for fans of music, satire or British humor and culture. Gilbert and Sullivan's mixture of bookish intellectualism and outright silliness may or may not have invented the musical as a genre, but it certainly established a template for the twentieth-century sense of humor. Without these classic comedies, "The Pirates of Penzance," "The Mikado" and "HMS Pinafore" being the most famous, there would be no Blackadder, no Monty Python, and almost certainly no Broadway as we know it.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun. This twelve-hundred page book includes the scripts and commentaries of thirteen musical comedies. I picked this up for background and “Pirates of Penzance.”

These shows take us back to a quaint era of innocence and naiveté. Through these comedies, we return to the fun of the eighteen-seventies Victorian era. But these satires remain with us, thanks to the timeless melodies and situations we can recognize today. “Penzance,” for example, offers a pompous major general who we can recognize in the politics of today.

Reading a play or comedy is an acquired tasted that I still work to master. Skilled pros of the cast and crew transform the words on paper into memorable productions. Sullivan’s tuneful music can transcend Gilbert’s words on the printed page.

“Pirates of Penzance” is a laugh-out-loud and funny favorite of mine. The show stopper: Introducing himself, the major general launches into a fast and famous patter song: “I am the very model of a modern major general. …” Reading the lyrics here helped catch the silly and tongue-twisting bit, which goes quickly on stage.

Skylight produced this about five years ago. Time to see this audience favorite again, after reading the annotated script. http://www.skylightmusictheatre.org/s...

[Peter Talbot · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best all around version of the funniest stuff in English.
And if someday it should happen that a victim must be found, I've got a little list.
I've got a little list.
Of society offenders who might well be underground and who never would be missed,
they never would be missed.

A complete delight.

If you only sample the patter songs in each of the operettas that alone is worth the price of this thoroughly enjoyable book.

I am proud to say this book as its own shelf in the downstairs bathroom.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This contains all G&S's Libretti.The fact that i own this makes me a very big geek

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to have all the lyrics and the interesting stories, but needed more clarification on some uniquely British things such as the legal system. Some illustrations would have been nice.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must for any G & S fan. It is exactly what is promised from the title. Each opera is introduced with an overview and the extensive collection of notes for each opera give the reader a very good understanding of the work.

[Justin Tai Sen Choy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting look at all if the comic operas og G&S.

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous volume. It is tragic that no-one on Goodreads has seen fit to review this yet!

Bradley's volume contains the complete text of every one of the Gilbert/Sullivan operettas, complete with annotations in the margins, providing a useful contextual and historical overview. I recommend enjoying this alongside a music-biography of the works. The 20th anniversary edition contains impressive updates as well as including a couple of the early works previously excluded.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course, I HEARD them long before this (except the underrated Grand Duke, which I had to search out). But Bradley's notes rule like Vicki herself. Life's a pudding full of plums.