SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Life Story, 
 Letters, and 
 Reminiscences
 
 From the Portraif 
 
 Painled in J888 
 
 bv Sir Joh n Mi fin is. 
 
 C/t^^r^^^U 
 
 (M^^€t
 
 Sir Arthur Sullivan 
 
 LIFE STORY, LETTERS 
 AND REMINISCENCES 
 
 BY 
 
 Arthur Lawrence 
 
 WITH CRITIQUE BY B. W. FINDON AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 BY V/ILFRID BENDALL 
 
 HERBERT S. STONE AND COMPANY 
 
 CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 
 
 MDCCCC
 
 COPYRIGHT 1899, BY 
 HERBERT S. STONE & CO
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 ^\0 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 It is of importance to Sir Arthur Sullivan and 
 myself that I should explain how this book came 
 o to be written. Averse as Sir Arthur is to the 
 ^ " interview " in journalism, I could not resist the 
 temptation to ask him to let me write something 
 of the sort when I first had the pleasure of meet- 
 ing him — not in regard to journalistic matters — 
 ^ some years ago. That permission was most 
 % genially granted, and the little chat which I had 
 with him then, in regard to the opera which he 
 was writing, appeared in The World. Subsequent 
 ^ conversations which I was privileged to have 
 ^ with Sir Arthur, and the fact that there was 
 ' .^ nothing procurable in book form concerning our 
 greatest and most popular composer — save an 
 interesting little monograph which formed part 
 of a small volume published some years ago on 
 
 A^ 
 
 ^m'VGQ
 
 6 PREFACE 
 
 English Musicians by Mr. Charles Willeby — 
 gave me the notion of writing this book. 
 
 Sir Arthur's only objection to my proposition 
 was one which did credit to his modesty : that he 
 hardly thought a record of his life and recollec- 
 tions would be of interest to the public ; but as 
 an item of the vast number, all the world over, 
 who know Sir Arthur Sullivan's work, and who 
 may therefore desire, so to speak, to have better 
 personal acquaintance with the composer, I 
 excused myself from sharing this modest 
 opinion, nor have I any fear that the music- 
 loving public will fail to justify me in regard 
 to my attitude upon this particular point. 
 
 So much byway of explaining that the respon- 
 sibility of writing and publishing this book is 
 entirely my own. On the other hand, having, I 
 hope, made this reservation clear, I must add 
 that throughout a work which has been in the 
 doing of it so pleasant to me, I have had Sir 
 Arthur's heartiest co-operation, and the book 
 is published with his goodwill and sanction.
 
 PREFACE 7 
 
 Indeed, I have been given every facility. Sir 
 Arthur has placed in my hands the letters which 
 he wrote home over a period of some thirty 
 years, as well as letters which have been written 
 to him, and the like. Throughout the book — 
 and more especially in Chapter XIII. — will be 
 found my transcription of notes made during 
 the many conversations which I have had with 
 Sir Arthur Sullivan for this special purpose, 
 including anecdotes and so forth which he has 
 given me on the understanding that I could 
 make use of them or not, as I saw fit. More- 
 over, Sir Arthur has revised and passed the 
 proofs of those chapters dealing with incidents 
 in his life, thus enabling me to claim accuracy 
 and authenticity for this work, and, I need 
 hardly add, leaving me with a debt of gratitude 
 which, if I had the ability, this is not the place 
 to express. 
 
 I shall not be guilty of any immodesty in 
 suggesting that much utility and interest apper- 
 tains to this book by reason of the complete and
 
 8 PREFACE 
 
 accurate appendix compiled by Mr. Wilfrid 
 Bendall, and by the three chapters on '* Sullivan 
 as a Musician " contributed by a musical critic of 
 Mr. B. W. Findon's ability and experience. 
 
 If the reader, unhampered by any short- 
 comings of my own as biographer, shall find 
 the life-story of the composer as interesting and 
 refreshing as I have found it, I trust I need 
 make no apology for having written the biog- 
 raphy of a man during his lifetime, whilst there 
 is an obvious and not to be over-estimated 
 advantage in having it added to — and revised — 
 by no less an authority than the subject of it. 
 
 THE AUTHOR.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 FAOE 
 
 PREFACE vii 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. BOYHOOD (1842-1857) I 
 
 Chapel Royal — Mendelssohn Scholarship — Leaves 
 Chapel Royal for Leipzig 
 
 n. AT LEIPZIG (1858-1861) 24 
 
 Musical Stagnation in England — Catholicity at Leip- 
 zig — Hard Work and Holidays — Writes "Tempest" 
 Music 
 
 III. FIRST PUBLIC SUCCESS (1861-1866) 49 
 
 Charles Dickens — First Visit to Paris — Rossini — 
 
 Organist St. Michael's and at Covent Garden 
 
 Opera — Visits Ireland — Germ of English Comic 
 Opera 
 
 IV. SECOND VISIT TO PARIS (1867-1871) .... 69 
 
 Tennyson — Paris in the time of the Commune — 
 "The Prodigal Son" — Emperor and Empress 
 Napoleon — Prophetic words from Prince Henry of 
 Battenburg
 
 X CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP, PAGE 
 
 V. SULLIVAN MEETS GILBERT (1872-1875) ... 83 
 Musician Laureate — ^Meeting with W. S. Gilbert — 
 ' 'Thespis' ' — ' 'The Lightof the World' '—Sims Reeves 
 — "Trial by Jury" — Lord Chief Justice Cockburn — 
 Desbarrolles 
 
 VL IDLING IN ITALY (1875-1877) no 
 
 Conductorship — Visits Italy — Death of Fred Sulli- 
 van— "The Lost Chord"— "Henry VIIL"— "The 
 Sorcerer" — Sir Coutts and Lady Lindsay — Princess 
 Louise 
 
 VII. AMERICAN REMINISCENCES (1878-1880) ... 126 
 "H.M.S. Pinafore" — Promenade Concerts — "The 
 Pinafore" Fever in America — First Visit to America 
 — American Reminiscences — American Piracy and 
 the "Pirates of Penzance" 
 
 VIIL THE MOST POPULAR OPERA (1878-1885) . . 154 
 "lolanthe" — "Princess Ida" — "Patience" — "The 
 Mikado' ' — His Mother Dies — Knighthood — ' 'The 
 Golden Legend" — Visits Salt Lake City 
 
 IX. SIR ARTHUR'S FAVOURITE OPERA (1886- 
 
 1889) • . . 174 
 
 "Ruddigore" — "Yeoman of the Guard" — Emperor 
 and Empress of Germany — "The Gondoliers" 
 
 X. DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP (18S9-1898) . 191 
 Sullivan and Gilbert Part Company — "Haddon 
 Hall" — "Utopia"— "The Foresters"— "The Chief- 
 tain" — "The Beauty Stone"
 
 CONTENTS xi 
 
 CBAP. PAGE 
 
 XI. OUR LACK OF PATRIOTISM IN MUSIC ... 200 
 The Jubilee Procession — Letter to the Times — Con- 
 sensus of Opinion on the Subject — Apathy of the 
 Press 
 
 XII. PERSONALITY AND METHODS OF WORK . 212 
 Preferences and Recreations — Hard Work before 
 "Inspiration" — Rhythm before Melody — How the 
 Operas have been Produced 
 
 XIII. ANECDOTAL 232 
 
 In the Auction-room — ^Thirty years afterwards — 
 Old Church at Sandhurst — Rev. Thomas Helmore 
 and the Boys— Battle of the Alma — Early Composi- 
 tion — Sterndale Bennett — Bach's room at Leipzig — 
 Amateur Choral Societies — Gladstone and Disraeli — 
 Burnand and his Book — Byron and Palgrave — With 
 the Duke of Edinburgh on the Herctiles — The Ger- 
 man Emperor — Peterhof — In the Baltic — Buffalo 
 Etiquette — "The Mikado" plagiarised in real life — 
 Water and Good Society — The Gentlemanly Guide 
 — Earthquake at Monte Carlo — Coincidences — Ten- 
 nyson—Sullivan's Grand-parents and Napoleon I. at 
 St. Helena 
 
 XIV. "ABOUT MUSIC" 262 
 
 An Address Delivered at the Town Hall, Birming- 
 ham, on October 19, 1888, by Sir Arthur Sullivan 
 
 SULLIVAN AS A COMPOSER 290 
 
 His Place among Contemporaries — Sacred Music — 
 Secular and Dramatic Music. By B. W. Findon
 
 xii CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 APPENDIX 329 
 
 Comprising a Complete List of Sir Arthur Sullivan's 
 Work. Compiled by Wilfrid Bendall.
 
 Sir Arthur Sullivan 
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 BOYHOOD 
 
 (1842-1857) 
 
 " Chapel Royal — Mendelssohn Scholarship — Leaves 
 Chapel Royal for Leipzig. 
 
 ARTHUR SULLIVAN was fortunate in 
 regard to two circumstances which I 
 deem to be the best incentives to hard 
 work and achievement — he had the best of good 
 parents, to whom he was devotedly attached, and, 
 although there was no unpleasant straitment of 
 means, he knew that he would have to earn his 
 own living. 
 
 The word " prodigy" is an unpleasant one. 
 The infant phenomenon may prove interesting, 
 but whether the prodigy produces in one a feeling 
 of interest or of boredom one can scarcely claim 
 that the prodigy shall be congratulated as such.
 
 2 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Too often exceptional ability at a tender age 
 implies an abnormal and unhealthy development 
 of powers which, by reason of the hot-house 
 processes which have attended their growth, are 
 subject to premature arrest and decay. Innumer- 
 able instances will come to mind of great men in 
 every profession, artists in every sense of the 
 word, who have been dunces at school and whose 
 powers, to say the least of it, have not been 
 apparent during the time of their earlier develop- 
 ment. On the other hand, it is not surprising if 
 the extreme ability which we call genius should 
 manifest itself early, and this was certainly the 
 case with young Sullivan. 
 
 Born in London, on May 13, 1842, Arthur was 
 the younger of two sons, the elder of whom, 
 Frederic, is frequently referred to in this work. 
 His father, Thomas Sullivan, an Irishman and 
 a musician, was bandmaster at the Royal Military 
 College, Sandhurst, from 1845 to 1856, and took 
 part in the Military School of Music at Kneller 
 Hall, from 1857 until his death. The mother, 
 Mary, daughter of James Coghler, was of an old 
 Italian family, named Righi. Here one might 
 make almost any deduction one pleased on the
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 3 
 
 score of heredity, or the peculiar advantage of this 
 admixture of Celtic and Italian blood in this most 
 English of Englishmen. 
 
 The band which his father conducted was 
 small, but extremely efficient, forThomas Sullivan 
 loved his craft and was a first-rate musician. His 
 elder son Frederic, although very fond of music, 
 was educated and brought up as an architect,^ 
 possessing also a good voice and a penchant for 
 using it, more especially in the effective delivery 
 of comic songs, but, on the other hand, almost 
 from infancy Arthur showed that he had different 
 qualities and ambitions and gifts. An enthusiast 
 in his art; all his efforts were directed towards 
 composition, in which aim, it is needless to say, 
 his father gave him every encouragement. It 
 would seem that while there is no art which asks 
 more of good education than music there is no 
 faculty which is of a more instinctive character 
 than the melodic faculty, but, whether or not this 
 
 1 Lord Russell of Killowen tells a little anecdote of young 
 Frederic Sullivan. It seems that at that time our Lord Chifef 
 Justice, who was then, of course, Mr. Charles Russell, had occa- 
 sion to examine Frederic as a witness, in the course of which he 
 said to him, "You are an architect, I believe, Mr. Sullivan?" to 
 which Frederic replied, "I have been an architect, but am now 
 on the stage," and added, "you see, I still draw big houses."
 
 4 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 holds good by way of generalisation, how early 
 young Sullivan's genius found some expression 
 may be realised from the fact that, at the age of 
 eight, he had written his first piece of boyish and, 
 of course, immature composition, which Sir 
 Arthur smilingly tells me was an anthem, " By 
 the Waters of Babylon," while his first mature 
 composition, the music to Shakespeare's " Tem- 
 pest," which brought him fame and an assured 
 position in the appreciation of the public, was 
 written at the age of eighteen. It should be 
 added that before the first-named piece had been 
 written the eight-year-old boy had learned to play 
 almost every wind instrument in his father's band 
 with some facility. 
 
 In his own words his knowledge of these in- 
 struments, among them the flute, clarionet, horn, 
 cornet, trombone, and euphonium, was not " a 
 mere passing acquaintance, but a lifelong and 
 intimate friendship." It was, indeed, an acquire- 
 ment by no means necessarily included in the 
 curriculum of every would-be composer. In this 
 way he had gradually learnt the peculiarities of 
 each instrument, where it was strong and where 
 it was weak — first steps, indeed, in the branch of
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 5 
 
 his art and an acquirement of knowledge which 
 must have assisted very practically his ability in 
 orchestration. 
 
 There can be little doubt that even in those 
 days, before the boy had attained his ninth birth- 
 day, his tendencies, his aptitudes, as well as his 
 professed inclinations, prevented any sort of 
 parental uncertainty as to the career of the 
 younger boy, and though no doubt maternal 
 affection might account for the circumstance, I am 
 inclined to think that the scrupulous care with 
 which Mrs. Sullivan preserved all his boyish 
 epistles sent to her when he had left home is 
 some evidence that, even then, they had good 
 hopes, beyond those born of parental fondness 
 and pride, that his career would be a distinguished 
 one. 
 
 Young Arthur Sullivan wrote to his father and 
 mother very regularly on all the occasions that he 
 was away from home, from the time he first went 
 to school, until his mother's death, a blow which 
 fell upon him long after he had obtained a posi- 
 tion which, even in their most sanguine moments, 
 neither Mr. nor Mrs. Sullivan could have antici- 
 pated, and from those letters, although only brief
 
 6 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 and of course very boyish effusions, I shall quote 
 presently. 
 
 It is no small credit to the father — perhaps 
 one may be forgiven for commenting upon it — 
 that, notwithstanding any temptation, he avoided 
 anything in the nature of that forcing process to 
 which I have already alluded. On the contrary, 
 he decided to send the boy away from all sound 
 of music for a time, and placed him in a private 
 school at Bayswater, where he remained until he 
 was nearly twelve years old. 
 
 During those earlier school-days, however, 
 there could be but one subject which ever re- 
 mained uppermost in the minds of father and 
 son, and at last the boy confessed that his great 
 ambition was to become a member of the choir 
 of either the Chapel Royal or Westminster Abbey, 
 but the wish was opposed on the ground that 
 the education was not the best to be had. For a 
 time he gave up the attack, but then tried the 
 powers of persuasion on his Bayswater school- 
 master, a Mr. Plees, until with the assent of 
 Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Plees finally consented to take 
 him to see Sir George Smart, the organist and 
 composer to the Chapels Royal, who lived at
 
 HISLIFESTORY 7 
 
 that time in the house in which Weber spent his 
 last moments in Great Portland Street. Sir 
 George received him very kindly and heard him 
 sing " With Verdure Clad," in which the would- 
 be chorister accompanied himself; with the re- 
 sult that he was sent down to see the Rev. 
 Thomas Helmore, the master of the Chapel 
 Royal boys. The address given then was a house 
 in Onslow Square. Mr. Plees went with him, but 
 only to find that the master of the boys had 
 moved. However, the agitated youth, always 
 practical, bethought himself of inquiring of a local 
 tradesman, and finding that Mr. Helmore had 
 moved to Cheyne Walk, Mr. Plees and he went 
 there together. Arthur Sullivan had an ex- 
 ceptionally good treble voice, and had learned to 
 sing those arias which he had heard at home, so 
 that the result of Mr.Helmore's examination was 
 well-nigh a foregone conclusion. Two days 
 afterwards he received a note saying that he 
 might take up his work as a Chapel Royal 
 chorister and enter the school. This was on 
 Tuesday in Holy Week, 1854. On the following 
 Thursday he had learned and sung the treble 
 part in Nares' anthem " Blessed is He," and not
 
 8 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 only the purity, sweetness, and strength of his 
 voice, but the sympathetic quality of his render- 
 ing — as against the usual boyish rendering of 
 solos — called forth some very decided approval 
 on the part of his master and of many others 
 amongst those who heard him. 
 
 Apart from the musical education, the fellow- 
 ship with the boys of his own age, many of them 
 intending to adopt music as a profession, must 
 have been of considerable value to him, and, not 
 least, he must have benefited by the esprit-de-corps 
 which Mr. Helmore did so much to inspire. 
 From the letters which he wrote home, dated 
 from Cheyne Walk, it is not difficult to see that 
 the tone of the place was a healthy one. Truth 
 compels me to add that the treatment of the boys 
 did not err on the side of laxity, for in one letter 
 there is the terse information that " M. was caned 
 because he did not know the meaning of for- 
 tissimo." 
 
 There are one or two sentences in the letters 
 written home during the Chapel Royal period 
 which, although they cannot be of a particularly 
 momentous character, are interesting in so far as 
 the names mentioned remind one that these letters
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 9 
 
 were written in the early fifties, and in so far as 
 they help us to form a picture of the bright-eyed, 
 dark, curly-haired boy who was destined to be- 
 come the most popular composer of our own time. 
 
 It would he purposeless to give any of these 
 letters in their entirety, or, indeed, to do more 
 than quote very briefly from letters extending over 
 a considerable period, but it may be interesting to 
 note that throughout they are curiously restrained 
 and mature for a boy of twelve, a remark which 
 applies also to the handwriting. Throughout one 
 is sensible that they are from a boy with a strong 
 sense of duty, and of the importance of making 
 the best use of the short time before him, and of 
 doing everything to the very best of his abilities. 
 
 With an intense appreciation of home, there is 
 an abiding anxiety to give his " people " a clear 
 account of everything that goes on. Here and 
 there one gets a glimpse of his little economies, 
 and more often a touch of ironic humour, but 
 every letter bears the same impress of seriousness 
 and restraint. 
 
 In one of them he writes to his father: " We 
 have got the gold clothes to-day. . . . Will you 
 come to chapel on that day? If you do, you will
 
 lo SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 have the double pleasure of seeing me togged out 
 and hearing me sing a solo." In another letter he 
 explains, "We" (the Chapel Royal Choristers) 
 " were going home for a party. Before we got to 
 Buckingham Palace, we were attacked by a lot of 
 boys, but a man taking our part, and we making a 
 desperate defence, / managed to get home safely." 
 The stress on the last words is a good-humoured 
 allusion to the fact that they had to execute an 
 undignified, if strategic, retreat. These attacks 
 were of constant occurrence. It would seem that 
 the gold coats were a perpetual irritant to the 
 canaille. 
 
 " We went to the Bishop's party (at Fulham 
 Palace) on Thursday and had such a jolly time. I 
 sang 'With Verdure Clad,' with which the Bishop 
 was very much pleased, and patted me on the 
 head; he then gave us half a crown each. So I 
 bought * Samson ' when I went to Novello's, as 
 one of the boys owed me sixpence. Shan't I be 
 well stocked with Oratorios?" 
 
 In another there is an allusion to his stock of 
 wealth and the intellectual refreshment which his 
 brother Fred had provided. " I want some more 
 stamps sent me. I have expended nearly all my
 
 fS 
 
 ARTHUR SULLLJVAlNr 
 
 AS A CHAPEL. ROYAt, CHORISTEH. FROM A PBOTOGRAril.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY ii 
 
 money, only Captain Ottley gave me a shilling for 
 running a race, but I have paid a good deal of that 
 to the Cricket Club. Fred often comes to see me 
 of a night and sings us comic songs," one of which, 
 according to quotation, seemed to have contained 
 an allusion in quite a Dickensy manner to " free 
 spots of brandy on a lump of sugar, which was 
 the rewing of him." 
 
 " Has Helen learned any fresh races on the 
 piano, one hand after the other? The young 
 ladies' letters were very nicely written and indited. 
 I hope they are getting on well with their re- 
 spective studies. I shall give them a lesson or 
 two on religious instruction when I get home." 
 
 On October 6, 1856, he writes to say that he is 
 now "first boy," and presumes that a bottle of 
 "champagne stuff" will be drunk on the strength 
 of it, and the year before, apropos of Guy Fawkes 
 Day,"Theytalk of doing away with the services for 
 that day altogether, and let the poor fellow sleep 
 in his grave in peace, and only remember that it 
 was the day the battle of Inkerman was fought, 
 since the Roman Catholics helped us to win the 
 day, and we speak so badly of them in the serv- 
 ice."
 
 12 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 " Yesterday I had to sing a long solo in the 
 Chapel Royal," and naming the then Duchess of 
 Sutherland, the late Lord Wilton, and others who 
 were present, he continues : "Watch the Times 
 every day, and most likely you will see all about 
 it, for there was a reporter from there, and he 
 took down my name and a good deal else." In 
 another he reports that he is being taken to Drury 
 Lane to hear Grisi and Mario. 
 
 In another letter, dated May 20, 1857, there is 
 a fairly decided statement of opinion for a boy of 
 fifteen. " I enjoyed the Philharmonic very much 
 last Monday, all except Rubinstein. He has 
 wonderful strength in the wrists, and particularly 
 so in octave passages, but there is a good deal of 
 clap-trap about him. As for his composition, it 
 was a disgrace to the Philharmonic. I never 
 heard such wretched, nonsensical rubbish ; not 
 two bars of melody or harmony together through- 
 out, and yet Mr. E. thinks him wonderful." 
 
 The following extracts will give a glimpse of 
 the more serious and of the lighter side of affairs 
 with him at the Chapel Royal : 
 
 " When I had composed my anthem I showed 
 it to Sir George Smart, who told me it did me
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 13 
 
 great credit, and also told me to get the parts 
 copied out, and he would see what he could do 
 with it. So I copied them out and he desired the 
 sub-dean to have it sung, and it was sung. The 
 dean^ was there in the evening and he called me 
 up to him in the vestry and said it was very clever, 
 and said that perhaps I should be writing an 
 oratorio some day. But he said there was some- 
 thing higher to attend to, and then Mr. Helmore 
 said that I was a very good boy indeed. Where- 
 upon he shook hands with me, with half a sov- 
 ereign" — which was very satisfactory and the 
 first money earned by composition. 
 
 In another letter comes a reference to a special 
 form of recreation : " Every time I have made 
 up my mind to sit down and write to you some 
 fellow or other is sure to turn me away from it by 
 asking me to come and lead our 'band,' which, 
 by-the-bye, consists of two French speakers,which 
 by singing through them produce a twangy sound 
 like the oboe; two combs, and the cover of a book 
 for a drum — I am organist: or else they ask me 
 to go on composing something for the band." 
 
 It could not but happen that the enthusiasm 
 
 1 Ex-officio Bishop of London. This was Dean Bloomfield.
 
 14 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 and activity of the young chorister should attract 
 just the sort of attention which was destined to 
 prove most useful to him. One incident of his 
 somewhat precocious ability is worth relating. 
 When he was thirteen he came home from the 
 Chapel Royal for his holidays, much exercised in 
 mind concerning a work by Sir Frederick Ouseley, 
 entitled " The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp." Sir 
 Frederick had written it as an exercise for his 
 degree of Doctor of Music at Oxford. Arthur 
 Sullivan sang the solo soprano part in the per- 
 formance at Oxford, and " thought there never 
 was such music." As soon as he reached home, 
 he said to his father, " There is a splendid march 
 in ' The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp.' You really 
 ought to get it for the band." Mr. Sullivan 
 replied that he could do nothing, as the music had 
 not been published. However, the boy was not 
 to be overcome by a difficulty of that sort, and 
 beginning work early one morning, by night-time 
 he had written out the march from memory in full 
 military band score, and it was played with great 
 success by the band at Sandhurst. The success 
 of this experiment — a wonderful effort of memory 
 for a boy of thirteen — reached the ears of Sir
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 15 
 
 Frederick, and the pleasure which he expressed 
 was no doubt mixed with some gratification at 
 what was, in effect, though not in intention, very 
 practical flattery. 
 
 He had been two years at the Chapel Royal, 
 when, in the early part of '56, it was announced 
 that the Mendelssohn scholarship would be 
 thrown open for competition. The movement in 
 favour of this form of memorial to Mendelssohn 
 in this country had been initiated some ten years 
 before, with the result that a committee had been 
 convened to formulate the nation in London. In 
 order to raise the necessary funds it had been de- 
 cided to take advantage of the generous offer of 
 Madame Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt, who proffered 
 herservices at the performance of "Elijah," which 
 she gave with the aid of the Sacred Harmonic 
 Society and Mr. Julius Benedict, and which took 
 place at Exeter Hall on December 15, 1848. 
 The result of the performance was eminently 
 satisfactory, the pecuniary outcome being a thou- 
 sand pounds, which was invested and formed the 
 nucleus of what is now the Mendelssohn scholar- 
 ship. The original plan of amalgamating the 
 London and Leipzig projects had fallen through,
 
 i6 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 and, as I have already stated, it was not until '56 
 that the scholarship was actually offered for com- 
 petition. 
 
 The suggestion that Sullivan should compete 
 would seem to have emanated from his own 
 parents, for in one of his letters home, dated from 
 Cheyne Walk, in the early part of '56, he writes: 
 "I should like to try above all things for the 
 Mendelssohn scholarship, but you had better 
 speak to Mr. Helmore first about it;" while in 
 another, dated June 24, he states that "Saturday 
 is the examination day for the Mendelssohn 
 scholarship. There are seventeen candidates for 
 it, all clever fellows, so Mr. Porter says, so that I 
 stand a poor chance. I wish you would come up 
 that day. Besides, it is the grand rehearsal of 
 Jenny Lind's last concert, and you would have a 
 chance of hearing her." 
 
 It was one of the conditions that no pupil 
 under fourteen years of age could compete, but 
 luckily for him, his birthday falling on May 13, 
 he just escaped disqualification on account of his 
 extreme youth by five or six weeks! When it 
 came to the last day of the examination it was 
 announced that the scholarship lay between the
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 17 
 
 eldest and the youngest of the competitors. The 
 youngest was Arthur Sullivan. The eldest of 
 the competitors was Joseph Barnby. The result 
 being a tie between them, it was decided to put 
 them both through a severe final examination. 
 At the close of that long summer's day, which 
 must have been a trying ordeal for both of them, 
 the judges reserved their decision. The result, 
 they were told, would be communicated by letter 
 to the successful competitor. 
 
 The next day was one of feverish excitement 
 for at least one of the " Children of the Chapel 
 Royal," living at No. 6, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. 
 It was not a prize that could be reckoned out and 
 assessed at any definite monetary value. To 
 young Master Sullivan it meant a continuance of 
 his musical education under the most favourable 
 circumstances. It meant also that the winner of 
 the first Mendelssohn scholarship in this country 
 would receive just that amount of publicity that 
 would prove of almost immediate advantage. It 
 would mean the friendly attention of those best 
 able to help him, and, not least, infinite pleasure 
 to his best of good friends, his own parents. The 
 letter which he received announcing the result,
 
 i8 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 and the first paragraph intimating that result to 
 the pubHc in the Illustrated London News, were 
 promptly framed, and are at the present moment 
 among his most cherished possessions. Young 
 as he was, he must have been conscious that no 
 subsequent success would ever afford him such a 
 keen sense of pleasure. It was his real start in 
 life, and it would be his own fault if he did not 
 make the best use of it. 
 
 During the time of his stay at the Chapels 
 Royal there had been no lack of interesting 
 incidents. With the rest of the choir he was 
 present at the opening of the Crystal Palace in 
 1854 by the Queen and the Prince Consort, an 
 occasion no less memorable for the fact that it 
 was the first time that an enormous number of 
 singers and instrumentalists were gathered to- 
 gether upon the scale afterwards developed by the 
 Handel Festivals. He was present also, as 
 chorister, at the baptismal service of Princess 
 Beatrice, the last-born child of the Queen. 
 
 There is also another link with the past pro- 
 vided by the mention of the name in one of the 
 boyish letters home which I have already quoted 
 — Jennie Lind-Goldschmidt. She is, of course,
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 19 
 
 no more than a name to this generation. Sir 
 Arthur tells me that the occasion when he first 
 heard her sing was the greatest event of his 
 boyhood, and yet remains the deepest musical 
 impression of his life. When he came home 
 from that concert he was in a state of enchant- 
 ment. For two or three hours after the other 
 boys had gone off to bed he sat on the staircase 
 dreaming and thinking about it. Sir Arthur tells 
 me that she was altogether the greatest singer he 
 has ever heard, or — so far as an opinion can go — 
 the greatest the world has ever seen. Yet the 
 reason for the enchantment is difficult of defini- 
 tion. 
 
 " Her voice," says Sir Arthur, " which, as an 
 organ, has been equalled and surpassed, had an 
 individual quality about it totally unlike anything 
 else I have ever heard. She sang with a spirit- 
 uality and intensity which moved one strangely. 
 Her vocalisation, phrasing, and interpretation 
 were absolutely perfect, but her power over one 
 was due to something more than these qualities. 
 There was an indefinable something in her 
 beautiful voice which called forth the high tribute 
 of deep emotion and real tears of sympathy. She
 
 20 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 was a rare woman and a great artist. I remember 
 one occasion when she was quite an old woman, 
 she came to visit me. It chanced that in the 
 course of conversation I ran my fingers over the 
 keys of the pianoforte, playing a little song of 
 Mendelssohn, and I assure you that the sound of 
 her voice had the same magical effect upon me — 
 the tears came to one's eyes — so deep and true 
 was the rare spirituality of her temperament." 
 
 *' Helmore," Sir Arthur tells me, " was enthusi- 
 astic for the revival of old church music, and was 
 at the head of the movement for the use of 
 Gregorian music in the church. He published 
 two works which are of permanent value, the 
 ' Hymnal Noted ' and a ' Psalter,' both of which 
 are really monuments of research. The words 
 are mostly translations by the Rev. J. M. Niel, 
 the great hymnologist. I assisted in the work a 
 good deal in harmonizing tunes during the time 
 that I was a chorister there. The knowledge and 
 experience I gained in this way in regard to hymn 
 tunes assisted me materially in making my 
 big collection of hymn tunes for the Society for 
 the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, entitled 
 ' Church Hymns,' and for this collection I wrote
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 21 
 
 a great many tunes." Many of which, one may 
 add, are like household words in the church. 
 
 " It is perhaps a curious fact," Sir Arthur adds, 
 "that one of my best-known hymn tunes was 
 written as a result of a quarrel. The quarrel was 
 between the proprietors of ' Hymns Ancient and 
 Modern ' and the firm of Novello who printed it, 
 and who then gave way to Messrs. Clowes, who 
 still print it. Novello's then proceeded to compile 
 a collection of hymns, and for that Hymnary I 
 wrote 'Onward, Christian Soldiers,' which, you 
 see, was thus the indirect outcome of a quarrel." 
 
 He remained for some time at the Chapel 
 Royal, and did his work at the Academy con- 
 currently. His masters there were Sterndale 
 Bennett and Arthur O'Leary for the pianoforte, 
 and John Goss for harmony and composition. 
 He has ever been an exceedingly hard worker, 
 and that he did not belie himself upon this occasion 
 was shown by the fact that, in consideration of 
 the progress he had made, the committee awarded 
 him an extension of the scholarship for two years 
 in succession, although it was not until the end of 
 the first year that his voice "broke" and he left 
 London for Leipzig. This was in the June of
 
 22 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 '57 (aetat. 15), and his work and experience in 
 Leipzig must be reserved for the next chapter. 
 
 They were happy days, and among the children 
 of the Chapels Royal it maybe doubted if any of 
 the boys enjoyed the work more than young 
 Arthur Sullivan. He had been there three years, 
 had become "first boy," had written two or three 
 anthems, one of which had been sung in the 
 Chapel, and for which he had received his first 
 earnings — ten shillings; had alternated his spare 
 time between the Catch Club and the Cricket 
 Club, and the wonderful Choir " band," of which 
 he had been the conductor, organist, and com- 
 poser, and the bright-eyed, eager boy, with his 
 assiduous attention to duty, had made many 
 friends. He left the Chapel and the Academy 
 well equipped in the rudiments of his profession. 
 Nor was this all, for, better still, he had acquired 
 much the same sort of practical knowledge of the 
 voice and the requirements of choral music that 
 he had already gained in regard to instrumental 
 music from the military band which his father 
 controlled at Sandhurst. So we find that up to 
 this point he had gained not the least valuable 
 part of his education — the personal knowledge of
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 23 
 
 each instrument and each voice, without which, it 
 goes without saying, and may well be emphasised 
 here, no man can be considered qualified for the 
 post of conductor, nor hope to do effective work 
 as a composer. It was a knowledge which I 
 think the most adverse critic will not deny has 
 proved fruitful, and it is knowledge which, added 
 to his rare melodic faculty, has enabled him to do 
 work which has not only achieved unique popu- 
 larity, but will also help to secure for the greater 
 part of his composition the permanent interest of 
 posterity.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 AT LEIPZIG 
 
 (1858-1861) 
 
 IT was in the autumn of 1858 that he left 
 London for Leipzig. He carried with him 
 letters of introduction which would find him 
 very acceptable friends, and the fact that he was 
 the first Mendelssohn scholar would be sure to 
 gain him some little attention in the Conserva- 
 torium at Leipzig, but, best of all, he brought no 
 prejudices with him. He worked hard and formed 
 opinions and came to some definite conclusions, 
 but, as one would expect, the sixteen-year-old lad 
 was unprejudiced and receptive. On this side of 
 the water, in those days, there was no god but 
 Mendelssohn^ and the lighter form of music in- 
 dulged in as an alternative was almost too banal 
 for description. Apart from appreciation of Men- 
 delssohn, the taste of the musical public in 
 
 24
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 25 
 
 England was at a low ebb, vapid pianoforte 
 pieces, insipid ballads, and songs characterised by 
 nothing better than blatant vulgarity sufficed to 
 keep the more intelligent folk away from the 
 concert room, and, unfortunately, by the will of 
 the majority, similar stuff was made to serve as 
 the staple after-dinner refreshment. At Leipzig 
 there was, if anything, rather a prejudice against 
 Mendelssohn, in the shape of a reaction against 
 the notion that if the out-and-out admirers of 
 Mendelssohn were right, then the admirers of any 
 other composer must be wrong. Schumann, at 
 that time unknown in England, was enjoying a 
 great vogue in Germany. Schubert, too, had 
 *'come to his own," and the admirers of Wagner 
 were giving vent to that enthusiasm which, in 
 its later developments, has done that great 
 master the ill service of the suggestion that to be 
 unable to regard everything he has written as 
 being on the same plane of excellence is to argue 
 that one is without education, or that one has a 
 weakness for indulging in heresy At any rate, 
 up to the time of which I am writing, the work 
 of Wagner, Schumann, and Schubert had been 
 ignored in this country. Not the least important
 
 26 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 part of the education he received during his two- 
 and-a-half years in Leipzig was this breadth of 
 appreciation and knowledge of even more impor- 
 tance than the practical tuition he received at the 
 admirably managed Conservatorium. 
 
 Here he had for masters Moscheles and Plaidy 
 for the pianoforte, Hauptmann for counterpoint 
 and fugue, Julius Rietz for composition, and 
 Ferdinand David for orchestral playing and con- 
 ducting. He was extremely fortunate in his 
 masters. Rietz was an excellent conductor, who 
 never allowed his own strong personal prejudices 
 to stand in the way of a good performance, while 
 Plaidy's instruction (pianoforte) was eagerly 
 sought after from all parts of the world, for he 
 had a remarkable gift for imparting technical 
 power. 
 
 "Amongst my fellow-students at Leipzig who 
 afterwards distinguished themselves," Sir Arthur 
 tells me, " might be mentioned John Francis 
 Barnett, Franklin Taylor, Professor Ernest 
 Rudolph, and Greig, the celebrated composer. 
 His younger brother was also there, and it is cu- 
 rious to remember that he was thought to be very 
 much more gifted and more likely to achieve
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 27 
 
 celebrity in the world than his elder brother; but 
 the younger brother has done nothing since. To 
 continue the list of my fellow-students, there was 
 Carl Rosa, Dan Renter, the late Walter Bach, 
 and many who are better known in Germany than 
 here. 
 
 "At that time Leipzig was a most interesting 
 old town, with some of the most picturesque 
 German architecture in the world, of which noth- 
 ing now remains but a few old houses in the 
 market-place 
 
 " In i860, whilst I was there, the wonderful 
 hailstorm occurred. It lasted less than ten 
 minutes, but it broke every window in the town 
 that looked to the west, and it was a curious thing 
 that, in the post-office, which faced west, every 
 pane of glass looked as if it had been clean cut by 
 the glazier. The hailstones were about the size 
 of a bantam's egg, and many of them were of a 
 most beautiful pattern and shape. A good many 
 cattle, but, luckily, no human beings, were killed, 
 although a number of people were badly injured. 
 The stones were swept up at the sides of the 
 streets, and a few days afterwards the King of 
 Saxony came over to look at them. It was cer-
 
 28 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 tainly the most curious thing I have ever wit- 
 nessed in Europe." 
 
 The story of young Sullivan's work and experi- 
 ence at Leipzig can best be told from the letters 
 which he wrote during that period. 
 
 In September of '58 he writes to his father to 
 tell him that he is now " safely housed two floors 
 high, and that the bed-sitting room contains a 
 grand piano." He has already had several plea- 
 sant walks with Moscheles and David. 
 
 " The first of the twenty subscription concerts 
 will begin next week, but I shall not go to the 
 first two, as they are on Sunday." 
 
 The first question Sir George Smart put to him 
 on his return from Leipzig was, " Did you go to 
 any concerts on a Sunday?" and was delighted to 
 have a reply in the negative. 
 
 " I am obliged to work tremendously hard here. 
 No sooner is one master dispatched than I rush 
 home to prepare for another. In fact, to tell the 
 truth, the great fault of this institution is that there 
 are too many lessons — not enough time given to 
 the student to work at home." The same letter 
 (dated November) contains an amused reference 
 to the influence of what he has so far seen and
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 29 
 
 heard around him. " I had filled two sheets of 
 paper with a letter to Mr. Helmore the other day, 
 but tore it up again, as it contained heresy, as 
 Captain Ottley would call it." 
 
 There are two letters to his brother Frederic to 
 congratulate him on his birthdays. In December 
 of '58 his brother Frederic was twenty-one, and 
 Arthur was six months over sixteen. 
 
 "I shall treat myself to a ' Halbe-Flasche* of 
 Hocheimer on Saturday to drink your health in, 
 old chap, and for which you can pay me in your 
 next letter. This is the best time to be in Ger- 
 many. Every one gives presents to each other. 
 It is an old Christmas custom, and all is mirth and 
 jollity. I walk perhaps into the Augustus Platz, 
 and the whole square is filled with Christmas trees 
 of all sizes for the inspection of the buyer. Every 
 one has a tree, even the poorest in the town. It 
 is not Christmas without it. Walking a little fur- 
 ther up the Grimmasche Strasse I am attracted 
 by shops filled with the most exquisite bonbons 
 and sweetmeats of all shapes and patternsf 
 Houses, trees, animals, human beings, ham, sau- 
 sages, and all kinds of cunning devices, cut out in 
 the most beautiful manner, and in all colours, from
 
 30 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 sugar and all of it eatable. These are put on the 
 trees." 
 
 In the letter to his brother in the same month 
 of the following year ('59) he alludes jocularly to 
 his student importance: " I was writing a little 
 piece for the violoncello in honour of your twenty- 
 second birthday, but was obliged to give it up on 
 account of my important public duties! in connec- 
 tion with the Conservatoire festivities. I have 
 been unanimously elected President of our Music 
 Committee. The operetta — one of Reinicke's — 
 is only written for pianoforte accompaniment, and 
 as that is not strong enough, I am obliged to 
 arrange a great part of it for string instruments, 
 and, besides that, I have to conduct the whole 
 piece. I anticipate great fun at the rehearsals! 
 The dresses have been lent us by the theatre. 
 My orchestra consists of three first violins, two 
 second, one 'cello, and one contrabass, with the 
 grand piano, and perhaps I shall have two or 
 three more violins and another 'cello. We have 
 eighteen in the chorus and six solo singers, so I 
 shall have enough to do to keep them all to- 
 gether." It was a favourite trick of his to append 
 to his signature some sort of title. This time he
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 31 
 
 proudly adds, " Conductor of the Royal Opera at 
 Leipzig!" 
 
 Writing in the previous September to his 
 father he remarks, "I have written a little 
 romance for four stringed instruments which I 
 will send you over to play, if you promise to 
 observe the pianos, fortes, and staccatos in a 
 marked manner, as the thing loses its effect 
 without them. 
 
 " We had what they call a Landpartie the 
 other day — that is, all the students of the 
 Conservatorium, accompanied by the directors, 
 masters, and various visitors, walk out to a little 
 village, eat and drink in the Gasthof, or an inn, 
 and then amuse themselves in a free-and-easy 
 manner. I, with my usual luck, happened to be 
 elected on the Committee of Arrangements, 
 thereby losing three days' work, and finding 
 myself minus two-and-a-half thalers at the end. 
 How we four wretched creatures worked and 
 slaved those three days! First day concocting 
 and writing notices to be hung up in the hall, 
 running about the town buying ingredients for 
 ' punch,' flowers for the ladies, decorations for 
 the salon, &c. Another committee meeting at
 
 32 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 eight next morning. Rode over to Wahren to 
 tell 'mine host' that eighty people were coming 
 to dine with him the next day, and that he must 
 be provided. Then we decorated the room in 
 the most brilliant manner, each in his shirt 
 sleeves, and a pot of 'Baieresches Beer' before 
 him — Germans can do nothing without beer! 
 That done, back again to Leipzig, went round to 
 invite the masters, directors, &c., according to 
 etiquette. Next day committee meeting at eight, 
 rushed two miles out of town to buy the fireworks 
 and illuminated lanterns. Brought them home in 
 triumph, went home, dressed and ate, and went 
 back to the Conservatorium before two, in time 
 to receive the people. At Wahren they drank 
 coffee and played games in the meadow, danced, 
 ate supper, saw the fireworks, and finally drank 
 an immense quantity of punch. Had you come 
 in at about a quarter past ten you would have 
 seen Albrecht and me with two gigantic bowls 
 ladling it out to the company." 
 
 30th March, i860.— "Tell Jack [his brother] 
 I will sell him the copyright of the Overture for 
 twenty pounds, or you shall have it for the same 
 price for the great band! What a swindle
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 33 
 
 that thing is! Cheating the public to go to Exeter 
 Hall in order to hear a set of wretched muffs 
 blowing themselves to pieces and labouring under 
 the delusion that they are entertaining the public. 
 But I must say that you have shown great 
 judgment in discarding bassoons, for what earthly 
 use are they amidst the noise of trumpets, trom- 
 bones, euphoniums, &c.? Besides, the bassoon 
 is a purely orchestral instrument, and, in my 
 opinion, utterly out of place in a military band. 
 The althorn, on the contrary, although of a very 
 sweet and charming tone, tells much more, mixes 
 better with the other instruments, and is capable 
 of quite the same, if not more, execution. Your 
 selections seem to be very judicious, but of course 
 I cannot speak on that subject as you are far in 
 advance of me in such things. I must get you to 
 teach me more about military instrumentation 
 when I comeback. . . . Most of the bands I have 
 seen in Germany seem to be all brass. I must 
 confess they do play splendidly, and it has a 
 most glorious effect. You cannot tell how much 
 superior it sounds to ours in England." 
 
 June 4, 1859, he writes to his father: " I have 
 been here eight months, an immense advantage to
 
 34 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 me" — although "it is only now" that the improve- 
 ment was manifesting itself in young Sullivan — 
 " for, of course, I had to work back again to this 
 system, besides having to struggle against the 
 difficulties of the language, for I lost half the 
 benefit of my former lessons through not under- 
 standing what was said. . . . You will be pleased 
 to hear that I have made my first public appear- 
 ance as a player, as the enclosed programme will 
 show you, though I certainly had not much cause 
 to be nervous, there being four of us playing 
 together. I do not much mind playing in public 
 now, as I have got over my nervousness, and for 
 which I may thank the Abend Unterhaltung. 
 My quartette was played in the Abend Unter- 
 haltung a fortnight or so ago, and went capitally. 
 I mean it played well. I was congratulated by 
 the director and professors afterwards. They 
 wanted it performed in the Priifung (public ex- 
 amination), but Mr. Rietz would not have it, for 
 reasons which were quite proper ; besides, I have 
 no doubt he thought I should become idle after 
 it, as is very often the case with them here. 
 
 "This has been a very gay week for Leipzig 
 in consequence of the great ' Tonkiistler-Ver-
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 35 
 
 sammlung,' or meeting of musical artists, got up 
 principally by the 'Future Music' people. Through 
 it I have formed the acquaintance of Liszt, who 
 has been the ' Lion.' My first introduction to 
 him was last Tuesday, when Mr. David gave a 
 grand musical matinee to which he invited me. 
 Liszt, Von Bulow (Prussian court pianist) . . . 
 and many other German celebrities, musical and 
 non-musical, were there. In the evening when 
 nearly every one was gone, Liszt, David, Bronsart, 
 and I had a quiet game of whist together, and I 
 walked home with Liszt in the evening. . . . 
 The next evening a grand concert in the theatre, 
 Liszt conducting. . . . Liszt is a very amiable 
 man, despite his eccentricities, which are many. 
 What a wonderful player he is! Such power and 
 at the same time such delicacy and lightness. 
 . . . We have had 40,000 Austrians passing 
 through here this last fortnight, on their way to 
 the war. They are not bad-looking men. The 
 general feeling of hatred against Napoleon 
 throughout Germany is tremendous. The papers 
 are daily filled with the most raving animosities 
 against him, and no effort is made to stop them. 
 I do not think that it is possible for Germany to
 
 36 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 help mixing up in the war. There are now 
 i6,o(X) men out of work in Leipzig alone, and if 
 things do not mend soon there will be revolutions 
 everywhere. 
 
 " I had a letter from Sir F. Ouseley the other 
 day. He writes so kindly, and wants to know if 
 I will write him another anthem for his book, but 
 the words he has sent me are so unmusical that I 
 cannot set them. . . . Tell Fred, with my love, 
 that he is a brick, and that I will write him some- 
 thing for his violoncello." 
 
 June 5, i860. — " I enclose you a programme of 
 our last Priifung. You will, doubtless, on looking 
 over it, recognise one of the names. Translated, 
 the thing stands as follows: Overture to T.Moore's 
 poem, * The Feast of Roses,' from Lalla Rookh 
 (E Major), composed by A. S. from London 
 (conducted by the composer). ' The Feast of 
 Roses , is the German name for the ' Light of the 
 Harem.' It was such fun standing up there and 
 conducting that large orchestra! I can fancy 
 mother saying, ' Bless his little heart! how it must 
 have beaten! ' But his little heart did not beat at 
 all. I wasn't in the least nervous, only in one 
 part where the drum would come in wrong at the
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 37 
 
 rehearsal, but he did it all right in the evening. 
 I was called forward three times at the end and 
 most enthusiastically cheered. I shot the bird, as 
 Mr. Schleinitz said — i.e., had the greatest success 
 in the whole Priifung. The newspapers have 
 also treated me very favourably, much better than 
 I expected, for the Overture being written in 
 Mendelssohn style, and there being such a clique 
 against Mendelssohn, I thought they would have 
 treated me roughly. The Leipzig Jotirnal says, 
 ' With respect to the compositions, we were 
 gratified at finding in the youthful Sullivan a 
 talent which we many venture to say, by the aid 
 of active and continued perseverance, gives prom- 
 ise of a favourable future. His Overture was 
 certainly a little spun out, but, nevertheless, suc- 
 cessful by the aid of well-selected materials, in 
 mastering the expression of the one definite aim 
 held in view.' The General Anzeiger says, 
 speaking of the applause which followed Fisher's 
 ' Quartette,' ' Still more was obtained by Herr 
 Sullivan in the second part for his Overture, 
 which was conducted by himself, and which, 
 striving towards a new direction, transported 
 us into the Persian plains of Moore's lovely 
 
 3 
 
 '^7'vm
 
 38 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 poem, and gives us great hopes for the young 
 composer." 
 
 August 22, 1859. — "Where do you think I 
 have been? To no less a place than Schandau. 
 You sent me five thai., I saved up five, and my 
 landlady, who wanted to get me out of the house 
 in order to clean it, lent me five. It was too hot 
 to live in Leipzig. Fancy having 113 Fah. in 
 the shade. . . . Well, I set out at nine in the 
 morning for Dresden and got there about twelve. 
 But, alas! I had chosen an unfortunate day. 
 There was no opera that night, the picture gallery 
 was closed, and all that I could do was to walk 
 about the town till the boat for Schandau went. 
 I was altogether delighted with Dresden: it is a 
 beautiful town, and well deserves the name of the 
 ' German Florence.' The streets are clean and 
 the houses fine and well built, and the river Elbe 
 so clear that you can almost see the bottom of 
 it. . . . At two I took my place in the steamer, 
 and we jogged quietly up the river. It was a 
 beautiful day and we were enabled to see all the 
 lovely scenery as we passed, for, by taking 
 the river, you go through the whole of the 
 Saxon-Switzerland. The first part consists prin-
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 39 
 
 cipally of woods and hills sloping down to the 
 river, interspersed with cottages, all built in the 
 Swiss style. But when within about five or six 
 miles of Schandau it grows grander and grander, 
 immense rocks, some with foliage, rising one 
 above the other to a tremendous height. . . . 
 
 " I put up at the Bath Hotel, as being the best 
 and most reasonable. What a glorious week we 
 had! We made excursions into all the neigh- 
 bouring ' Lions.' . . . Payne, a young English- 
 man studying in the Conservatorium, and staying 
 with me in the hotel, came up to me and said, 
 'Sullivan I should like to see our bills; we have 
 been here just a week, and I don't think we can 
 hold out any longer.' ' I have just told the waiter 
 to bring them,' I said, ' for I am getting anxious 
 too.' The bills were brought, and after paying 
 mine I found I had just a thaler left! * How am 
 I to get back to Leipzig?' was naturally the 
 question that came to my head. Payne had five 
 thalers left, and we agreed to start off the next 
 morning at six o'clock and make a joint-stock 
 purse! With six thalers we found we could come 
 through very well. All went off very jollily till 
 we came to the pier at Dresden, when Payne,
 
 40 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 who was cashier, discovered that he had lost both 
 boat tickets, when, of course, we had to pay again. 
 ' Pleasant,' thought I. ' This is the height of 
 human enjoyment,' said Payne, with a melan- 
 choly attempt at a smile. We hadn't enough to 
 pay for the train to Leipzig. So we stood by the 
 Roman Catholic Church, looking at the theatre 
 and the Royal Palace, and wondering if the King 
 knew we hadn't money enough whether he would 
 send us out any. It was one o'clock, and in 
 another hour the train would start for Leipzig. 
 A thump on the shoulder, and ' Hullo, old 
 fellow! ' made me look away from the Palace, 
 and there, to my joy, stood W., who, with his 
 mother, was just going on to Schandau. To 
 explain the state of the case and borrow two 
 thalers was the work of a few seconds. That 
 fellow always comes everywhere at the right 
 moment. He has the best and kindest heart in 
 the world, and is the confidential friend and 
 adviser of all the English in Leipzig. Well, we 
 got back to Leipzig at last, after having bullied 
 all the porters, guards, and railway officials on 
 the line, who naturally thought us young ' Milords' 
 with hundreds of pounds in our pockets instead
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 41 
 
 of a few groschens. ... I was in high good 
 humour to-day, for the sight of that thaler has 
 done me good. I shall immediately go to the 
 orchestra lesson, conduct the symphony, which I 
 haven't done for two or three weeks, and bully the 
 band, in tolerably bad German, for hurrying so. 
 Dr. David laughs at me and says I shall make a 
 capital conductor." Referring to his brother: 
 *' Captain Ottley saw him sawing away with a zeal 
 that would have done honor to half a-dozen 
 Lindleys put together at the Handel Festival. I 
 do wish he could come over here for a week or 
 two." 
 
 October 30, 1859. — " My quartette was per- 
 formed again last Friday in the Abend Unter- 
 haltung. Herr Veit, an amateur of talent and 
 celebrity, having had a symphony performed in 
 the Gervandhaus Concert, honoured us the next 
 evening with his presence in the Couservatorium, 
 and the directors wishing him to hear some 
 pupil's composition selected my quartette. When 
 it was over Veit called me to him, shook hands 
 with me, and practically repeated what Spohr said 
 to me: 'So young, and yet so far advanced in 
 art.'"
 
 42 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 September i860. — " How shall I thank you 
 sufficiently, my dearest father, for the opportunity 
 you have given me of continuing my studies here ? 
 I am indeed very grateful, and will work very 
 hard in order that you may soon see that all your 
 sacrifices (which I know you make) have not been 
 to no purpose, and I will try to make the end of 
 your days happy and comfortable. I had given 
 up all idea of studying longer, and, indeed, was 
 making preparations for my journey home. 
 Therefore the surprise was greater for me." 
 
 October 28, i860. — "The director has ex- 
 empted me from paying for the Conservatorium 
 during the next six months I am going to stay 
 here. When I went up to thank him for it he 
 said, ' Oh, yes, we will let that be entirely. You 
 are a splendid fellow (parchtiger Kerl) and very 
 useful. We all like you so much that we can't let 
 you go: ' is it not very kind of him ? " 
 
 Writing to his brother Christmas '60 : *' We 
 were wishing for you to come over and give us 
 your valuable assistance here a short time ago. 
 We had a grand nigger performance at Mrs. 
 Barnett's and all the English and Americans in 
 the Conservatorium invited to witness it. The
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 43 
 
 performers were four in number. Taylor,^ banjo 
 (played upon my tenor)] Barnett,^ bones, deficiency 
 supplied by castagnets; Wheat, violin, and myself, 
 tambourine. We composed the whole entertain- 
 ment amongst us, and a very good one it was too; 
 most of the audience had never seen anything of 
 the kind before, and the consequence was they 
 were most of them ill with laughing. In the same 
 sort of case, in fact, that father and I were in after 
 we had seen Christy's. In our rehearsals, when we 
 were at a standstill or in a difficulty, the general 
 exclamation was, * Now, if Sullivan's brother were 
 here he'd be the fellow. Yes, write to Fred 
 Sullivan and tell him to give us a few hints,' so 
 you see your reputation is firmly established in 
 Leipzig. 
 
 October 31, i860: "Mother, my great hobby 
 is still conducting. I have been told by many of 
 the masters here that I was born to be a conductor 
 and consequently have been educating myself to 
 a high degree in that branch of the art. If I can 
 only once obtain an opportunity to show what I 
 can do in that way I feel confident of my success 
 
 1 Professor Franklin Taylor. 
 " John Francis Bamett.
 
 44 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 afterwards. Do not mistake this for conceit. . . . 
 but I am getting of an age now when I shall be 
 obliged to have confidence in myself and my own 
 resources. I often try to think what would have 
 become of me had I never come to Germany. In 
 England there was very little more for m^e to 
 learn. I had heard and knew well almost all the 
 small stock of music which is ever performed in 
 London (and it is very little compared to what one 
 hears here). I should have made very little im- 
 provement in pianoforte playing, whereas now 
 thanks to Messrs. Moscheles and Plaidy, I am a 
 tolerably decent player. . . . Besides increasing 
 and maturing my judgment of music it has taught 
 me how good works ought to be done. They 
 have no idea in England of making the orchestras 
 play with that degree of light and shade to which 
 they have attained here, and that is what I aim at 
 — to bring the English orchestra to the same per- 
 fection as the Continental ones, and to even still 
 greater, for the power and tone of ours are much 
 greater than the foreign." 
 
 Writing of the English attitude at that time 
 towards new work: "If something does not 
 please them (tickle their ears) the first time they
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 45 
 
 hear it they throw it aside and will not have any- 
 thing more to do with it, forgetting that really 
 good music is seldom appreciated by one the first 
 time of hearing, but that it grows on one and one 
 sees its beauties gradually. Take Beethoven, for 
 instance. His fifth symphony was poohpooh'd 
 and laughed at when it was first tried at the 
 Philharmonic; Carl M. von Weber said of his 
 eighth (or seventh) that the composer was fit for 
 the madhouse. The Choral Symphony is only 
 just now beginning to be understood m England. 
 And yet what do we think of Beethoven now? 
 Suppose they had cast him aside, as they do 
 Schumann (the most popular German composer), 
 Schubert, Gade, and other less distinguished 
 composers. Look at the programme for to- 
 morrow night's concert. . . . Fancy seeing 
 Schumann and Wagner in the same programme 
 in England. The time will come yet I hope. . . . 
 The fact is I am letting out now all the rage 
 which has been concentrated in me ever since I 
 began reading that wretched Musical World. It 
 is my opinion that music as an art in England 
 will go to the devil very soon if some few enthu- 
 siastic, practical, and capable young educated
 
 46 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 musicians do not take it in hand. I get so savage 
 sometimes when in company here and talking to 
 great artists who have been to England at the 
 sneering way in which they talk of ' England's 
 art,' English taste. . . . and yet I ought not to 
 be angry with them, for I feel that they are quite 
 right. However, hope and persevere is my 
 motto." 
 
 November 26, i860. — Writing to his father on 
 various musical matters, more particularly with 
 regard to military band music, he goes on to say: 
 " I have given up the symphony. I finished the 
 first movement, but did not like it when it was 
 done, for whatever way I turned the second 
 subject it always sounded like the Quintette of 
 Schumann, a piece you do not know, of course, 
 being an Englishman. I cannot understand why 
 the critics, and, in consequence, musicians them- 
 selves, should be so prejudiced against that un- 
 fortunate composer. At the very name of 
 Schumann an English musician draws back 
 alarmed, shrugs his shoulders, and mutters a few 
 words about Zukunftsmusik, Weimar, &c., 
 and doubtless with fine judgment will point out 
 the marked difference between Schumann and
 
 ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 IX 1B57, AETAT. 15. L.£:iPZl(^ POHTICAJT.
 
 HISLIFESTORY 47 
 
 Handel! Yet, if you ask that man to tell you 
 conscientiously if he ever heard a note of 
 Schumann's music, he will probably be obliged 
 to answer. No. 
 
 " P. S. — Here is a little choice bit. . . . My 
 friend W., happening to be writing to the 
 AthencsiLm newspaper, also thought he might 
 give a little news respecting the Gervandhaus 
 concerts this year. Amongst other things men- 
 tioned as being performed was Schumann's music 
 to Lord Byron's * Manfred,' which, being one of 
 his first works, and acknowledged as great music 
 by all musicians, was commented upon by him in 
 terms of highest praise. They took the article 
 and printed it with the exception of the whole 
 paragraph about Schumann, which the musical 
 editor had cut out! This a fact from W.'s own 
 mouth. Is it not very paltry?" 
 
 At the foot of this letter comes a modest line 
 marked "P.S. — Private. I am writing music to 
 the ' Tempest.' " 
 
 February 10, 1861. — "Very much occupied 
 with my 'Tempest,' which does not proceed as 
 quickly as I could wish. I have already com- 
 pleted two entr'actes, two dances, and a song.
 
 48 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 besides parts of the melodrama, but it is in the 
 overture I have come to grief, for I cannot get it 
 into form to please me. ... I am very anxious 
 to know if yoti will like my music. It is very 
 different to any you have heard. For instance 
 [bar quoted]. But, of course, it is not often I go 
 into such extremes as that. At first it may sound 
 rather harsh, but you will soon grow accustomed 
 to it, and most probably like it very much." 
 
 His father in January 1861 begs him to finish 
 his "Tempest" music before returning to Eng- 
 land, but adds: " Make up your mind to be cut 
 to pieces by the knowing ones when you produce 
 anything in London. If you escape you will be 
 lucky indeed. Even Handel himself has been 
 catching it lately from Chorley. ' Prodigious! ' as 
 the Domine would say." 
 
 Arthur writes, April 11, 1861, that his "Tem- 
 pest" was performed with great success in Leipzig 
 the previous Saturday, and that he will be in 
 London on the following Monday or Tuesday.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 FIRST PUBLIC SUCCESS 
 
 (1861-1866) 
 
 Charles Dickens — First Visit to Paris — Rossini — Organist 
 St. Michael's and at Covent Garden Opera — Visits Ireland 
 — Germ of English Comic Opera. 
 
 ON his return from Leipzig Sullivan added 
 several numbers to his " Tempest " 
 music, and it was produced at the 
 Crystal Palace Concert on April 5, 1862. This 
 was his debut. His previous successes were in 
 the direction of scholastic achievement, and had 
 brought his name before the public in but a minor 
 degree. The winning of the Mendelssohn scholar- 
 ship, of course, appealed mainly to a more or less 
 intimate musical circle, and so far, the by no 
 means unenviable reputation which he had gai ned, 
 more especially as being a conscientious worker, 
 and a young man of considerable promise, had 
 been confined to his immediate associates, and 
 
 49
 
 so SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 those concerned in the direction, or criticism, of 
 the work done at the Conservatorium in Leipzig. 
 The production of the "Tempest" proved a 
 veritable triumph for the youthful composer. 
 The musical critics were enthusiastic, and it is no 
 exaggeration to say that, like the poet, Sullivan 
 woke up the next morning to find himself famous. 
 Sir George Grove and Mr. Manns, who con- 
 ducted the concerts at the Crystal Palace, decided 
 to repeat the performance on the following 
 Saturday. On that occasion there was a record 
 attendance. All musical London would seem to 
 have gone down to hear it. After it was over 
 Charles Dickens, who had gone down with' 
 Chorley, waited in the artists' room until Sullivan 
 came out, and with a characteristic grip of the 
 hand, said: " I don't profess to be a musical 
 critic, but I do know that I have listened to a 
 very remarkable work." This was the beginning 
 of a firm friendship between them, and one which 
 was only severed by death. 
 
 It is from this time, April 1862, that Sir Arthur 
 dates his public career as a composer. The 
 "Tempest " music had been written when he was
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 51 
 
 eighteen and its successful production in England 
 took place before he was twenty. Whatever 
 doubts and fears he may have entertained up to 
 that time, he then definitely decided to avoid 
 teaching and to rely upon composition. As he 
 has said : 
 
 " I was ready to undertake everything that 
 came in my way. Symphonies, overtures, ballets, 
 anthems, hymn-tunes, songs, part-songs, a concerto 
 forthe violincello, and eventually comic and light 
 operas, nothing came amiss to me, and I gladly 
 accepted what the publishers offered me, so long 
 as I could get the things published. I composed 
 six Shakespearian songs for Messrs. Metzler 
 and Co., and got five guineas apiece for them. 
 ' Orpheus with his Lute,' ' The Willow Song,' 
 *0 Mistress Mine,' were amongst them, the first 
 having been since then a steady income to the 
 publisher. Then I did ' If Doughty Deeds', and 
 a * Weary Lot is Thine, Fair Maid,' for Messrs. 
 Chappell." 
 
 These were sold outright for ten guineas each! 
 With the next song, however, entitled, " Will he 
 Come," published by Messrs. Boosey, a royalty 
 system was inaugurated, and the previously pub-
 
 52 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 lished songs having attained by this time a well 
 deserved popularity, the result of the royalty 
 system proved eminently gratifying to the com- 
 poser. 
 
 It was towards the close of this year that he 
 made his first visit to Paris, in company with 
 Charles Dickens, H. F. Chorley, the eccentric 
 critic of the Athenaeumy and Mr. and Mrs 
 Frederic Lehmann. 
 
 In one of his letters from Paris he writes: ** I 
 am to play the * Tempest ' (with Rossini) on 
 Friday. . . . We called upon Dickens, and then 
 all dined together (the Dickens, Lehmanns, and 
 selves) at the Cafe Brebant and then went on to 
 the Opera Comique to see David's new opera, 
 ' Lalla Rookh.' It is very pretty, but rather 
 monotonous. 
 
 "The particular purpose of our visit," Sir 
 Arthur tells me, " was to hear Madame Viardot 
 in Gluck's ' Orfeo.' She was intensely emotional 
 and her performance was certainly one of the 
 greatest things I have ever seen on the stage. 
 Chorley, Dickens, and I went together, and I 
 remember that we were so much moved by the 
 performance, and it was of so affecting a character,
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 53 
 
 that the tears streamed down our faces. We 
 vainly tried to restrain ourselves. 
 
 " I went about a good deal with Dickens. He 
 rushed about tremendously all the time, and I 
 was often with him. His French was not par- 
 ticularly good. It was quite an Englishman's 
 French, but he managed to make himself under- 
 stood, and interviewed everybody. Of course he 
 was much my senior, but I have never met any 
 one whom I have liked better. There was one 
 negative quality which I always appreciated. 
 There was not the least suspicion of the poseur 
 about him. His electric vitality was extreme, 
 but it was inspiring and not overpowering. He 
 always gave one the impression of being im- 
 mensely interested in everything, listening with 
 the most charming attention and keenness to all 
 one might say, however youthful and inexperi- 
 enced one's opinion might be. He was a delight- 
 ful companion, but never obtruded himself upon 
 one. In fact he was the best of good company. 
 
 " It was on his return from Paris on this 
 occasion that the train accident occurred alluded 
 to in Forster's biography. Dickens told me that 
 he did not feel anything until he got back to
 
 54 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 London, then he felt quite shattered and broken 
 up, and Dickens added: ' I felt I should never be 
 able to go in the railway train again and that I 
 must take some strong measure to fight against 
 my own nervous weakness.' The next day, or 
 the day after, he went to Paris and back 
 again over the same ground. If he had not 
 faced the trouble in this way he thought that 
 his travelling days on the railway were over. 
 As it was he never got over it completely. 
 The sensation would come upon him at inter- 
 vals. 
 
 " It was in December that I called on Rossini : 
 Madame Viardet introduced me. Rossini re- 
 ceived me with the greatest kindness and took 
 great interest in my composition. I had with me 
 my music to the * Tempest,' arranged as a piano- 
 forte duet, and this we — Rossini and I — used to 
 play, or a part of it, nearly every morning. This 
 was because he had taken such a fancy to the 
 music in question, and I must say that I felt 
 greatly pleased, as one could never accuse Rossini 
 of insincerity, nor did he ever fear to say what he 
 thought, however unacceptable his verdict might 
 be. When I left him he begged me to send him
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 55 
 
 a copy of everything I wrote and to keep him 
 au courant with all that I did. 
 
 " One morning when I called in to see him, he 
 was trying over a small piece of music as I 
 entered. 'Why, what is that?' I exclaimed. 
 He answered me very seriously, ' It's my dog's 
 birthday, and I write a little piece for him every 
 year.' 
 
 " I induced Chorley to let me take him to meet 
 Rossini. Chorley hesitated a good deal because 
 he had sometimes expressed his opinions very 
 freely in the AthencBum, and not always favour- 
 ably, about Rossini's music." Sir Arthur adds 
 smilingly : " I suppose that Chorley thought that 
 Rossini had read every word that he, Chorley, 
 had written. However, I overcame his scruples 
 with regard to that, and took him with me one 
 morning to meet the composer. Rossini, as you 
 will see in the miniature which he gave me, was a 
 stout man, with a prominent stomach. Chorley 
 was as thin as a lath, and looked as if he had no 
 internal organism worth mentioning. As soon as 
 I came into the room I said ' Voila, Maitre, je 
 vous presente M. Chorley.' To which Rossini 
 replied with a courtly bow, ' Je vois, avec plaisir.
 
 56 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 que monsieur n'a pas de ventre.' Chorley was 
 completely taken aback. 
 
 "Up to the time of his death I continued to 
 visit Rossini every time I went over to Paris, 
 and nothing occurred to interfere with the cor- 
 diality of our friendship." 
 
 There can be no doubt that this intimacy with 
 Rossini influenced Sullivan greatly. This, added 
 to the impression made by Madame Viardet 
 Garcia's impersonation of " Orfeo," had the 
 immediate effect of making him desirous of know- 
 ing more about the opera and things operatic. 
 He determined to write something suitable for 
 dramatic presentation, but not until he had 
 mastered the technique of the stage. He spoke 
 to his friend Michael Costa, who was the con- 
 ductor of the opera at Covent Garden, asking 
 that he might be allowed to attend the rehearsals. 
 Costa refused on the ground that he could make 
 no exception to his rigid rule in this matter. 
 Nevertheless, Costa finally effected a handsome 
 compromise, and offered Sullivan the duties of 
 organist in the opera. This offer the young 
 composer gladly accepted, little dreaming of what 
 great importance this experience would ultimately
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 57 
 
 prove. He had been there but a short time 
 when at the conductor's request, he wrote a ballet 
 for the opera. It was entitled " L'ile Enchantee." 
 To quote Mr. Willeby's monograph : " From it 
 alone he learnt much that was of value to him. 
 The mere fact of having to subordinate his music 
 to the requirements of the inventors, the scene 
 painters, stage machinists, and premiere danseuse, 
 each of whom had not one, but many, words to 
 say, was of itself a valuable lesson — the more so 
 as these people were the best of their kind, and 
 the suggestions they made were generally the 
 outcome of knowledge and experience. Certainly 
 the things that he was called upon to illustrate 
 musically were not lacking in variety. 
 
 "On one occasion," says Sir Arthur, "I was 
 admiring the ' borders ' that Beverley had painted 
 for a woodland scene. ' Yes,' he replied, ' they 
 are very delicate, and if you could support them 
 by something suggestive in the orchestra, we 
 could get a very pretty effect.' I at once put 
 into the score some delicate arpeggio work for 
 flutes and clarionets, and Beverley was quite 
 happy. The next day probably some such scene 
 as the following would occur. Sloman, stage
 
 58 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 machinist {loq) : * That iron doesn't run in the 
 slot as easily as I should like, Mr. Sullivan ; we 
 must have a little more music to carry her 
 (Salvioni) across. Give us something for the 
 'cellos, if you can ? ' Certainly, Mr. Sloman ; you 
 have opened up a new path of beauty in orchestra- 
 tion,' I replied gravely, and I at once added six- 
 teen bars for the 'cello alone. No sooner was 
 this done than a variation (solo-dance) was re- 
 quired, at the last moment, for the second 
 danseuse, who had just arrived. ' What on earth 
 am I to do ?' I said to the stage manager, 'I 
 haven't seen her dance yet — I know nothing of 
 her style.' ' I'll see,' he replied, and took the 
 young lady aside. In five minutes he returned. 
 ' I've arranged it all,' he said. ' This is exactly 
 what she wants (giving it to me rhythmically) : 
 Tiddle-iddle-um, tiddle-iddle-um rum-tirum-tirum^ 
 sixteen bars of that ; then rum-tmn rum-tum, 
 heavy you know, sixteen bars, and then finish up 
 with the overture to "William Tell" last move- 
 ment, sixteen bars and coda.' In ten minutes 
 time I had composed it, and written out a 
 repetiteur s part, and it was at once rehearsed." 
 Sullivan had also been appointed organist of
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 59 
 
 St. Michael's Church, Chester Square, soon after 
 his return from Leipzig, and held this post until 
 1867. In regard to this Sir Arthur remarks : 
 
 "When I was organist of St. Michael's, my 
 friend, Cranmer Byng, was appointed vicar of a 
 new church, and I designed the new organ for 
 him and undertook to find an organist. When 
 the day arrived for the consecration I hadn't 
 obtained the organist for him, so I volunteered 
 to play for two or three Sundays until I could 
 find some one else, with the result, however, that 
 I played there for two or three years. I re- 
 member that at the consecration of the church by 
 the then Bishop of London, the hour fixed was 
 twelve o'clock, and by some misunderstanding the 
 Bishop didn't arrive until one. Consequently I 
 had to play the organ the whole time in order to 
 occupy the attention of the congregation. As 
 the minutes went by and the Bishop didn't arrive 
 I began to play appropriate music. First I 
 played " I waited for the Lord," and then went 
 on with a song of mine which is entitled "Will 
 he come?" The appropriateness of the pieces 
 was perfectly apprehended by the congregation." 
 
 Choir practice and Covent Garden rehearsals
 
 6o SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 filled up a great part of his time, but he never 
 deviated from the determination to earn hisliving, 
 not as an organist, nor as a teacher, but as a 
 composer. In such intervals as occurred in the 
 performance of his duties as organist he wrote 
 many delightful songs, some of which have 
 already been mentioned. It was during a visit 
 to Ireland that he wrote his well-known sym- 
 phony in E, his only contribution to this great 
 form of musical art. 
 
 There is an allusion to it in one of his letters 
 home dated from Richmond Lodge, Holywood, 
 Belfast, August 30, 1863: "I have been dread- 
 fully idle, but already I feel my ideas assuming 
 a newer and fresher colour, and I shall be able to 
 work like a horse on my return. Why, the other 
 night as I was journeying home from Holestone 
 (fifteen miles from here) the whole first movement 
 of a symphony came into my head with a real 
 Irish flavour about it, besides scraps of the other 
 movement. I shall get it ready for the Musical 
 Society next season. I have been photographed 
 here, yielding to the entreaties of my friends — 
 and very successfully I think." 
 
 In another letter, written from Belfast soon
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 6i 
 
 afterwards, there is an interesting allusion to his 
 first operatic attempt, " The Sapphire Necklace," 
 for which Mr. Chorley had written the libretto. 
 
 " A note has just come," he writes, " the joint 
 production of Miss Dickens and Mrs. Lehmann, 
 to tell me that Dickens is perfectly enchanted 
 with the minuet theme in my opera — at the be- 
 ginning of the overture, and which Mrs. Lehmann 
 continually plays to him at his request. He even 
 thinks it quite sufficient to make the opera a 
 success." 
 
 Mr. Chorley's libretto, however, proved quite 
 unsuitable for stage presentation, and most of the 
 music has been since utilised in other works. 
 Then came his cantata "Kenilworth." Here 
 he again suffered at the hands of his librettist, as 
 he has suffered since it may be remarked, mter 
 alia, on much more recent occasions. 
 
 "Kenilworth" was produced at the Birmingham 
 Festival (1864), and in spite of the libretto it 
 received very enthusiastic recognition. The 
 interpolated scene from " The Merchant of 
 Venice," "How sweet the moon-light sleeps," 
 will probably be best remembered and is often 
 heard now in the concert room.
 
 62 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 The year 1866 was an eventful and a busy one 
 for him. At an evening party in a friend's 
 house he had seen Du Maurier and Harold 
 Power play Offenbach's farce, " Les Deux 
 Aveugles," and it occurred to him that a similar 
 extravaganza in English might not be less happy. 
 On his way home from that party he discussed 
 the idea with his friend F. C. Burnand, who 
 promptly proposed an adaptation of Morton's 
 then extremely popular farce, " Box and Cox." 
 Soon after that the MS. was handed to the com- 
 poser, under the inverted title of " Cox and Box." 
 
 Speaking of the genesis of " Cox and Box," 
 Sir Arthur tells me: "There was a society of 
 amateurs who met for the purpose of singing 
 part-songs and so forth at Moray Lodge, Kensing- 
 ton, the house of Arthur J. Lewis, who after- 
 wards married Kate Terry, and this little society 
 called itself the Moray Minstrels. They were all 
 picked voices and they really sang to perfection. 
 Mr. Lewis gave four evening entertainments at 
 his house, on the last Saturday in January, 
 February, March, and April; on these occasions 
 he issued invitations to many of his friends, and 
 these parties were really attended by all the best
 
 KB 
 
 t 
 
 00 
 

 
 HIS LIFE STORY 63 
 
 people of that time, particularly in the various 
 professions — judges, lawyers, literary men, and 
 great painters. And then we had a light supper 
 afterwards, of oysters and refreshing drinks. 
 One season (1865), o^ one or two occasions, 
 after supper, instead of any more singing, they 
 performed ' Les Deux Aveugles,' played by 
 Du Maurier and Harold Power, the son of the 
 celebrated actor who went down in the ill-fated 
 President, The performance of the play was so 
 successful that it was suggested that I should do 
 one expressly for them, and so Burnand and 
 myself came to write * Cox and Box.' " 
 
 After the piece had been performed privately 
 in this way on several occasions it was decided 
 to produce it in public at the Adelphi Theatre, 
 for the benefit of a fund organised by the staff of 
 Punchy on behalf of their late colleague, C. 
 Bennett, with G. Du Maurier, Harold Power, 
 and Arthur Blunt ("Arthur Cecil") as Box, 
 Cox, and Serjeant Bouncer, respectively. The 
 way in which the accompaniment was left to the 
 last moment, and the extraordinary energy, 
 physical endurance, and rapidity manifested in 
 the work of orchestration is so characteristic of
 
 64 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 the composer's methods and resourcefulness, in- 
 stanced on many other occasions, that I must 
 reserve the description of the way in which the 
 music came to be written for a special chapter 
 on the subject, to be found at the end of this 
 book. " Cox and Box," and a still further de- 
 velopment, " Contrabandista," in the following 
 year (1867), the libretto in both instances being 
 by Burnand, are of special interest, historically, 
 for, as far as the music is concerned, they were 
 the germ from which has sprung the English 
 comic opera of the past memorable twenty-five 
 years. 
 
 Nor was the more professional side of his work 
 allowed to remain in abeyance, as he was afforded 
 plenty of scope for his incessant activity. On 
 September 17, 1866, he writes: " I am to 
 conduct the Ballad Concert on behalf of Manns — 
 it may lead to greater things," and " I have 
 received a letter from Sterndale Bennett offering 
 me the Professorship of Composition in the Royal 
 Academy of Music." 
 
 Occasionally the multiplicity of his engage- 
 ments necessitated being at work day and night, 
 and how the diurnal programme occasionally
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 65 
 
 worked out is exemplified in a letter dated from 
 Manchester, December 6, 1866. "Sim sat up 
 with me "(" Sim " was Sim Egerton, the late 
 Lord Wilton, reputed to be the best amateur 
 musician in England) " until four o'clock this 
 morning, and, after he went to bed, I dressed 
 myself in morning clothes and packed all my 
 things together, smoked a cigarette, and waited 
 till the cab came, which it did at five o'clock, and 
 then I drove to Huston Square, and waited about 
 until the train started at 6.15 a. m. I slept a good 
 part of the way, but was nevertheless awfully 
 tired when I got to Manchester at twelve mid- 
 day. The rehearsal was at half-past, so I was in 
 ample time. We worked very hard for two 
 hours-and-a-half at the symphony, and the band 
 cheered me, and I made them a short speech, 
 and Halle was very kind, and in fact, everybody 
 was delighted with themselves and each other. 
 We dine at six and the concert is at half-past 
 seven." 
 
 He returned to town the same night to attend 
 a rehearsal next morning at ten o'clock, feeling 
 more dead than alive. The year 1866 had been 
 one of activity and great musical achievement,
 
 66 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 but it was saddened by an event which inevitably 
 comes to young and all, but is often tragic beyond 
 expression to those who love them. He had 
 accepted an invitation to write a work for the 
 Norwich Festival. As the time approached for 
 its completion he had written nothing which was 
 in any degree satisfactory to himself. About a 
 month before the Festival he was in despair, and 
 told his father, to whom he was passionately 
 attached, that he really felt he would have to give 
 up the Norwich work. He could think of nothing. 
 " No," said his father, " you mustn't give it up, 
 you will succeed if you stick to it. Something 
 will probably occur which will put new vigor 
 and fresh thought into you. Don't give it up." 
 His words were prophetic, but how grievous was 
 the event that should give the young composer a 
 subject, and the needful momentum, neither of 
 them knew. Three days after this discussion 
 (September 22, 1866) the father died suddenly. 
 On the evening of the day after the funeral the 
 grief-stricken son sought relief from his thoughts, 
 and some expression of his feelings, in his work. 
 Within a week of that date was completed his 
 " In Memoriam " overture, with its solemn, long-
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 67 
 
 drawn strains of a funeral dirge, working into a 
 passionate movement, as if an overwhelming 
 sorrow was carried up to a climax of exultant 
 hope. When it was produced at the Norwich 
 Festival it provoked not less emotion in those 
 who were ignorant of the origin of the Overture 
 than in those who knew. 
 
 There are many matters of too delicate and too 
 sacred a character to be discussed publicly, but, 
 quite inferentially, it may perhaps have been 
 gathered that the teaching of Sullivan's home-life 
 had been of such a nature (and his own attitude 
 being very far removed from that of the 
 materialist) that the death of those he loved best, 
 after the first pang was passed, had its loftier and 
 consoling side, and I cannot forbear quoting a 
 letter which he wrote to his mother from Lucerne 
 on September 20, 1868, two years after his 
 father's death, in which he writes: " But I want 
 you to have this on Tuesday, so that we may be 
 all together in spirit. I shall be spending the 
 day happily and peacefully in the mountains, 
 which is what I shall like best. I know you have 
 thought me hard and perhaps unfeeling some- 
 times, dear mum, but I could never trust myself
 
 68 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 to speak of the dear one. I always get so sick 
 and ' chokey,' and it was no good scolding you if 
 I myself were to show weakness. Now I am 
 much stronger, and can talk and think of him 
 quite calmly and peacefully, and like to do so."
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 SECOND VISIT TO PARIS 
 (1867-1871) 
 
 Tennyson — Paris in the time of the Commune — "The 
 Prodigal Son" — Emperor and Empress Napoleon — Pro- 
 phetic words from Prince Henry of Battenburg. 
 
 IN the autumn of 1867 Sullivan accompanied 
 Sir (then Mr.) George Grove to Vienna on 
 a successful voyage of discovery for Schubert 
 MSS. Sir George Grove has already described 
 in his appendix to Kreissler's " Life of Schubert " 
 the way in which the then almost forgotten, but 
 now well-known, music in " Rosamunde " was 
 discovered, how delighted they both were at the 
 unearthing of this practically buried treasure, and 
 the good time that he and Sullivan had in playing 
 over the dusty MSS. together. The owner 
 would not permit them to be taken away, and the 
 two sat up all night copying the parts. They 
 then went on to Paris, and Sullivan, writing 
 July, 1867, says: "We met Strauss on board, 
 
 69
 
 70 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 going to Frankfort, and we fraternised and sat on 
 the deck together, and suffered agonies in com- 
 pany, so that it was quite jolly," and after a 
 description of a day spent at the Exhibition with 
 Grove — perhaps Sir George Grove will forgive 
 my quoting the followingcomplimentary reference 
 in consideration of the saving clause at the end of 
 it. " What shall I say of Grove? It would be 
 painting the lily to try and describe his goodness 
 and charm, so I refrain. We take great care of 
 each other, are very economical, haggle over 
 centimes, and get on famously. I shall read this 
 part to him, so have made it strong! " 
 
 " In 1867," Sir Arthur tells me, " I received a 
 special appointment to help in the musical ar- 
 rangements, and the opening of the Exhibition 
 was celebrated by a banquet held at the old Hotel 
 de Louvre (which does not exist now), and there 
 were present the various Royal Commissioners of 
 different countries, with the late Lord Granville 
 in the chair. The banquet consisted of dishes 
 from all parts of the world, at least they were so 
 described on the tremendously long menu. I 
 was requested to secure some glee singers from 
 England to sing glees during the dinner as they
 
 ARTHUR SULLIVAX 
 
 A.BTAT. 2S.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 71 
 
 do at most English public banquets, and so, 
 following our custom here, directly dinner was 
 over, they sang the grace, "Non Nobis Domine." 
 At the end of it Lord Granville's face was a 
 study, for the grace was greeted with a universal 
 burst of enthusiastic applause, and cries of ' Bis! 
 bis! bis!' came from all parts of the room! I 
 didn't feel justified in giving it a second time, and 
 the fact that no encore was given must have 
 mystified the Russians, Chinese, and others who 
 had called for it." 
 
 "Granville was a perfect master of the French 
 language, and spoke admirably on this occasion. 
 I remember that, acknowledging the fact that 
 ladies were present, he entreated their pardon for 
 the weariness the speeches must have caused 
 them, although it was impossible to pardon them 
 for the distraction which they had caused to the 
 various plenipotentiaries by their beauty, and so 
 he went on in this delightful manner, although I 
 confess that which sounds so fine in French comes 
 rather flat in translation." 
 
 On his way back to England the Leipzig 
 Concert Direction, hearing of Sullivan's presence 
 in the town, invited him to conduct his " In
 
 73 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Memoriam" overture, than which they could have 
 paid him no greater compliment. 
 
 An overture entitled "Marmion" had been 
 commissioned by the Philharmonic Society, and 
 had been produced by them in June. This, with 
 " Contrabandista " and a concerto for the violin- 
 cello, comprised his output for the year, in addi- 
 tion to a number of songs, hymn-tunes, and minor 
 pieces. 
 
 Not the least of his good fortune was the 
 friendship of Tennyson, who had occasionally 
 visited him at his house in Claverton Terrace, 
 and on February lo, 1867, Sullivan writes home 
 from the Isle of Wight to say: " When I got 
 here I had a cup of tea and then went and 
 smoked with Tennyson until dinner-time. He 
 read me all the songs (twelve in number), which 
 are absolutely lovely, but I fear that there will be 
 a great difficulty in getting them from him. He 
 thinks they are too light, and will damage his 
 reputation, &c. All this I have been combating, 
 whether successfully or not I shall be able to tell 
 you to-morrow." 
 
 He was not unsuccessful, though there was a 
 slight rift in the lute by reason of a preface which
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 73 
 
 Tennyson felt it incumbent upon him to write to 
 the songs in question, and which was construed 
 by many of those who read it as a reflection upon 
 the musician. The point is not one which need 
 be revived now, and the accompanying letters 
 from Tennyson to the composer, reproduced in 
 facsimile, will suffice for elucidation. 
 
 Sir Arthur has told me that he always felt that 
 Tennyson " was the one great man whose per- 
 sonal appearance seemed to correspond with his 
 work. He always appealed to me as being the 
 rugged old prophet Isaiah of this country. I 
 really owed much to his gentleness and patience. 
 I actually had the audacity to lecture him about 
 rhythm! 'Don't mix up your iambics and 
 spondees' I would tell him, and then continue 
 my dissertation in pretty much the same strain! 
 Of course one reason of his good-nature in this 
 matter was that he knew that I was not discussing 
 his verse from the point of view of a critic of 
 poetry, but merely in regard to certain musical 
 difficulties. You see he would write a simple 
 song or ballad wherein the music to each verse 
 should be the same, but which really required a 
 separate setting, and would make strong accents
 
 74 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 in one verse, where in the corresponding place in 
 another verse he would place a weak one, so that 
 the ballad became most difficult for setting to 
 music. It is a glaring fault with most hymn- 
 writers also." 
 
 In 1869 was produced his first important 
 clerical work, "The Prodigal Son," with Titiens, 
 Trebelli, Sims Reeves, and Santley in the solo 
 parts. It was a piece of work which did much to 
 firmly establish his reputation as a composer. 
 
 It is no lack of compliment to him to say that, 
 beyond and apart from the extreme ability dis- 
 played in the work he had already done, the field 
 had been singularly open to him, for music in this 
 country stood in no small need of rejuvenation. 
 The occasion demanded the man, and with the 
 genius which is expressed in the better part of 
 his work, and the grace and distinction which 
 characterizes everything he has set his hand to, it 
 is not surprising to recollect that from the first he 
 had come to his own, and his work had received 
 immediate recognition everywhere. In this one 
 respect he had certainly been exceptionally fortu- 
 nate, for genius has often had long to wait for its 
 recognition. Seven years before, the young man
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 75 
 
 of twenty had come over from Leipzig and had 
 taken the ear of the public with his " Tempest " 
 music, and had never since lost it. Yet even this 
 receptivity on the part of the public, with a corre- 
 sponding absence of rivalry and professional 
 jealousy, had another side, and there is no doubt 
 that, up to this point, so unaccustomed were 
 English critics to anything like versatility in com- 
 position, that the mere fact that the author of the 
 " In Memoriam " overture had written " Cox and 
 Box" and " Contrabandista" must have added 
 not a little uncertainty to their hopeful expect- 
 ancy, which such a work as the " Prodigal Son " 
 did much to set at rest. 
 
 If I may use a not very pretty Americanism he 
 had now fully " arrived " and in the following year 
 (1869) set the seal to his reputation by one of the 
 most beautiful of his lighter works, the " Overture 
 di Ballo," which was written for the Birmingham 
 Festival. To adopt the opinion of a sound 
 musical critic, " While couched throughout in 
 dance rhythms the overture is in strict form, and 
 for melodic charm, graceful fancy, and delicacy 
 of treatment it is difficult to rival it amongst 
 modern music."
 
 76 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 The Press had already learnt to write of him as 
 promising to be one of the foremost, if not the 
 foremost, composer this country has ever pro- 
 duced. 
 
 Notwithstanding the work which he managed 
 to get through, he found time to do what he has 
 hardly ever omitted to do during a busy life — to 
 get away into fresh scenes for a month or so, and 
 recruit his energies whilst thinking out fresh com- 
 positions. 
 
 In the October of '68 he is at Munich, having 
 visited Madame Schumann at Baden-Baden, who 
 had many autographs and MSS. of her husband's 
 to show him, and in the corresponding month of 
 the following year we find him at Brussels, al- 
 though the experience, in this instance at all 
 events, does not seem to have been particularly 
 refreshing. 
 
 " This is awfully dull," he writes from Brussels. 
 " We are dragging out our time wearily here, wait- 
 ing for Bentham's debut, which is fixed for Sun- 
 day, to the great disgust of all his English friends, 
 and his mother and sisters, but we shall all go of 
 course. Directly he does appear I'm off. I have 
 serious thoughts of going to Paris for a month.
 
 Ills LIFE STORY 77 
 
 I am just beginning to get into the sound and 
 feeling of the language, and I think a month's 
 work would enable me to speak it tolerably well. 
 Not to be able to do so is an intolerable nuisance. 
 Arthur Blunt turned up last night from Boulogne, 
 with a complete guide to Brussels, drawn for him 
 by a friend, and which has had the effect of utterly 
 confusing him, as he can't find any single place in 
 the town. He always goes in the opposite direc- 
 tion. We have been to all the respectable places 
 of entertainment, and having exhausted that 
 resource have begun the more disreputable ones. 
 These are, if anything, more depressing than the 
 theatres, and we sit with solemn faces until the 
 very end of an evening, and then go home slowly 
 and sadly to bed." 
 
 From thence he went to Aix-la-Chapelle, drove 
 to the principal hotel, asked if "M. Burnande" 
 were there, and " found Frank at the table d'hote 
 in the midst of a circle of merry listeners." 
 Later on, from Lyme, in Cheshire, he writes: 
 " Biggest house that I have ever been in that is 
 comfortable. Very old, Elizabethan. Full of his- 
 torical and interesting traditions. Room I sleep 
 in is the chamber once occupied by Mary, Queen
 
 78 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 of Scots, and the bed, a marvellous piece of wood- 
 carving, was slept on by Bradshaw, the regicide. 
 The people in the house now are Lord and Lady 
 Norris, Val Prinsep, Lord and Lady Skelmers- 
 dale, Lord and Lady Denbigh, and their daughter. 
 Lady Ida Fielding. 
 
 When the news came of the distress in Paris, 
 consequent on the seige in 1871, a Mansion House 
 Relief Fund was inaugurated. Arthur Sullivan's 
 name was among those placed on the Committee, 
 and a day or two days after the Versailles troops 
 had entered the city and vanquished the Commu- 
 nards, he rushed off to Paris, immediately pre- 
 ceded by Sir George Grove and W. Von Glehn. 
 His experience there can best be told in his own 
 words. The only letter which I can find written 
 from Paris at that time — June 5, 1871 — may be 
 found interesting. 
 
 "After a series of thrilling adventures, not un- 
 accompanied by danger, I just find time amidst 
 the rattling of the shells and the thunder of the 
 cannon, to write and say that hitherto I am safe 
 and unwounded. I found Grove and Willie Glehn 
 just dressing, and their surprise was only equalled 
 by their delight. We hired a small open carriage
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 79 
 
 and drove all through the city to see the ruins — it 
 is something too shocking to see the result of the 
 uncontrolled, devilish spite of these ruffians of the 
 Commune. The people all wear a miserable look, 
 and this, added to the wet, nasty day and the 
 absence of the greater part of the population, 
 makes a very dismal effect. Grove paid me that 
 sovereign, but borrowed it again an hour after- 
 wards at a barricade to give to Paschal Grousset, 
 who would otherwise have shot him. 
 
 "The whole place looked as if it had been 
 stricken with the small-pox — the bullet-marks on 
 the white walls of the houses," Sir Arthur tells 
 me. '* In many of the houses the front wall and 
 some of the floors had been torn down, and it was 
 so pathetic to see the little pictures and household 
 gods remaining on the other three walls and over 
 the fireplaces. While I was in Paris all the lights 
 had to be put out at half-past ten. We went to 
 the Gymnase and saw two celebrated people, 
 Ravel and poor Aimee Desclee. There were 
 about eighty people in the house, and it was lit in 
 the most dismal manner; whether the gas had 
 been partly cut off, or what, I don't know, but 
 with so few people about in this sombre half-light,
 
 8o SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 the whole performance produced a most weird 
 effect. However, we had to get out of it and get 
 home early, in order to avoid being arrested in the 
 streets. Of course it was a very bad time for pro- 
 fessional people in Paris, and a great many French 
 people took refuge in England, among them 
 artists like Gounod, with whom I became ac- 
 quainted and whose work interested me a good 
 deal. 
 
 " Dr. and Madame Conneau were great friends 
 of mine, and they came over to England, in attend- 
 ance, as it were, upon the Emperor and Empress 
 Napoleon. Through the Conneaus I became 
 more intimatelyacquainted with the Emperor and 
 Empress at the time they were staying atChisle- 
 hurst. They were exceedingly kind to me, and 
 frequently invited me down to Chislehurst. The 
 Emperor was always sad and somewhat silent, and 
 wore the air of a man who had suffered great pain. 
 In fact, he had been a martyr to the same com- 
 plaint to which I have been such a victim, and I 
 rarely saw him smile. On the other hand, the 
 Empress was bright and cheerful, and after lun- 
 cheon she would ask me to play to her, and 
 Madame Conneau would sing. One could not but
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 8i 
 
 be struck very forcibly with the love and devotion 
 that both of them had for their son, the little 
 Prince Imperial. He was of a most sweet and 
 patient disposition, as well as very intelligent and 
 high-spirited. When he and young Louis Con- 
 neau entered as cadets at Woolwich, they often 
 came up on Saturday afternoons and spent their 
 half-holidays either with me at my house or with 
 Madame Conneau. The Prince spoke English 
 exceedingly well, and in every way seemed to me 
 to have the tastes and accomplishments of a young 
 Englishman, fond of riding, hunting, and, indeed, 
 all out-door exercises. Since the Emperor's death 
 I have always been privileged to keep up my 
 acquaintance with the Empress and often see her 
 at Farnborough." 
 
 " I well remember an incident which occurred 
 when I was lunching there one day with Prince 
 Henry of Battenburg. After lunch the Empress 
 took us to the Prince Imperial's room, so that we 
 might see the relics and things reminiscentof him. 
 She broke down and could not go into the room, 
 leaving the Prince and me to go in together. We 
 were looking at the Prince Imperial's coat, with 
 the bullet-hole in it, when I made the remark about
 
 82 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Africa: * How many had gone out to Africa,' I 
 said; ' only to find the graves of themselves or 
 their reputations in that country! ' I had no fore- 
 knowledge, of course, of what would happen to 
 my companion, but I remember that as we stood 
 in the darkening room, I was curiously impressed 
 with the gravity of his tone, as he replied, ' Yes, 
 and it is not over yet. There are still many more 
 lives to be sacrificed there! ' The Prince had no 
 idea of going out to Africa at that time."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 SULLIVAN MEETS GILBERT 
 (1872-1875) 
 
 Musician Laureate — Meeting with W. S. Gilbert — 
 " Thespis " — " The Light of the World " — Sims Reeves 
 — "Trial by Jury" — Lord Chief Justice Cockbum — 
 Desbarrolles. 
 
 IT should be observed that since 1863, when 
 Sullivan was asked to compose the music on 
 the occasion of the marriage of H. R. H. the 
 Prince of Wales, he may be said to have held the 
 unofficial position of Musician-Laureate. " On 
 Shore and Sea" was written for the opening of the 
 International Exhibition at South Kensington in 
 1871, for which Gounod also wrote " Gallia," and 
 in 1872 Sullivan wrote the Festival "Te Deum" 
 in celebration of the recovery of the Prince of 
 Wales from his serious illness. It might be 
 thought that the music written in this way almost 
 " to order " would be found lacking in strength 
 and spontaneity; but that this is not the case a 
 reference to the music written in connection with 
 
 83
 
 84 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 various public functions, and which will be found 
 tabulated in their date order in the Appendix to 
 this book, will sufficiently prove. Nor will it be 
 denied for one moment that in the case of the 
 greatest of our Poets Laureates the work done in 
 virtue of the office he held was among the best 
 work which he did. 
 
 Sullivan's " Te Deum " was produced at the 
 Crystal Palace on Thanksgiving Day, May i, 
 1872. Upwards of 30,000 people were present, 
 among them the Princess Louise, the Duke of 
 Edinburg, Prince and Princess of Teck, and the 
 Duke of Cambridge. The performance was in 
 the hands of the London contingent of the Handel 
 Festival Choir, the orchestra of over 2,000 per- 
 formers being conducted by Mr. Manns, Mdlle. 
 Titiens taking the solos. 
 
 It was in the preceding year (1871) that Arthur 
 Sullivan had been introduced to W. S. Gilbert. 
 
 '* I was introduced to him," Sir Arthur tells me, 
 "by Frederic Clay at one of the German Reed 
 entertainments. Of course he had done a good 
 deal of work, and I knew him by name very well 
 before that occasion." 
 
 "Some little time after our meeting, John Hoi-
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 85 
 
 lingshead wanted a piece (in 1872) for Nelly 
 Farren and J. L. Toole, and asked Gilbert to do 
 the piece and asked me to write music for it. The 
 piece was ' Thespis; or The Gods Grown Old,' 
 and both music and libretto were very hurriedly 
 written." 
 
 " Until Gilbert took the matter in hand choruses 
 were dummy concerns, and were practically noth- 
 ing more than a part of the stage setting. It was in 
 ' Thespis ' that Gilbert began to carry out his 
 expressed determination to get the chorus to play 
 its proper part in the performance. At this 
 moment it seems difficult to realize that the idea 
 of the chorus being anything more than a sort of 
 stage audience was, at that time, a tremendous 
 novelty. In consequence of this innovation, some 
 of the incidents at the rehearsal of ' Thespis ' 
 were rather amusing. I remember that, on one 
 occasion, one of the principals became quite indig- 
 nant and said, ' Really, Mr. Gilbert, why should 
 I stand here? I am not a chorus-girl!' to 
 which Gilbert replied curtly, ' No, madam, your 
 voice is not strong enough, or no doubt you would 
 be.' However, he always carried his point, and 
 incidents of this sort became more infrequent.
 
 86 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 " One day, at a rehearsal, a girl came up to us 
 crying and Gilbert asked her the cause of it. 
 Between her sobs she told us that she had been 
 insulted. We at once assured her that we would 
 look into the matter, and that no girl should be 
 insulted in our company, but what was it all about ? 
 She said that Miss X., one of the costumiers' 
 assistants, had been very rude to her, and had said 
 to her, 'You are no better than you ought to be.' 
 Gilbert immediately looked very sympathetic and 
 said to her, ' Well, you are not, are you, my dear?' 
 to which she replied promptly, * Why, of course 
 not, Mr. Gilbert! ' ' Ah, that's all right! ' he said, 
 and she went away perfectly comforted." 
 
 "On the occasion of our visit to America, Gilbert 
 discovered that some of the dresses were out of 
 order, and told the American assistant that they 
 were to be shortened in time for the next morn- 
 ing's rehearsal. ' That can't be done,' he ex- 
 claimed. ' But it must be done,' Gilbert replied. 
 The young man then expectorated with great ve- 
 hemence and we sprang aside hastily. The young 
 man was sent out of the theatre directly, and we 
 called for his superior, who afterwards said to us, 
 ' All right, the work shall be done, and, by the
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 87 
 
 way, you don't seem to like that young man I sent 
 up to you this morning?' ' I don't object to the 
 young man', Gilbert said, ' he may possess every 
 virtue imaginable, but I do object to his spitting 
 on my boots.' ' Waal,' replied the man, not lik- 
 ing to condemn an American citizen, ' his man- 
 ner is fresh.' 
 
 " There were other difficulties, among the more 
 important being the fact that, in those days, there 
 were comparatively few actors or actresses who 
 could sing, and of those who pretended to, hardly 
 any could be said to compass more than six notes. 
 Naturally I found myself rather restricted as a 
 composer in having to write vocal music for people 
 without voices! Notwithstanding all this, the 
 piece was fairly successful, and ran a good many 
 nights." 
 
 No one could have then imagined that two men 
 had met who were to destroy the vogue for French 
 opera-bouffe in this country, and who would make 
 an English comic opera possible. All sorts of 
 rubbish, translated from the French, and set to 
 still more rubbish dance music, had held the 
 boards up to that time, and, on the production of 
 "Thespis" (1872), the dramatic critic, not being
 
 88 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 blessed with prophetic vision, remarks somewhat 
 patronisingly, "Mr. W. S. Gilbert and Mr. Arthur 
 Sullivan have attempted, with not a little success, 
 to imitate French comic opera, concerning which 
 we have heard so much for the last half-dozen 
 years," but goes on to say: "In these days — when 
 the French critics are savagely turning round on 
 us, and calling us pickpockets — it is not disagree- 
 able to find that we have authors and musicians 
 quite as talented as our neighbours," and in the 
 same critique there is one significant sentence: 
 " Mr. Sullivan has certainly persuaded us of one 
 thing — that a musician can write to any metre." 
 
 I imagine that " Thespis" will be best remem- 
 bered by the exquisite musical setting to the sim- 
 ple little Gilbertian ballad, "The Little Maid of 
 Arcadee." 
 
 During this period Sullivan conducted the so- 
 called "Classical Nights" at the Covent Garden 
 Promenade Concerts; travelled on the Continent 
 in order to get a permanent orchestra for the 
 Royal Aquarium, and, in 1873, wrote his great 
 oratorio, " The Light of the World." 
 
 Meanwhile, perhaps I may be forgiven for 
 quoting one of his letters, in which he describes
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 89 
 
 the rapid movement necessary to fulfil his engage- 
 ments, written September 16, 1872, from Cossey 
 Hall, Norwich: 
 
 " I hadn't a chance of writing to-day," he writes 
 to his mother, "as I passed all the day at St. 
 Andrew's Hall, and, being very hungry, went and 
 dined with Titiens and Trebelli and so missed 
 the post. ... I got to town at ten o'clock yes- 
 terday, wrote three letters at the Garrick, went 
 home, found Godfrey' hanging about Pall Mall, 
 got into his cab, then up to Montagu square, and 
 sat for some time, back to the Garrick for my lug- 
 gage, and got to Shoreditch about two o'clock. I 
 found a heap of the orchestra and singers going 
 down, and divided my journey between Santley 
 and others in a smoking carriage, and Trebelli 
 and others in a non-smoker. I got a bed at an 
 inn, went and sat an hour with Titiens and Tre- 
 belli, and was up fresh for rehearsal this morning. 
 ' St. Peter ' was rehearsed first, and then the 'Te 
 Deum,' which went well at rehearsal, and even 
 better at the concert to-night. Then I drove out 
 here in the moonlight (five miles) and met with a 
 most kindly reception from Lord and Lady Staf- 
 
 ' His cabman who drove him about for many years.
 
 90 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 ford, who had got some supper for me. They 
 were dancing when I arrived, and a priest was 
 playing a choice selection of waltzes. I can't 
 describe the place because I only got a glimpse 
 of the exterior as I drove up, but it looks magni- 
 ficent, a lot of towers and turrets, and the inside 
 is certainly royal. There is a fine chapel which 
 Lord Stafford took me to see in the moonlight, 
 and a little dim lamp was burning in front of the 
 altar. I must drive into Norwich in the morning 
 to rehearse ' Guinivere,' as there was no time to 
 do it to-day." 
 
 These excursions into the country were not 
 always so busy. Here is another side of the 
 picture. In a letter dated from " Grieve's Hotel," 
 Langholm, N. B.: 
 
 " Fancy me getting up at six this morning, 
 going into the stables and getting a gamekeeper 
 to pour buckets of water over me (as there are no 
 baths in this little inn), then breakfast, cigarette, 
 &c., and starting at eight for the moors in a wag- 
 gonette and beginning shooting at a quarter to 
 nine. That is what I've done to-day and have 
 got to do two days more. We have been shoot- 
 ing eight hours, or, rather, walking up and down 
 
 /
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 91 
 
 these awful, endless hills they call moors and never 
 a bird of any sort could we get near. The rain 
 and wind kept them off. I was drenched through 
 without by the ram andsoaked inwardly by whisky. 
 I never thought I could have drunk so much raw 
 spirit,and it has about as much effect as cold water. 
 As there is no house we live in this little inn and 
 are very comfortable." 
 
 From Pembroke College, Oxford, May 5, 1873: 
 " Yesterday I called on the Liddells (he is Dean 
 of Christ Church and Chancellor of the Univer- 
 sity), and they asked me to dinner, but I went in 
 after dinner instead, and found a good many nice 
 people, and they had a little music. Miss Liddell 
 sang ' Orpheus,' charmingly. To-day I lunched 
 with them and went to Ruskin's lecture after- 
 wards. Then Prince Leopold met us, and after 
 the lecture he and I walked back to the Liddell's 
 and had tea. We chummed together and he gave 
 me his photograph." 
 
 Later on, writing from Eastwell Park, Ashford, 
 Kent: " I had a lot of musical letters to write for 
 H.R.H. to-day, so missed the post for you. This 
 morning we were to have gone out shooting, but 
 
 S
 
 92 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 it was wet. The duchess and I played some 
 duets after dinner — Schubert's marches. She 
 plays extremely well. Princess Christian asked 
 me to try and help a protege of hers at Windsor. 
 I wish I had a quarter the influence that folks 
 think I have. To-night is New Year's Eve in 
 the Russian calendar, so there was service in the 
 chapel, M. Popoff coming down from London for 
 it, and there will be a grand service to-morrow." 
 From Ingestre, Stafford: 
 
 " Dicey and I played cribbage under great 
 disadvantages as far as Blisworth, when he arose 
 and departed, the winner of one shilling! Jack^ 
 and I then got on very well until within half-a- 
 mile of the house, when the horse of the fly fell 
 down and cut its knee badly, so I had to run on 
 to the house and send up assistance, a stableman 
 and a donkey cart to fetch the luggage. Then 
 Lady Shrewsbury, Lady Theresa, and I walked 
 up to the scene of the disaster and watched the 
 operations." 
 
 In the autumn of 1874, he is in Paris with the 
 view of meeting a librettist (Albert Millaud), and 
 on arrival writes: "All right. Train upset three 
 
 1 His black sen^ant.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 93 
 
 times, and ran off the rails twice, but beyond 
 upsetting a tea-table no damage was done." 
 
 On February 25, 1874, he writes home: "If 
 you are bothered again by newspaper reporters, 
 just say that so far as I am concerned I know 
 nothing about the proposed knighthood beyond 
 what I have seen in the papers. I don't see why 
 I should be 'interviewed' on everything that may 
 be said about me. There is, of course, no foun- 
 dation for such a thing, and it only grows out of 
 the good-natured fancy of the Hornet^ 
 
 Part of the summer of 1874 was spent in Ger- 
 many, and in August he writes home from Coburg 
 that he is ''en route for Dresden, where the 
 Lindsays have invited me to be their guest for a 
 few days, and then we all return to London 
 together. We have been going on pretty much 
 the same way as usual — excursions, dinners, &c. 
 Monday was the Duchess's name's day, and there 
 were great doings. . . . Yesterday the Rouz- 
 landts, ^ Captain Clerk, Lady Mary Butler, and 
 myself went over to Niirnberg to see the place. . . . 
 We had four hours to see Niirnberg in, and got 
 home at eleven at night awfully tired. But it is 
 
 1 Madame Christine Nilsson and her husband.
 
 94 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 worth seeing. It is, I should think, the most 
 beautiful and picturesque town in the world. 
 Every house is a picture to study — all old-fash- 
 ioned and high-roofed, with wonderful gables and 
 beautiful ironwork about them. It was a very fine 
 day, and the Duke took care of our comforts, 
 sending a luncheon basket which we discussed in 
 the train. . . . Everything had been telegraphed 
 for and arranged beforehand, On Monday the 
 Grand Duke sent one of his Privy Councillors 
 with the order of the Coburg House for me 
 (Knight, 2nd class), so that I swagger about with 
 a ribbon and star. He also sent the Order of 
 Merit for Art and Science to Nilsson. So we 
 are both very pleased, as he is very sparing with 
 his decorations." The most interesting guest was 
 Field-Marshal von Roon, who was the great 
 Prussian Minister of War. 
 
 Rosenau — where they stayed — is a small 
 country house where the Prince Consort was 
 born — very pretty, and lying in a beautiful park. 
 The Queen stopped there when she came to 
 Coburg. " After dinner we went all over the 
 house and saw all the rooms .... billiards all 
 the evening .... fortunately brought a lot of
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 95 
 
 work here and shall write some songs — that will 
 fill up my time every morning." " London is 
 emptying itself, of course, which will be a comfort 
 for me when I get back. I hate the season 
 heartily." 
 
 At the Duke's castle at Carlenberg he remarks 
 that in the evening " Nilsson sang and I accom- 
 panied her — both by heart. She is quite in 
 earnest about singing an opera for me next 
 season, and we are the best of friends and com- 
 panions." 
 
 Franzensbad, August 8, 1874. — "Our party 
 broke up on Friday. We kept the Duke's birth- 
 day as I told you we should. There was a grand 
 dinner in the evening at which we wore our 
 orders! . . . Next morning we had a general 
 breakfast at 11:30 and 12:30; the Rouzlandts and 
 I took leave of the Duke and Duchess .... we 
 arrived here at 5:30, and were met at the station 
 
 by Mrs. G , an American lady staying here 
 
 with her three children. She is the lady whom 
 the Rouzlandts have come to see, and is a perfect 
 specimen of a high-bred, charming American 
 woman .... very intelligent, well educated, 
 pretty manners, and as cheery as a bird. I am
 
 96 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 writing this in her sitting-room, which is the 
 general room for us. This place is a typical 
 specimen of the Bohemia Baths. Quiet, pretty, 
 and unexciting, everyone living more or less out 
 of doors, taking their meals and listening to the 
 music under the shade of the trees. ... It is 
 rather a relief after the life we have been leading 
 to be perfectly free and unfettered, and not to 
 have to dress in different costumes three or four 
 times a day; not that I can say one word of 
 complaint, for H.R.H. was really so kind and 
 thoughtful for us that it would be ungrateful. 
 He really is one of the nicest men in the world. 
 He is so remarkably clear-headed and thoughtful 
 and very clever. He is quite idolized in Coburg, 
 and I don't wonder at it." 
 
 Hotel Bellevue, Dresden, August 12, 1874. — 
 " I am glad to be in Dresden again; it is such a 
 whiff of the old times, and I am enjoying it 
 immensely, for our party is the pleasantest and 
 most agreeable to be wished for. I wrote to you 
 last from Franzensbad. . . . We took it into our 
 heads to drive over to Eger, about three or four 
 miles distant, the oldest town in Germany, they 
 say, and I can well believe it, for it is the most
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 97 
 
 ramshackle, tumble-down, queer-looking place I 
 ever saw. And yet it is extremely picturesque, 
 and historically of great interest, for here Wallen- 
 stein was murdered during the Thirty Years' War. 
 We went into the room where he was killed (it is 
 now filled with relics of him — a sort of museum), 
 and I stood like 'Sein, the astrologer' — don't you 
 know the photograph in the drawing-room close 
 to the door? Then there was the old castle, built 
 as usual about eleven hundred years ago. The 
 chapel is in perfect preservation, built in two 
 storeys, the upper one for the lords and ladies, 
 the under one (where the mass was performed) 
 for the servants — a nice distinction to draw, which 
 is even now preserved in a good many country 
 churches! I tried the organ in the church, but it 
 wasn't a good one at all. There were, however, 
 two splendid knockers and handles (carved brass) 
 on the door — magnificent pieces of work, and 
 when I am very rich and build my palatial resi- 
 dence, I mean to have them copied for the great 
 hall doors! However, enough of Eger. . . . On 
 Monday we all left for Dresden ... a large and 
 cheery party, the Rouzlandts, Mrs. G. and her 
 three children, myself, and four servants. I was
 
 98 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 the only one who spoke German fluently, and so 
 was paymaster, courier, and keeper of order/ . . . 
 The next day Sir Coutts and Lady Lindsay 
 arrived, and we have all been one party ever 
 since. We go to the picture gallery and other 
 museums, and visit all the old china and bric-a- 
 brac shops, of which we are good customers. I 
 have been rather extravagant and bought two or 
 three lovely old Dresden cups, &c. Mrs. G. has 
 given me a delicious little old tea service, and 
 to-day Sir Coutts gave me a grand old piece of 
 German pottery (about two hundred years old), 
 which I had taken a great fancy to." 
 
 Balcarres, Fife, September 9, 1874. — "We had 
 a heavenly day yesterday and drove in the morn- 
 ing to the English Church, six miles distant. 
 There was a very nice service, and we all sang 
 the hymn lustily, to the accompaniment of a small 
 organ, played by one young lady and blown by 
 another. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Goschen arrived 
 yesterday. Colonel and Lady Florence Cust came 
 
 1 Sir Arthur tells me: "I telegraphed in my own name for rooms. 
 At the station the pile of luggage was tremendous. One port- 
 manteau only belonged to me, and I was immensely amused when 
 the driver of the fly said, 'Do all these things belong to the Sulli- 
 van family?' "
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 99 
 
 to-day. To-morrow the Yorkes go, I am sorry 
 to say. I am doing my songs, and am getting on 
 pretty well, but wet weather is more favourable to 
 composition than fine!" 
 
 Balcarres, Fife, September 21, 1874. — "I 
 finished and wrote out my song, ' Thou art pass- 
 ing hence, my Brother,' and dated it the 22nd. 
 It is very curious that I should have done it just 
 now. Time passes very quickly. It doesn't seem 
 eight years ago since dear father died." 
 
 Washington Hotel, Liverpool, September 29, 
 1874. — " The streets were all alive and bunting 
 flying about everywhere, and thousands of people 
 waiting by the station yesterday v;hen I arrived, 
 but it was not in honour of me, but of the Duke, 
 who was going about on all sorts of ceremonies 
 with the Mayor and a guard of honour. I 
 couldn't go to the banquet last night because I 
 had a full rehearsal of my oratorio. Every one 
 was there except Reeves, v/ho telegraphed to say 
 he could not come until Wednesday. I hope he 
 will come, not for my sake alone, but for his own. 
 The Duke arrived punctually this morning at the 
 concert and stayed to the very end. I didn't see 
 him to speak to, as he was upstairs and I down.
 
 loo SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Davison, Bennett, Ryan, Patey, and Patti, are all 
 staying in this hotel." 
 
 In August his oratorio " The Light of the 
 World " had been written, and produced at the 
 Birmingham Musical Festival. It created tre- 
 mendous enthusiasm, record attendances and so 
 forth wherever produced. It was barely nine 
 months since he had written the music to the 
 light and fantastic "Thespis," produced as we 
 have seen, in the December of the preceding 
 year, and although the critics received the new 
 oratorio with almost unanimous approval, there 
 were many who seemed to feel somewhat irritated 
 by the fact that both productions had been the 
 work of one man. The public, generally speak- 
 ing, detests the indefinite. It is always anxious 
 to tear aside anything in the nature of mystery. 
 It has no reverence for it. We love to label a 
 man, and are indignant if he does not deliver his 
 goods as per the bill of lading with which we 
 have invested him. Here was the composer of 
 " Contrabandista " and "Thespis" taking the 
 grandest possible theme for his work and appar- 
 ently challenging comparison with Handel and 
 Mendelssohn! The general opinion, however,
 
 HIS LIFE STORY loi 
 
 would seem to have been very fairly expressed 
 by the critic of The Standard vi\\Qn he wrote: 
 
 " After due reflection the general opinion is 
 that in his oratorio Mr. Arthur Sullivan has 
 enriched the world's musical library with a fine 
 work, distinctly representative of the modern 
 school of composition, and calculated to exist in 
 that sphere where it holds a prominent position 
 as a specimen of the new type of oratorio, the 
 dignity of which it upholds. Considering the 
 difficulties of precedent with which Mr. Sullivan 
 had to deal, in Handel's * Messiah ' and Bach's 
 ' Passion Music,' not to mention Mendelssohn's 
 unfinished ' Christus,' he may be said to have 
 entered the lists against an array of giants. To 
 say that in the face of these he has held his own 
 ground, if he has not encroached on theirs, is to 
 bestow praise of the highest significance; and to 
 Mr. Sullivan belongs the acknowledgment that 
 he has incontestably secured great honours to 
 himself without robbing his predecessors of a 
 single laurel. The ' Light of the World ' has 
 nothing whatever in common with the ' Messiah'; 
 it borrows neither style nor ideas from the 
 'Passion Music'; and it even steers clear of
 
 I02 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 that magnetic rock, Mendelssohn, upon which so 
 many fair and well-freighted barks have been 
 lured to their doom." 
 
 The composer was certainly to be no less con- 
 gratulated upon the vocal interpretation which he 
 secured. Titiens, Patey, Trebelli and Santley, 
 Foli and Sims Reeves carried a by no means 
 light burden triumphantly, and, without making 
 any invidious distinction where all v/ere so good, 
 Sims Reeves particularly distinguished himself. 
 No one could hope to outrival him in the sacred 
 fervour which he infused into his rendering, and 
 in the management of his voice, expression, and 
 perfection of phrasing, which he had added to the 
 magnificent gift which nature had given him. It 
 may be doubted if this country cannot well afford 
 to boast that in Sims Reeves — happily still with 
 us — we can lay claim to the fact that this country 
 has given birth to the finest vocalist — tenore 
 robiisto — that the world has ever known. 
 
 This is not the place for detailed criticism of 
 the oratorio, if I were at all competent to furnish 
 it. It would be very fairly suggested that, apart 
 from raising the question of competence, the
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 103 
 
 biographer and other friends of a composer are 
 possibly prejudiced in his favour. In any case it 
 is always desirable to avoid the use of the super- 
 lative, and throughout the book, wherever it may 
 seem necessary to refer to the merit or otherwise 
 of a production, I shall content myself with quot- 
 ing the opinion of others. The only definite and 
 complete judgment, of course, is that of posterity, 
 and that is an issue v/hich every one is free to 
 discuss. The point of view of a biographer must 
 needs be that of a contemporary historian, and so 
 I am more concerned with the nature of the 
 reception of each composition and the conditions 
 under which each composition was produced, 
 contented to leave to others the task of discussing 
 and, perhaps, prematurely deciding upon, the 
 merits or demerits, and the permanance or other- 
 wise, of the work under review. 
 
 Inpursurance of this intention I do not think I 
 can do better than quote one paragraph from the 
 long notice in the Observer of that date (August 
 31, 1873) as being a fairly typical expression of 
 opinion on the oratorio contemporary with its 
 production. 
 
 " If we have spoken at some length of the
 
 I04 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 ' Light of the World,' it is merely because the 
 occasion amply justified our doing so. The orato- 
 rio is one of imagination, of not only clever ideas, 
 but of really devotional religious thought. The 
 orchestra is handled throughout in a manner which 
 only one who is fully acquainted with each instru- 
 ment, its individual capabilities, and its effect in 
 combination, is able to appreciate. The instru- 
 mentation is never obtrusive, but it is always deli- 
 cate and expressive, while many orchestral pas- 
 sages are notable for the beauty of the scoring. 
 The vocal parts, solo and choral, are written with 
 the object of producing the fullest effects by the 
 most legitimate means. They exhibit great talent 
 in treatment, and, considering the nature of the 
 subject, are written with considerable variety. In 
 conclusion, 'The Light of the World' is a great 
 production, and we may safely look now to Mr. 
 Sullivan for sacred works of the highest class, 
 since the originality of his genius has escaped the 
 siren-like influence of Mendelssohn, whose fasci- 
 nating style has proved too frequently the de- 
 struction of original talent." 
 
 It was not until the beginning of 1875 that Mr. 
 D'Oyly Carte, who was then managing for Miss
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 105 
 
 Selina Dolaro, then playing " Perichole," at the 
 little theatre in Dean Street, Soho, finding 
 that they were not doing "good business," 
 approached Gilbert and Sullivan. 
 
 " It was on a very cold morning," Sir Arthur 
 tells me, " with the snow falling heavily, that 
 Gilbert came round to my place, clad in a heavy 
 fur coat. He had called to read over to me the 
 MS. of ' Trial by Jury.' He read it through, and 
 it seemed to me, in a perturbed sort of way, with 
 a gradual crescendo of indignation, in the manner 
 of a man considerably disappointed with what he 
 had written. As soon as he had come to the last 
 word he closed up the manuscript violently, appa- 
 rently unconscious of the fact that he had achieved 
 his purpose so far as I was concerned, inasmuch as 
 I was screaming with laughter the whole time. 
 The words and music were written, and all the 
 rehearsals completed within the space of three 
 weeks," and all London went to see it. As the 
 Times had it, " Mr. Sullivan, in fact, has accom- 
 plished his part in the extravaganza so happily 
 that — to ascend some steps higher towards the 
 empyrean — it seems, as in the great Wagnerian 
 operas, as though poem and music had pro-
 
 io6 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 ceeded simultaneously from one and the same 
 brain." 
 
 Penley, unnamed in the programme, filled the 
 modest rHe of Foreman of the Jury, while the 
 elder brother, Fred. Sullivan, who had been for 
 some little while in the Dolaro company, played 
 the Judge with such humourous severity and all- 
 round ability that he contributed not a little to the 
 original success of the piece. It was produced on 
 March 25, 1875, ''^^ ^or some considerable time, 
 and was the first joint production of Gilbert and 
 Sullivan, which showed definitely that there were 
 two men who could produce something which 
 should be mirth-provoking without lacking the lit- 
 erary and artistic element. " There is a genuine 
 humour in the music," the T"^;;^^^ continued "as for 
 instance, in the unison chorus of the jurymen, and 
 the clever parody on one of the most renowned 
 finales of modern Italian opera; and there is also 
 melody, both fluent and catching, here and there, 
 moreover, set off by little touches in the orchestral 
 accompaniments which reveal the experienced 
 hand." 
 
 The run of the comic " Trial by Jury " was 
 practically contemporaneous with another trial of
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 107 
 
 a more serious character, the memorable Tich- 
 borne Claimant case. 
 
 Sir Alexander Cockburn was Lord Chief Justice 
 at that time, and Sir Arthur tells me, " Although 
 he was very fond of me personally, being very 
 fond of music, he did not like the notion of our 
 ' Trial by Jury ' at all, as he thought the piece 
 was calculated to bring the bench into contempt! 
 He went to see the piece once, remarking after- 
 wards that it was very pretty and clever and 
 ' all that sort of thing,' but he would not go again 
 for fear he should seem to encourage it. 
 
 " I used to go and sit on the Bench with him, 
 however, at the time of the trial of the Claimant, 
 and occasionlly I would sleep at his house over- 
 night, so that I might be in time in the morning 
 to drive down with him to the Court. The 
 incidents of the trial and Cockburn's masterly 
 summing-up are, of course, matters of history, 
 but I was greatly struck by the effect of the 
 adverse verdict on the Claimant. He was, as you 
 know, a big burly fellow, but the moment the 
 verdict was given he seemed in some unaccount- 
 able manner to decrease promptly in bulk, so 
 that his clothes appeared to hang loosely about
 
 io8 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 him. I certainly never witnessed a more curious 
 sight." 
 
 Speaking of the various people he has known, 
 among them Lord Chief Justice Cockburn, 
 Tennyson, Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Leighton, 
 and Millais, Sir Arthur remarks that with Millais 
 he was always on the most affectionate terms. 
 " When I was very young and didn't have much 
 to do I used to spend a good deal of my time in 
 his studio playing on the pianoforte while he 
 painted. 
 
 "One night when I was at Gounod's house in 
 Park Place, there came in after dinner a venerable, 
 white-haired, handsome old man. He sat down 
 and talked to some people in another part of the 
 room. I asked Gounod who he was, and Gounod 
 exclaimed, ' Oh, he is the celebrated Desbar- 
 rolles.' Of course I knew him by reputation 
 with regard to his work on the hand, so-called 
 palmistry being then a new thing to the public. 
 Gounod took me across the room, and, without 
 introducing me, or mentioning my name, said, 
 ' Here is a subject for you. Look at his hand.' 
 The venerable old man took up my hand, looked 
 at it, and in a moment said, ' Oh dear, you have
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 109 
 
 had a yery great shock in your life so many years 
 ago.' I said, ' No, you are mistaken,' but he in- 
 sisted, adding that it was the death of some one I 
 loved, and in a moment I remembered that the 
 year he mentioned would be the year of the 
 extremely sudden death of my father. He then 
 went on to mention many details which could 
 have been known to no one else but myself, and 
 I must confess that this rather staggered me. 
 There was nothing of the charlatan about him."
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 IDLING IN ITALY 
 
 (1875-1877) 
 
 Conductorship — Visits Italy — Death of Fred Sullivan— 
 "The Lost Chord"— "Henry VIII."— "The Sorcerer"— 
 Sir Coutts and Lady Lindsay — Princess Louise. 
 
 SHORTLY after the production of "The 
 Light of the World " Sullivan received 
 from the University of Cambridge, in com- 
 pany with his old master, Sir John Goss, the 
 honorary degree of " Doctor of Music," and in 
 the year under consideration (1875), after a great 
 deal of pressure had been put upon him, he 
 accepted the post of Principal of the National 
 Training School of Music. It was a post which 
 he accepted very unwillingly as he had always 
 been adverse personally to teaching in any form. 
 In reference to the school, its history and 
 development under the new name are interesting 
 and important, especially as Sir Arthur Sullivan 
 was so completely identified with it, and I venture 
 to quote his own words in regard to it. " The 
 
 no
 
 HIS LIFE STORY m 
 
 Royal Academy of Music had fallen into very 
 low water at that time, and Sir Henry Cole 
 thought it was a favourable opportunity to estab- 
 lish an institution for musical education. It was 
 his desire to get everything centered at South 
 Kensington, so as to bring all the art schools 
 together. He experienced a great deal of diffi- 
 culty, and one reason was that he seemed to think 
 that such an institution could be carried on as if 
 the art of music were an exact science. Even- 
 tually they wanted me to become principal of it, 
 but I declined because I didn't approve of the 
 principles which had been adopted. However, 
 very great pressure was brought to bear on me, 
 and after some mutual concessions I very un- 
 willingly accepted the post of principal and held 
 the position for six years. 
 
 " I got a very fine teaching staff about me, and 
 we certainly turned out a number of first-rate 
 practical musicians, who, without doubt, exercised 
 great influence in the cause of music throughout 
 the country, having in their turn become teachers, 
 organists, and so forth. Dif^culties arose with 
 reference to the establishment of the school on 
 a permanent basis, and eventually the Prince of
 
 112 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Wales and the then Duke of Edinburgh took the 
 matter up with great zeal, and so the Royal 
 College of Music was founded on the basis of the 
 Training School which I had conducted. It was 
 to all intents and purposes the same institution. 
 They took over our building, our library, and our 
 teaching staff. Sir George Grove was appointed 
 Director, and carried on the institution on the 
 lines which I had already laid down. So you 
 see that the National School of Music was really 
 the forerunner and parent of the Royal College 
 of Music." 
 
 In the winter of the same year he also con- 
 ducted the Choral Union Orchestral Concerts in 
 Glasgow, and, as reflecting the opinion of that 
 time — just a quarter of a century ago — it is inter- 
 esting to note that ^ propos to these concerts, 
 one paper remarked : " The committee have 
 acted wisely in gaining the services of a con- 
 ductor of Mr. Sullivan's reputation and position. 
 England has produced but few musicians whose 
 names are likely to live. That Mr. Sullivan 
 belongs to this small number he has given us 
 strong reason to hope. We do not know how 
 far a recent statement that his name is a uni-
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 113 
 
 versal drawing-room favourite, maybe gratifying 
 to a composer of high and earnest aspirations, 
 but we are quite certain that work of another 
 sort ought to occupy Mr. Sullivan, and that the 
 accomplishment of really great things in his art 
 must be to him simply a matter of choice. The 
 very first essential for a good orchestral conductor 
 is that of perfect familiarity with his music, and 
 this Mr. Sullivan's training and experience have, 
 of course, insured. The orchestra is, in the 
 main, the same as that of last season, yet last 
 night it was often difficult to believe this .... 
 the result was in every way such a complete 
 expression of the composer's intentions." 
 
 Not the least service which, throughout his 
 busy life. Sir Arthur Sullivan has rendered to the 
 revival of musical work in this country is indicated 
 in the paragraph which I have quoted. Much 
 more is required of a conductor than that he shall 
 wave a baton in front of an orchestra. One 
 cannot refrain from paying one's modest tribute 
 of praise to the fact that on the thousand-and-one 
 occasions on which he has been called upon to 
 conduct, he has evinced his extreme catholicity of 
 taste. He has ever shown a musicianly " radical-
 
 114 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 ism" in full sympathy with the purpose and 
 method of each individual composer, and each 
 item in his musical programme has been given 
 the care and attention which he would have 
 demanded in the case of his own work. More- 
 over, he has never been lacking in good general- 
 ship in a matter which involves more tact and 
 trouble than one can imagine, while his own 
 painstaking enthusiasm has, on all occasions, so 
 communicated itself to the executants that, even 
 after an exceptionally long and arduous rehearsal, 
 the spectacle of the orchestra applauding the 
 conductor has become almost a convention. 
 
 " Trial by Jury" having been produced, as we 
 have seen, in the early part of 1875, there is no 
 further production to record until two years after- 
 wards. In the summer of 1875 he visited Italy, 
 where his companions were Sir Coutts and Lady 
 Lindsay, to whom he owes the pleasure of a long 
 and close friendship. Writing from Cadennabia, 
 on August 25, he says: "I have been to Milan 
 at last! Visetti was there at the station to receive 
 me. . . . He behaved in a princely manner to 
 me the whole time, treating me as his guest. My 
 visit was a real success, and I am very glad I
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 115 
 
 went. On Monday morning after breakfast we 
 went out and called on Mazzucato (the director 
 of the Conservatoire), Ricordi, the publisher, and 
 Filippi, the ' Davison ' * of Italy. . . . We went to 
 the Conservatoire to listen to a performance by 
 the students. Mazzucato welcomed me with 
 great warmth. To my extreme gratification he 
 came to the station with me to bid me farewell. 
 I cannot speak highly or warmly enough of 
 Visetti. He was kindness itself, and almost more 
 gratified than myself at the success of my visit." 
 
 Writing again from the hotel at Cadennabia on 
 the Lago di Como: " The heat is so great as to 
 make it almost impossible to do anything but sit 
 about without movement in a chair until the 
 evening, when we manage to saunter out a little 
 or to be paddled about in a flat-bottomed boat. 
 Then it is delicious, absolutely lovely. The still- 
 ness of the water, the brilliant moon, throwing its 
 glittering light on the lake and making a long 
 trail of little diamonds, the mountains all round 
 looking grave and calm, little boats filled with 
 men and women, some of them with mandolins 
 
 ^ The celebrated critic of The Times.
 
 ii6 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 and singing popular melodies, and the light from 
 the villages and towns dotted round the lake 
 contribute to form a scene which is enchanting, 
 
 and unlike anything one has dreamed of I 
 
 have an advantage that not every Englishman 
 has — i.e., of being here in the summer. People 
 do not often brave the heat, and consequently 
 lose the magnificence of the luxuriant foliage 
 and the beautiful colours and lights, which can 
 only be seen at this time of the year." 
 
 Shortly afterwards Lady Lindsay sends a 
 sketch to Mrs. Sullivan, reproduced in these pages. 
 I quote the letter with its ironic postscript: "Dear 
 Mrs. Sullivan, I enclose you a drawing, by which 
 you will see that your son is not overtiring him- 
 self here. He spends the day, and so do we, sit- 
 ting on the balcony in rocking chairs, sometimes 
 going through the exertion of reading a novel." 
 " P. S. [in Sullivan's handwriting] This is written 
 forv!\^, as I am overworked(!), and consequently 
 cannot write to-day." 
 
 Perhaps I may be excused for quoting another 
 little epistle sent soon afterwards from Cologne. 
 " I have been out with the children; we went to 
 the cathedral and heard a pretty children's serv-
 
 FREOERIC SUT^LIVAX 
 
 AS TBB JUDGE IN "tKIAL BV JUHV,'» 187S.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 117 
 
 ice. It is a blazing hot day, and the cathedral 
 was so peaceful and cool it did me good, and took 
 me out of the world for a time. When the serv- 
 ice began the organ struck up, and then in the 
 far distance the boys' voices were heard singing, 
 and they came nearer and nearer, singing all the 
 while. The result was I burst out crying, as I 
 always do at children's voices. I have no doubt 
 that the music was weak, and the boys' voices 
 execrable, but the whole thing moved me and 
 did me good." 
 
 The year '']'] was saddened by the death of his 
 brother Fred Sullivan, who died on January 18, 
 aged 36. His cleverness as a comedian and his 
 unfailing good spirits had made him much liked 
 by all who had known him, and during his brief 
 career as an actor he had already achieved repu- 
 tation. Best known to the public for his perfect 
 performance of the Judge in " Trial by Jury," 
 he was a skilled musician and an actor of great 
 ability. 
 
 It was during the distressing three weeks, 
 mainly occupied in watching by the bedside of 
 the elder brother, that Sullivan wrote " The Lost 
 Chord." The account which has already been
 
 ii8 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 given in Mr. Willeby's monograph of the way in 
 which it was written is accurate, and will, I hope, 
 bear repetition. " One night — the end was not 
 very far off then — while his sick brother had for 
 a time fallen into a peaceful sleep, and he was 
 sitting as usual by the bedside, he chanced to 
 come across some verses of Adelaide Procter's 
 with which he had five years previously been 
 much struck. He had then tried to set them to 
 music, but without satisfaction to himself. Now 
 in the stillness of the night he read them over 
 again, and almost as he did so he conceived their 
 musical equivalent. A sheet of music paper was 
 at hand, and he began to write. Slowly the 
 music grew and took shape, until, being quite 
 absorbed in it, he determined to finish the song. 
 Even if in the cold light of day it were to prove 
 worthless, it would at least have helped to while 
 away the hours of watching. So he worked on 
 at it. As he progressed he felt sure that this 
 was what he had sought for and failed to find on 
 the occasion of his first attempt to set the words. 
 In a short time it was complete, and not long 
 afterwards in the publisher's hands." Thus was 
 written "The Lost Chord," perhaps the most
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 119 
 
 successful song of modern times, at all events 
 one whose sale has, up to now, considerably 
 exceeded several hundred thousands. 
 
 In the autumn of 1877 the composer's activity 
 was manifested in two directions. In the first 
 place he had supplemented his list of incidental 
 music to Shakespeare's plays with the music for 
 " Henry VIII.," first produced in the splendid 
 revival of that play at the Princes Theatre by 
 Charles Calvert. 
 
 On the strength of the success of " Trial by 
 Jury," and in the confidence inspired by hopes of 
 a prosperous collaboration between Gilbert and 
 Sullivan, Mr. D'Oyly Carte had formed a small 
 syndicate, known as the Comedy Opera Com- 
 pany. Its first production was " The Sorcerer," 
 first played at the Opera Comique on Nov. 18, 
 1877. The result was by no means discouraging, 
 for it drew large audiences for the space of six 
 months. It was everywhere regarded as "another 
 attempt to establish native opera as a legitimate 
 and permanent institution in this country," and 
 while the public was delighted at the rare com- 
 bination of humorous and scholarly music with 
 the fun of a skilful libretto, those whose duty it
 
 I20 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 had been to pay attentive ear to operatic music 
 from foreign sources were particularly pleased 
 with the clever parodies of conventionality in 
 serious opera which ran through " The Sorcerer," 
 parodies skilfully interwoven with purely origi- 
 nal melody, allied to good taste, fancifulness, and 
 command over orchestral resources. 
 
 Sir Arthur has mentioned the difficulty which 
 he experienced in the beginning, of finding any 
 actor or actress who could sing, but the demand 
 soon created a supply, and "The Sorcerer" was 
 responsible for the introduction of Mr. George 
 Grossmith and Mr. Rutland Harrington to the 
 stage. 
 
 About this time " Lewis Carroll" wrote to him 
 in the following terms: — 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I thank you for your letter. I 
 thought it needless to trouble you with any par- 
 ticulars till I knew if my proposal were at all 
 possible. And now, though your answer gives 
 little or no ground to hope, I think I may as well, 
 before giving up all hope, tell you what it is I 
 want, as perhaps it might change your view of 
 my question. I am the writer of a little book for 
 children — 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ' —
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 121 
 
 which has proved so unexpectedly popular that 
 the idea of dramatising it has been several times 
 started. If that is ever done, I shall want it done 
 in the best possible way, sparing no expense, and 
 one feature I should want would be good music. 
 So I thought (knowing your charming composi- 
 tions) it would be well to get two or three of the 
 songs in it set by you, to be kept for the occasion 
 (if that should arrive) of its being dramatised; we 
 might then arrange for publishing them with 
 music. In haste, faithfully yours, 
 
 " C. L. DODGSON. 
 
 " C Lewis Carroll.')" 
 
 "Chestnuts, Guilford, March 31, 1877. 
 
 " My Dear Sir, — I have again to thank you 
 for a letter which, like the last, is nearly final, but 
 just leaves the gate of Hope ajar. Excuse my 
 troubling you with more questions, but I should 
 much like to know what the sum is, which you 
 say you thought ' absurdly extravagant ' for the 
 copyright of the musical setting of a song, and 
 also what the terms would be, supposing you had 
 a * royalty ' for every time it was sung in public.
 
 122 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 For my own part, I think the ' royalty ' system the 
 best of the two, usually, but the other has the 
 advantage of finality. 
 
 " You speak of your readiness to enter on the 
 matter, if I should ever carry out the idea of 
 dramatising * Alice,' but that is just what I don't 
 want to wait for. We might wait an indefinite 
 time, and then, when the thing was settled, have 
 to get our music prepared in a hurry, and, worse 
 stiW, you might not then be able or willing to do 
 it. That is my reason for wishing to get some- 
 thing ready beforehand, and what I know of your 
 music is so delicious (they tell me I have not a 
 musical ear, so my criticism is valueless, I fear) 
 that I should like to secure something from you 
 now, while there is leisure time to do it in. Be- 
 lieve me, very truly yours, 
 
 " C. L. DODGSON." 
 
 During the summer of 'yj he is once more in 
 Paris, and in making brief quotations from letters 
 dated from Paris and elsewhere my apology is 
 that they are particularly interesting in so far as 
 they indicate a mental attitude toward people 
 whom he met, and contain allusions to them.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 123 
 
 " It seems as if I had never left Paris. When 
 I went into the buffet at Victoria last night to get 
 a mouthful of cold meat before starting I saw 
 J. S. Forbes, the Chairman of the L. C. and D. 
 Railway. He was going to Paris, so he took me 
 as far as Calais for nothing, shared his cabin with 
 me, and we got a carriage all to ourselves to Paris 
 undisturbed. It was luxury combined with 
 economy." 
 
 He is back in London a month later. " Last 
 night was the dinner at the Lindsays to Princess 
 
 L . It was very pleasant. To-day the 
 
 Princess called whilst I was out and left me a 
 beautiful photograph of herself, which she had 
 promised me. It was very kind of her," and 
 " Grove says he does not wish to be critical in the 
 matter of tamarinds, but they cut out like pieces 
 of negro — hard and black. I thought the pot I 
 sent him was in beautiful condition. How difficult 
 it is to please all mankind!" 
 
 In February of 1878 he writes: " Here I am in 
 * Genoa the Proud,' having arrived here late last 
 night. I took affecting farewell of all my friends 
 at Nice on Friday, and on Sunday morning 
 started off with a very nice fellow, in a little car-
 
 124 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 riage with two capital little horses. Silva^ went 
 by train with the luggage, and we drove along the 
 far-famed Cornice road which runs all along the 
 Riviera from Nice to Genoa. It was a heavenly 
 day, and I never enjoyed anything so much in my 
 life. I cannot give a description, but refer you to 
 Doctor Antonio for it. We stayed an hour and a 
 half at Mentone for lunch, and then resumed our 
 journey as far as Bordighera, where we stayed the 
 night. Yesterday morning we were up betimes 
 and on our way again, winding for miles along the 
 picturesque route, mountains on one side of us, the 
 Mediterranean on the other,through the quaintest, 
 dirtiest, most picturesque old towns as far as 
 Albenga. There we parted from our carriage, it 
 being late in the evening, and took a parliamen- 
 tary train, which seemed to be wandering about 
 listlessly, on to Genoa. . . . The thing that most 
 interested me was the church of St. Lorenzo, the 
 finest here. It was shut up, but we got in at the 
 side door, and found the interior magnificently pre- 
 pared for the funeral mass for the Pope, the day 
 after to-morrow. All the pillars and other stone 
 work were covered with red satin, damask, and 
 
 1 Valet. "*
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 125 
 
 gold — a great catafalque in the centre, draped in 
 scarlet, black, white, and gold, and nothing but 
 scarlet, black, and gold everywhere. The effect 
 was magnificent."
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 AMERICAN REMINISCENCES 
 (1 87 8- 1 880) 
 
 "H.M.S. Pinafore" — Promenade Concerts — "The Pina- 
 fore " Fever in America — First Visit to America — 
 American Reminiscences — American Piracy and the 
 "Pirates of Penzance." 
 
 SINCE 1872 Sullivan had been suffering at 
 intervals from an agonising malady. It 
 would lie dormant for a considerable period, 
 and then rouse itself to an attack which would 
 last for some time. " H.M.S. Pinafore " was pro- 
 duced at the Opera Comique, May 28, 1878. It 
 was the musician's ill-fate to be racked with pain 
 during the period when this delightful opera was 
 written. As usual it had to be written against 
 time, and it says much for the dogged courage of 
 the composer that the exquisite and jocund music 
 was persisted with in the intervals of the most 
 acute suffering 
 
 Strangely enough, " H.M.S. Pinafore," eventu- 
 
 126
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 127 
 
 ally so tremendously popular, at first failed to 
 attract. There was the crowded and enthusiastic 
 audience on the first night, and the press cried 
 approval; of course well-meant suggestions ap- 
 peared here and there to the effect that " our 
 representative English composer should confine 
 himself to more serious work." Truth to tell, 
 the "business" done at the theatre became so 
 unremunerative that the management decided 
 to withdraw " H.M.S. Pinafore" not many weeks 
 after production. 
 
 At that time Sullivan was conductor of the 
 Covent Garden Promenade Concerts, and one 
 night he put into the programme a brilliant 
 arrangement by Hamilton Clarke of the " Pina- 
 fore" music, for the orchestra and military band. 
 Although the piece was running to poor houses 
 at the time, and was on the eve of withdrawal, 
 this selection from the music at the concerts 
 created quite a sensation. The selection was 
 invariably encored, and parts of it sometimes 
 played over two or three times, before the 
 audience would permit the programme to be 
 proceeded with. It was apparently as the result 
 of this that the receipts at the Opera Comique
 
 128 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 gradually crept up, and that nearly two years 
 afterwards "H.M.S. Pinafore" was still in the 
 bill and flourishing hugely. Instead of failing 
 dismally, it had the stage for seven hundred 
 nights. Meanwhile the piece had become the 
 "rage" throughout America, about which there 
 will be much to say presently. 
 
 The Promenade Concerts, at one time under 
 the sway of Jullien at the time of which I am 
 writing — August, 1878 — were controlled by 
 Messrs. Gatti. The orchestra numbered eighty 
 of the best English players, and one of the 
 papers, commenting on the fact that " Mr. Arthur 
 Sullivan is the conductor," remarked that "it is the 
 first time that he has assumed such an office at 
 entertainments of this kind. . . . The man who 
 has given us not only ' Cox and Box,' the ' Con- 
 trabandista,' ' Trial by Jury,' ' The Sorcerer,' and 
 * H.M.S. Pinafore,' each in its way unsurpassed, 
 but also the 'Tempest' music, ' Kenilworth,' the 
 'Symphony in E Minor,' the overture ' In Memo- 
 riam,'the 'Te Deum' to commemorate the recov- 
 ery of the Prince of Wales, and last but not 
 least, such an oratorio as ' The Light of the 
 World,' is no common labourer in the field of
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 129 
 
 art, and merits all the distinction that may be 
 conferred upon him." 
 
 Taking the lighter side, I have included in the 
 illustrations the sketches produced in the Sport- 
 ing and Dramatic News of the time, anent which 
 "The Captious Critic" remarked, "It was, I 
 believe, the custom of at least a few of the 
 Chapel Royal choristers — those little Bee-flaters 
 who dispense sweet music for the saving of 
 high-born souls — to proceed from St. James' to 
 Hungerford market and waste their substance 
 in the consumption of Gatti's far-famed ices. 
 Amongst these ardent devotees of Gatti were 
 little Arthur and Alfred. Their pocket money 
 was quickly consumed in the form of the cool and 
 refreshing ice. These two little boys are grown 
 up, and are now receiving those pennies spent in 
 reckless frigidity back from the coffers of the 
 Gatti family, for they are none other than Mr. 
 Arthur Sullivan and Mr. Alfred Cellier, the 
 conductors of the Promenade Concerts." 
 
 In America "H.M.S. Pinafore" had caught 
 on, and raged furiously. In London it had been 
 successful beyond anything of the kind, but in 
 the States it created the tornado-like furore for
 
 I30 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 which, amongst many other big things, that great 
 nation is celebrated. It was not an uncommon 
 thing for one individual to have seen the piece, 
 say, a dozen times; church choirs added it to their 
 repertoire; thousands of sturdy Puritans who had 
 never been inside a theatre before went to see 
 one or other of the performances. It is on record 
 that {iniserabile dichi) a hundred thousand barrel 
 organs were constructed to play nothing else! 
 For the season it was found hardly worth while 
 to run anything in opposition to it, and the 
 spectacle was presented of every theatre and 
 concert company of importance in the big cities, 
 producing the same piece! In one of the sketches 
 produced in an American paper, in which posters 
 are seen affixed to a wall, the notion is by 
 no means exaggerated. " Academy of Music. 
 Colonel Mapleson's troupe, 'Pinafore' "! "Stadt 
 Theatre. The pretty comedy 'Von Pinaforen.' 
 Pumpernickel, Kaiserlich und Limburger." 
 "Grand Concert! Signora lima di Marska will 
 sing the principal arias of ' H.M.S. Pinafore'"! 
 and so on. For instance, here is one of the many 
 similar notices given in all seriousness: "The 
 Church Choir ' Pinafore ' Company has prefaced
 
 HIS LIFE STOE.Y 131 
 
 their 'Pinafore' performance with the'Gloria' from 
 Mozart's 'Twelfth Mass,' and Handel's 'Halle- 
 lujah Chorus.' " Some of the libretto, as catch 
 phrases, "What, never? — Well, hardly ever!" 
 must have become deadly. It is related that one 
 editor was compelled to forbid their use by his 
 staff on pain of dismissal. " It has occurred 
 twenty times in as many articles in yesterday's 
 edition," he sorrowfully said to them on one 
 occasion. " Never let me see it used again." 
 "What, never?" was the unanimous question. 
 "Well, hardly ever" replied the wretched man. 
 
 " Dot ' Pinafore ' expression vas a noosance," 
 remarked a Teutonic gentleman to a genial 
 coadjutor. "Auf you tole a veller sometings, 
 he speaks noding von blame English. He say, 
 'Vot, hardly, sometimes nefer!' Vot kind of 
 language is dose?" 
 
 The ironic form does not preclude the fact that 
 the following statement was within the truth: 
 "At present there are forty-two companies play- 
 ing ' Pinafore' about the country. Companies 
 formed after 6 p.m. yesterday are not included." 
 Philadelphia boasted a "coloured" " Pinafore" 
 company, and in Boston "Pinafore" is announced
 
 132 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 to be given at the Music Hall on such-and-such 
 date, when "the leading characters will be sung 
 by prominent soloists of the Catholic choirs of 
 the city, and the chorus will consist of fifty voices 
 from various Catholic churches." 
 
 Meantime, there were two facts which were 
 not likely to escape the notice of Messrs. Arthur 
 Sullivan and W. S. Gilbert. On the one hand, 
 "their attention had been called" to the popu- 
 larity which the piece was creating on the other 
 side of the water; and, on the other hand, 
 although its popularity meant the transference 
 (in the States) of many hundreds of thousands 
 of dollars, they were quite cognisant of the fact, 
 without having their attention called to it, that 
 this unique popularity had not produced one 
 half-penny for the benefit of the joint authors of 
 the production. 
 
 Of course there was no international copyright, 
 but yet they felt something might be done. It 
 might well be that the American managers and 
 the English authors would be unable to make any 
 compromise in their views, which were in direct 
 opposition in regard to the interpretation of meum 
 and tuum, but they held one good card and they
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 133 
 
 determined to play it. They would take over 
 their own people to perform the operas. The 
 opera in America, although so successful, was 
 being played after a strange fashion, with many 
 sins of omission and commission. The lesser of 
 the American companies had turned the comic 
 opera into a weird music-hall sketch of a nature 
 which beggared description. The libretto had 
 been tampered with, so-called topical songs had 
 been interpolated, and many other inartistic 
 horrors had been perpetrated. The music, too, 
 more particularly in regard to its orchestration, 
 was being treated quite out of accord with the 
 intentions of the composer. 
 
 Accordingly, in November, 1879, accompanied 
 by Mr. D'Oyly Carte and the late Alfred Cellier, 
 they left for America. They also took with them 
 Blanche Roosevelt, who had been singer at the 
 Covent Garden Opera under the name of Rosa- 
 vella. Blanche Roosevelt went with them as the 
 principal soprano of the " Pinafore " company. 
 She sang fairly well, but what success she 
 achieved was mainly due to her extraordinary 
 beauty. She proved of little use in the part of 
 Josephine, which had not been written for her
 
 134 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 voice, but made a very successful appearance 
 subsequently as Mabel in " The Pirates of Pen- 
 zance," more especially as the music for Mabel in 
 the first act had been written with a view to 
 her interpretation. The rest of the principals 
 followed them to America shortly afterwards. 
 
 The original rendering of the " Pinafore" was 
 produced at the Fifth Avenue. One might have 
 thought that the "New Yorkers" by this time 
 would have grown tired of the piece, and, indeed, 
 one or two New York papers, forgetful that 
 prophecy is the most gratuitous form of error, 
 said as much — and more; but as a matter of fact 
 the further production created quite a sensation. 
 In what way the production differed from the 
 American version can be deduced from some of 
 the references made to it. The following descrip- 
 tion is quite instructive: 
 
 "Last evening," writes one reporter, '" H.M.S. 
 Pinafore ' was under command of its builders. 
 Mr. Sullivan conducted in the orchestra, and the 
 master-hand was clearly discernible in the result. 
 It seemed already as though human ingenuity 
 had been exhausted to provide appropriate busi- 
 ness for the opera, and that everything thinkable
 
 liL-VXCME KOOSJilViiLT
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 135 
 
 had been thought of. But last night's perform- 
 ance was everywhere studded with new points. 
 When the scene opened, the sailors were all seen 
 at work, flemishing down the ropes, and attend- 
 ing to various ship's duties, while the whole was 
 under the supervision of the busy and important 
 Little Midshipmite. 
 
 " This gave an animation to the first scene that 
 it generally lacks. Practicable shrouds were set, 
 with sailors clambering up and down, and the 
 chorus was skilfully divided, some on the gun 
 deck, and some on the quarter deck, so as to 
 destroy the usual unpleasant stiffness in the 
 grouping. 
 
 " But the really noticeable difference in the 
 interpretation was the orchestration. There was 
 breadth, colour, and tone, together with a har- 
 monious blending with the vocalism which was 
 utterly wanting in what may be called the home- 
 made ' Pinafores.' " 
 
 The authors were called before the curtain and, 
 a speech being demanded, Mr. Gilbert thanked 
 the audience for the cordial reception accorded to 
 their "little work." " It is not," Mr. Gilbert said, 
 " a new work." It had indeed been intimated to
 
 136 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 him that it had been performed here before, and 
 he begged to assure the audience that its present 
 production was not prompted by a desire to 
 challenge comparison with other versions, but 
 because he and Mr. Sullivan thought it would be 
 interesting to the audience to see the author's 
 and composer's idea of how the work should be 
 performed. " It has been our purpose," he 
 added, " to produce something that should be 
 innocent but not imbecile." 
 
 From this point I cannot do better than con- 
 tinue the narrative of the composer's experiences 
 in America in his own words. 
 
 " Of course Gilbert and myself had been kept 
 informed of the unique business which 'Pinafore' 
 was doing in America, and our visit was prompted 
 by the notion that, as the authors of the piece, we 
 ought to profit by it. Meanwhile, we did not 
 trust to the ' Pinafore' opera to do us any mate- 
 rial monetary good in America; we determined 
 to produce our next opera in the States first and 
 in Great Britain afterwards. The Americans 
 acknowledged that the author had a right in his 
 unpublished work in the same way that he could 
 lay claim to his own personal apparel or any other
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 137 
 
 form of property, and only lost his prerogative 
 after it had been published. So all we could do 
 was to follow the course I have indicated and 
 produce our piece in America first and get our 
 own company well under way before others 
 could bring out their imitations. With this object 
 in view we took with us the half-completed opera 
 of the ' Pirates of Penzance.' I had only com- 
 posed the second act, without the orchestration, 
 in England. Soon after my arrival in America 
 I wrote the first, and scored the whole opera. 
 We produced it at the Fifth Avenue Theatre on 
 New Year's Eve — December 31, 1879." 
 
 No such stage management had been witnessed 
 or such music heard on the light opera stage 
 before. The whole piece was a revelation to the 
 theatrical world in America, and its success was 
 immediate and prodigious. 
 
 "Of course, at that time, there was no copyright 
 between the two countries, and so we were com- 
 pelled to retain possession of the whole work in 
 manuscript. To have stolen that from us would 
 have made the thief amenable under the common 
 law, but if we had published it, and had proceeded 
 against any thief who had made use of the opera,
 
 138 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 we should have had to take action against him 
 under the statute law, and should have failed. 
 The moment any portion of the opera appeared in 
 print it was open to any one in the States either 
 to publish, produce, or do what he liked with it. 
 Apart, however, from the absence of interna- 
 tional copyright, the law concerning artistic ques- 
 tions was involved and uncertain, and in a very 
 unsatisfactory state altogether. Keeping the 
 libretto and music in manuscript did not settle 
 the difficulty, as it was held by some judges that 
 theatrical representation was tantamount to 
 publication, so that any member of the audience 
 who managed to take down the libretto in short- 
 hand, for instance, and succeeded in memorising 
 the music was quite at liberty to produce his 
 own version of it. This made matters exciting 
 for us, although the excitement was far from be- 
 ing a pleasant one. We kept a sharp look-out, 
 and if any one in the theatre was observed tak- 
 ing notes or anything of the kind the note-taker 
 was promptly turned out. 
 
 " Yet it very often happened, and many other 
 dodges were practiced. It is impossible to 
 memorise orchestration, and consequently some
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 139 
 
 of the members of my orchestra were bribed to 
 hand over the band parts. Incidents of this sort 
 became of constant occurrence. I remember 
 that I was dining one night with Mr. Sam Barlow, 
 the George Lewis of New York, when my copy- 
 ist came from the theatre to see me, positively 
 livid with excitement. He had made the dis- 
 covery that one of the orchestra had been 
 offered a bribe of one hundred dollars if he 
 would supply the first violin part of the opera." 
 
 Here it may be well to interrupt the narrative 
 for a moment to explain to those unacquainted 
 with such technical matters that the " principal 
 first violin " part is the leader's part, and besides 
 containing the part for the first violin it has the 
 necessary cues to the rest of the orchestration, 
 so that the principal first violinist could conduct 
 from it if it were necessary. 
 
 ** However, notwithstanding the absence of 
 copyright law, we did very well in America, as is 
 evinced by the fact that Stetson offered us;^5ooo 
 down for the right to play the piece for a short 
 time in Boston, an offer which we declined, pre- 
 ferring to send our own company, and taking 
 the risk of making what we could out of it. We
 
 I40 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 sent out a great number of companies on the 
 road to different towns in the States. Some of 
 the tours showed a slight loss, and others a con- 
 siderable profit, and, taking it all round, we did 
 excellently well, more especially when one re- 
 members that our attempt to retain possession 
 of our own property involved us in a guerrilla 
 warfare. On the other hand, before producing 
 anything in America, it was necessary, in order 
 to comply with English copyright law, to have a 
 bogus performance in this country. This was 
 always carried out in some out-of-the-way village, 
 and arranged with great secrecy. 
 
 " Apart from the activity of the piratical peo- 
 ple of those days, I was most hospitably treated 
 everywhere, and I liked the American people 
 immensely. 
 
 " Meanwhile, in England, ' Pinafore ' had been 
 running all the time at the Opera Comique, and 
 when we came back to England in March (1880), 
 we put ' The Pirates of Penzance ' into re- 
 hearsal, and produced it at the Opera Comique. 
 Having had the cream out of America, so to 
 speak, the manuscript of the music and libretto 
 was put into the hands of the printer, and the
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 141 
 
 opera was published. From that moment, of 
 course, the piece was free to be played through- 
 out America. 
 
 " With the subsequent operas, ' Patience,* 
 * lolanthe,' and so on, we tried all sorts of expe- 
 dients to preserve our own rights in our own 
 work. For example, it had been laid down in 
 the Massachusetts circuit — the most important 
 legal circuit in the States — and in accordance 
 with a very unfortunate precedent in the British 
 law of the time, that the pianoforte arrangement 
 of a work should be regarded as a separate copy- 
 right and a separate property. It was a ridicu- 
 lous and an indefensible notion, but, unfortu- 
 nately! it had been so decided in an important 
 case — Boosey v. Cramer, on this side of the 
 water. 
 
 " However, we decided to act on the Ameri- 
 can judgment to which I have referred, and in- 
 duced an American citizen to come over here 
 from the States to make the pianoforte arrange- 
 ments of the score here, and by means of a sort 
 of silly fiction, I allowed him to use the vocal 
 parts of my opera as being part of his pianoforte 
 arrangement of the score. He then copyrighted,
 
 142 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 in his own name, the pianoforte arrangement of 
 my work, and it became his property, with the 
 private understanding that he should subsequent- 
 ly hand it to me for a small monetary considera- 
 tion. This was a very roundabout way of doing 
 business, but we thought that by this means, the 
 pianoforte and vocal parts being legally the 
 property of an American citizen, we should be 
 able to hold on to it." Nevertheless, the copy- 
 right in question was promptly infringed, and 
 when an injunction was sought, the judges in the 
 same circuit (Massachusetts) gave a verdict 
 against us, thus stultifying their own previous 
 decision. It seemed to be their opinion that a 
 free and independent American citizen ought 
 not to be robbed of his right of robbing some- 
 body else. 
 
 " We tried similar expedients with two or three 
 of the subsequent operas, but although the com- 
 panies we sent out had a great vogue in 
 America, the methods adopted for preservation 
 of copyright did not really pay, mainly owing to 
 the trouble and expense of the law-suits in which 
 we became involved in the effort to protect our 
 rights.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 143 
 
 "All we could do, as I have indicated, was to 
 send out our companies before the operas were 
 published, and to refrain from publishing in Great 
 Britain until after the operas had been produced 
 in America. As soon as the work was in print, 
 any action that we might take came under Statute 
 Law, but as long as it remained in manuscript the 
 action came under Common Law, and any one 
 attempting to deprive us of the manuscript was 
 no less amenable to the law than any other thief, 
 who, for example, might try to get hold of one's 
 purse or one's handkerchief. 
 
 "My second visit to the States was made in 
 1885, when I travelled alone, having no other 
 purpose than the settlement of some private 
 family affairs. This was just after ' The Mikado ' 
 had come out in England, and we had the 
 inevitable law-suit in America in regard to it. It 
 was an important case, and our counsel, who 
 fought splendidly for us, is now the American 
 Ambassador in England — Mr. Choate." 
 
 It should not go unrecorded here that in regard 
 to "The Mikado," Mr. D'Oyly Carte carried 
 through a counter-movement against the would- 
 be pirate on the other side of the water. It was
 
 144 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 an effort which must be almost unique in theat- 
 rical history. 
 
 I have had a fairly full account of it given to 
 me from different sources, but I doubt if I can do 
 better than quote the explanation given by an 
 American paper at the time, as the report is 
 sufficiently detailed and absolutely accurate. It 
 is not often that such a romantic element is 
 imported into the business side of theatrical 
 enterprise. 
 
 "The English public," remarked the paper in 
 question, "has heard a good deal about the 
 local warfare which has been waged over ' The 
 Mikado' in America. Some may remember that 
 after the enormous success of the opera in London 
 two American managers entered into treaty with 
 Mr. D'Oyly Carte for the production of the piece in 
 New York. These were Mr. Stetson, of the Fifth 
 Avenue Theatre, and Mr. Duff, of The Standard. 
 Mr. Carte finally closed with Mr. Stetson, and, 
 annoyed by the success of his rival, Mr. Duff 
 resolved to pirate the piece and to play it in New 
 York in advance of Mr. Carte, and, of course, in 
 advance of the author and composer. Then com- 
 menced a campaign between the English and
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 145 
 
 American managers. Mr. Carte had arranged to 
 produce 'The Mikado' at the Fifth Avenue 
 Theatre about the middle of October (1885), but 
 when he ascertained that it was Mr. Duff's inten- 
 tion to forestall him by beginning his unauthorised 
 performance in August Mr. Carte decided to steal 
 a march on his opponent by placing all possible 
 impediments in the way of carrying out his 
 scheme, and by so arranging his own plans that 
 the first performance of ' The Mikado' which the 
 New Yorkers witnessed should be the genuine 
 and authorised one. Mr. Duff had the advantage 
 in commencing hostilities of being on the scene of 
 action in New York, whereas Mr. Carte was well 
 aware that if he made preparations to take his 
 artists over to America the fact would at once be 
 cabled to Mr. Duff in New York, who would then 
 have about ten days' start in bringing out the 
 opera with his own company. It was obvious 
 that the expedition must be organised secretly, 
 and what the difficulties were in the way of such a 
 course any one can imagine who reflects on the 
 number of different persons who have to be taken 
 into confidence before a large opera company can 
 be got together and made ready to start for a
 
 146 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 foreign shore. At this juncture of affairs Mr. 
 Carte discovered that Mr. Duff was attempting to 
 obtain in London Japanese costumes in imitation 
 of those used at the Savoy Theatre, so Mr. 
 Carte immediately proceeded to buy up all the 
 Japanese costumes of any value in London and 
 also in Paris. Several hundred costly costumes 
 were bought up in this way, but they could easily 
 be utilised for the various companies in England, 
 Australia, and America. 
 
 " All the members of the company were re- 
 hearsed under the impression that they were 
 destined to start on a tour in the English prov- 
 inces, but one day Mr. Carte privately requested 
 them to assemble at the Savoy Theatre. Here 
 he addressed them in a body, told them the whole 
 story of Mr. Duff's proposed piracy, and finally 
 told them that it was impossible to rely on the 
 protection of American law in the matter, in the 
 absence of any international Copyright Act; the 
 only practical plan was to get the play, company, 
 costumes, &c., out to New York so secretly that 
 no information of his intentions could reach the 
 city before their arrival. They would have to 
 sail in two days.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 147 
 
 "The company left London on August 7 by 
 midnight train and reached Liverpool in the 
 early morning ! They breakfasted together at a 
 small commercial hotel where none of them were 
 known and were then conveyed by special tug to 
 the Cunard s. s. Aurania. She was to start that 
 afternoon and when the passenger tender was 
 seen approaching all the company retired to their 
 cabins and shut themselves in, so that they might 
 not be seen and recognised by any persons who 
 were coming out to bid farewell to their friends. 
 The berths of the members of the company were 
 all booked under fictitious names, and Mr. Carte 
 was entered on the ship's books as Mr. Henry 
 Chapman. On the arrival of the vessel in New 
 York harbour, Mr. Carte's agent came out to 
 meet it with the pleasing information that nothing 
 was yet known about it in New York. Great 
 was the consternation of Mr. Duff when it became 
 known that the enemy, supposed to be three 
 thousand miles away, was actually in the citadel. 
 The outcome of this strategic movement was a 
 complete defeat for Mr. Duff, as * The Mikado ' 
 company drew all the city to the first night 
 performance, whilst Mr. Duff's company had
 
 148 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 hardly begun their preliminary rehearsals. The 
 success of 'The Mikado,' produced at the Fifth 
 Avenue on August 19, was immediate and 
 triumphant." 
 
 " It was on the occasion of my second visit," 
 Sir Arthur tells me, amused at the recollection, 
 " that I was compelled to slip out of the States 
 to avoid being arrested! Merely to annoy me, 
 and not because there was the slightest excuse 
 for requiring my testimony, a ne exeat order had 
 been issued against me to secure me as a witness. 
 This would have necessitated my remaining in 
 the country for some time. It would have proved 
 exceedingly awkward for me to have remained 
 longer in the States, dawdling about doing 
 nothing. Of course it was their intention to 
 give me this inconvenience. However, as it 
 had been given out that I intended leaving 
 by a certain Cunard steamer which was being 
 watched, I slipped away by a German Lloyd 
 steamer the day before." 
 
 Harking back to the occasion of his first visit 
 to America, Sir Arthur continues: '* I ought to 
 add that, while we were there, the Americans 
 whom we met were exceedingly kind and made
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 149 
 
 a great deal of us personally. While I was there 
 in 1879 I conducted a performance of my 
 oratorio, ' The Prodigal Son,' at Boston, at the 
 invitation of their oldest and best society, the 
 Handel and Haydn Society, the equivalent to 
 our Sacred Harmonic Society over here. 
 
 " At Baltimore they were good enough to ask 
 me to conduct a complimentary concert consist- 
 ing of a selection from my own works, and I re- 
 member that it was in the course of that concert 
 that a cablegram was handed to me offering me 
 the conductorship of the Leeds Festival." 
 
 " Speaking of my own experience of orches- 
 tras in the States, they certainly did very well. I 
 found that in the perso7inel of the orchestras the 
 German element largely preponderated, the 
 balance being almost entirely made up of bands- 
 men who had deserted from the British army. 
 The German element was so strong, however, 
 that I found it necessary at the rehearsals to 
 speak to the orchestra in German. 
 
 " Your question about the standard of excel- 
 lence attained by the orchestras in America re- 
 minds me of the one big game of bluff which I 
 perpetrated. We had been rehearsing ' The Pi-
 
 I50 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 rates,' and it was but two or three days before 
 the performance that the whole band went ' on 
 strike.' They explained that the music was not 
 ordinary operetta music, but more like grand 
 opera. Perhaps it is necessary to explain that their 
 method is to charge according to scale, so much 
 per week for entr'acte music, with an ascending 
 scale for operetta, and so on. Had they made 
 their complaint earlier no doubt matters could 
 have been arranged satisfactorily, but their going 
 ' on strike ' for higher salaries at the very last 
 moment in this way appealed to me as being a 
 very mean thing to do. Under these circum- 
 stances I felt there was nothing for it but to 
 grapple as best I could with the emergency. I 
 called the band together and told them that I 
 was much flattered by the compliment they had 
 paid to my music, but I declined to submit to 
 their demands. I went on to say that the con- 
 certs at Covent Garden which I conducted had 
 just been concluded, and the orchestra there, 
 which was the finest in England, had very little 
 to do before the opera season began, and that I 
 was certain that, on receiving a cable to that ef- 
 fect, they would come over to America to oblige
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 151 
 
 me for little more than their expenses. In the 
 meantime I told them I should go on with the 
 opera, playing the pianoforte myself, with my 
 friend Mr. Alfred Cellier at the harmonium, and 
 that when the Covent Garden orchestra did 
 come, we should have a very much finer band 
 than we could get in New York. 
 
 " Then I went to my friend, the manager of 
 the New York Herald, and asked him to write an 
 article in the shape of an interview with me on 
 the subject, which he did, and I launched out 
 freely with my opinions. The upshot of it all 
 was that the band gave in, and everything went 
 along smoothly. Of course, the idea of getting 
 the Covent Garden band over was hardly less 
 absurd than the ludicrous idea of using the piano- 
 forte and harmonium in a big theatre, but, fortu- 
 nately, public opinion was with me, and my one 
 game of bluff met with entire success. 
 
 " I was much struck with the casual way many 
 matters seemed to be done in the out-of-the-way 
 States. One day, when I had been wandering 
 about in the mountains, I drove up to a place 
 .where there was a little station, and I said to the 
 darky porter, ' When does the next train go to
 
 152 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Sacramento?' Judge of my astonishment when 
 he replied, ' Waal, there is a train that is apt to 
 pass here at about 6.30.' 
 
 " I found America in '79 very much what 
 England probably was sixty years ago. Away 
 from the more intellectual centres one would 
 have described the disposition and attitude of 
 mind of the American people as being 'provin- 
 cial.' I am speaking of America twenty years 
 ago, and of course that nation has made great 
 strides since that time. It was a significant and 
 unpleasant fact that all artists were looked at 
 askance. An artist had no social position at all 
 in New York, and I think this especially applied 
 to the musician. 
 
 " It is hardly worth while mentioning it now, 
 perhaps, as American views on the subject have 
 changed so completely, but as an instance of what 
 I mean, I remember that, on one occasion, hav- 
 ing accepted an invitation to dine one night atone 
 of the best houses in New York, there was one 
 vacant chair. It should have been occupied by a 
 woman who was noted for her good looks and her 
 good social position. I afterwards discovered that 
 her husband had prevailed upon her not to dine
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 153 
 
 with us, as there was a distinguished Professor 
 of Music with us. He thought it was so curious 
 that she should be asked to sit down to the same 
 table with a musician! If I remember rightly, 
 he was a prosperous watchmaker in Broadway. 
 
 "Music in America in '79 was in a very back- 
 ward state in many important respects. When I 
 went over there in '85 a great change had taken 
 place, and everywhere much greater consideration 
 was shown to music — and to musicians."
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE MOST POPULAR OPERA 
 
 (1878-1885) 
 
 ' ' lolanthe " — " Princess Ida " — " Patience " — " The 
 Mikado" — His Mother Dies — Knighthood — "The Golden 
 Legend " — Visits Salt Lake City. 
 
 IN the beginning of 1878 Sullivan was ap- 
 pointed Royal Commissioner for music at 
 the Paris Exhibition. An allusion to this 
 is made in a letter to his mother from Nice, dated 
 January 16: "I got the following telegram last 
 night from Owen, Secretary to the British Com- 
 mission — ' Conference finally settling every ques- 
 tion meets for last time on Saturday. Have been 
 most urgently requested by the French Govern- 
 ment and whole Commission to desire your pres- 
 ence Saturday. Urgently necessary or would 
 not disturb you. Whole of our part of musical 
 arrangements finally compromised by your ab- 
 sence.' To this I replied that I would go, and 
 so I must leave my beautiful sunshine, and lovely 
 flowers, and travel twenty-two hours into the cold 
 
 154
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 155 
 
 again." Four days later writing to another 
 relative he says : " Yesterday was the meeting of 
 the Musical Commission, which lasted two hours 
 and a half. I prepared my proposition and threw 
 a bombshell into their midst — they were staggered , 
 and they called another meeting to-morrow morn- 
 ing to consider the question. I have said that if 
 they didn't agree to my request /, as the repre- 
 sentative of England (!), will withdraw from all 
 further participation in it and am writing to the 
 Prince of Wales now to tell him of the state of 
 affairs. I found these French beggars so awfully 
 selfish and I was glad to have a shot at them, so 
 to-morrow will see the result." 
 
 However, the "beggars" calmed down and 
 everything went smoothly. For his services in 
 connection with the Exhibition he received the 
 order of the Legion d'Honneur. More than this, 
 however, the Directors of the Paris Conservatoire 
 proposed the performance of his " In Memoriam" 
 Overture at one of their concerts. It was the 
 first occasion in the annals of the Conservatoire 
 that the work of an Englishman had formed part 
 of its programme. 
 
 In the April of the following year, 1879, "The
 
 156 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Pirates of Penzance" was produced at the Opera 
 Comique after having run for some time in New 
 York. It held the stage in London for nearly 
 four hundred nights, during which time, having 
 visited America as already recounted, Sullivan 
 wrote a sacred cantata for the Leeds Festival, 
 selecting Milman's poem "The Martyr of An- 
 tioch" for treatment. 
 
 In the following year, 1881, another opera was 
 produced at the Opera Comique, but was then 
 transplanted to the new theatre — the Savoy, which 
 Mr. Carte had been building. Mr. D'Oyly Carte 
 had erected the new theatre solely for the presenta- 
 tion of the Gilbert-Sullivan operas. The active 
 theatre director could fairly claim that the new 
 theatre had been built on a spot possessing many 
 associations of historic interest, being close to 
 the Savoy Chapel, and in the precincts of the 
 Savoy, where stood formerly the Savoy Palace, 
 once inhabited by John of Gaunt and the Dukes 
 of Lancaster, and made memorable by the wars of 
 the Roses. On the old Savoy manor there was 
 at one time a theatre, and so the ancient name 
 was used as an appropriate title for the new build- 
 ing. The seating capacity of the Savoy is 1,292
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 157 
 
 persons, and its inauguration was of the greater 
 interest in that it was the first time that the 
 attempt had been made to light any building 
 entirely by electricity. Nor in the manner of 
 decoration had Mr. Carte shown any lack of the 
 progressivenessso characteristic of him. Instead 
 of paintings of cherubim, muses, angels, and 
 mythological deities, the ornament consists en- 
 tirely of delicate plaster modelling designed in the 
 manner of the Italian Renaissance. The main 
 colour tones are white, yellow, and gold — gold 
 used only for backgrounds or for large masses, 
 and not following what may be called for want 
 of a worse name the gingerbread school of 
 decorative art, in the guilding of relief work, or 
 modelling. I believe this was also one of the 
 first theatres which absolutely abolished the 
 absurd and irritating system of fees and gratui- 
 ties. The Savoy was opened on Monday, 
 October 10, 1881, with the transplanted "Patience" 
 at its first-night production. Sir Arthur con- 
 ducted on that occasion, and at midnight changed 
 his clothes, went down to Norwich by midnight 
 train, and conducted the rehearsal of the Festival 
 at Norwich at ten o'clock in the morning, very
 
 158 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 much to the surprise of everyone, who had been 
 reading the accounts in the morning papers of the 
 opening night at the Savoy. 
 
 In 1882 there is a gap in his correspondence, 
 for in that year, on May 27, aged seventy-one, 
 his mother died. It would be purposeless and 
 painful to dwell even for a moment upon what 
 this grievous loss meant to him. His father had 
 died at the very beginning of Arthur's career, but 
 the mother had lived to see her son become the 
 most successful, and in every way — personally as 
 well as in regard to his work — the most popular 
 composer of this country. Although the intimate 
 and affectionate intercourse which had always 
 existed between them made the loss so severe for 
 him, it was a sorrow with no bitterness in it, and 
 one which time would assuage. Success had 
 never in the least degree abated his love for 
 home, and his mother's fifteen years of widow- 
 hood had brought mother and son all the closer 
 together. 
 
 Under the circumstances it is not surprising 
 that at that time nothing of first-rate importance 
 appeared from his pen. " lolanthe " (1882) and 
 "Princess Ida" (1884) are amongst the least
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 159 
 
 appreciated of the operas.^ If, however, the 
 public conceive that this falling-off implied that 
 the distinguished collaborateurs had come to the 
 end of their resources, the production of " The 
 Mikado" in 1885 provided a very strong re- 
 assurance on the point. 
 
 Meanwhile, in 1883, he had been knighted. It 
 is often argued nowadays that the honour of 
 knighthood is an empty one, because it is given 
 to the wealthy tradesman as well as to the man 
 who would be no less distinguished without it. 
 Yet one may suggest that in matters of this kind 
 
 1 1882, it may be remarked, is the darkest year of Sullivan's 
 history. On the very evening that he was to conduct the first- 
 night performance of " lolanthe, " information reached him that 
 all the savings of a lifetime had disappeared in the bankruptcy 
 of Cooper, Hall & Co. , with whom all his securities and so forth 
 had been deposited. Nothing now remained of his fortune save 
 the few hundred pounds which he happened to have at his bank 
 at that moment. The popularity of all his work is well known. 
 The operas preceding this unfortunate year had alone been the 
 source of a big income, and he had never been an extravagant 
 man. In a moment the result of the work of a lifetime and of 
 continual economy had been swept away. Financially he was 
 now little better off than at the time when he was a student at 
 Leipzig. From the purely monetary' point of view he had to make 
 a beginning once again. At the zenith of his career the outcome 
 of twenty-five years' success disappears as if at the behest of an 
 evil magician. It is a dark day, which leaves him poor indeed. 
 In the evening he conducts the first-night performance of 
 "lolanthe."
 
 i6o SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 everything depends upon the services for which 
 this honour is given and the manner of the man 
 to whom it is given, and who, in so many cases, 
 gives an added dignity to the title. So long as 
 we are able to appreciate distinguished services 
 of any kind, on the field of battle or in civil life, 
 in the ranks of statesmanship or diplomacy, or 
 on the part of the musician, the artist, the 
 litterateur or the historian, it is only natural that 
 as a nation we should seek some way in which to 
 express our approval, and if the man is proud of 
 his order, or ribbon, or title, we can honour him 
 for the pride which he takes in it, and for his 
 enhancement of this mark of his country's 
 regard. 
 
 " lolanthe " had been received with no less 
 enthusiasm than its predecessors, and the fact 
 that any music at all could be applied to the 
 words of certain songs found in the libretto had 
 been a matter of surpise to those who, even by 
 this time, had scarcely become acquainted with 
 the composer's unique rhythmic facility. From 
 the musical point of view " lolanthe " is memor- 
 able for the charming duet, " None Shall Part 
 Us," and for the delightful ballad, " In Baby-


 
 HIS LIFE STORY i6i 
 
 hood." The "early English" element which 
 Sullivan had so frequently and so happily intro- 
 duced into some of the operas is exemplified in 
 " lolanthe " by the song of the centurion in the 
 second act. Equally fine is the florid cadenza 
 sung by the same gallant soldier later on in the 
 piece. There is also the " Patter Song " for the 
 Lord Chancellor, in which, as in all work of a 
 similar character, Sir Arthur Sullivan has shown 
 himself quite incomparable. As a writer said at 
 the time: " Mr. Sullivan might have been con- 
 tent with mere chords of accompaniment, since 
 the audience in such cases listens only to the 
 words, but the orchestral part is one of singular 
 elaboration, beauty, and effect. We know noth- 
 ing better of its kind." " It has all the delicacy 
 of touch and felicitous fancy of Mendelssohn 
 when dealing with kindred themes." 
 
 Personally I am disposed to quarrel with the 
 frequently expressed view that Sullivan's music 
 should be allied to more " serious" subjects. To 
 quote one critic : " Abounding in charm of melody, 
 piquancy of rhythm, and instances of tender 
 grace and sentiment, his music ' is worthy of 
 more serious association.' " These remarks
 
 i62 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 are of course made by the way of compliment, 
 and, so far, well and good, but it has often oc- 
 curred to me that in these well-meaning refer- 
 ences the people who make them are assum- 
 ing too readily that what is called serious 
 work, as such, is important. Nor is there any 
 reason for suggesting that there is anything par- 
 ticularly precious about any form of art because 
 it appeals to the few. On the contrary, if a 
 work of art, be it book, music, or picture, is such 
 that it can never be popular, its unpopularity is 
 no more than an indication of its limitations. 
 The ballads of a nation better indicate its condi- 
 tion and tendency than its laws. Moreover, 
 there is not much temptation to write so-called 
 serious work in this country, and if there were, 
 there is no reason why any composer should 
 succumb to it — at all events, to the extent of 
 ignoring the lighter vein. Fortunately, even in 
 this country, we are not always serious, and it 
 must be added that there is no public which wel- 
 comes good humour so readily. Indeed, not- 
 withstanding the pretentious declarations of 
 some of the professional critics, whose business 
 in life is to advise every artist to do something
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 163 
 
 other than that which he wishes and the public 
 desires him to do, most of us are fully con- 
 scious that we owe a great debt of gratitude to 
 the man who materially aids us in that laughter- 
 loving spirit which is the best remedy or conso- 
 lation for the heart-ache and a thousand ills 
 which flesh is heir to. In more than one instance 
 I have observed the tendency to tackle big 
 schemes and adopt serious subjects, as a means 
 of justifying purely academic treatment and 
 feeble workmanship, while it is left to the man 
 of genius to deal with the lighter and more 
 familiar aspects of life, and to illumine his sub- 
 jects by the splendour of his own treatment. 
 The point of view, however, to which I have al- 
 luded finds expression in the quotation which I 
 shall make from the Musical Review of sixteen 
 years ago, and although the reference in this case 
 is not uncomplimentary, it is amusing to note 
 that the suggestion that he has " descended " to 
 opera, and should return to so-called serious 
 work, is based on the fact that he has been the 
 recipient of a knighthood! "To use a slightly 
 stale expression, Noblesse oblige^ some things that 
 Mr. Arthur Sullivan may do, Sir Arthur Sullivan
 
 i64 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 ought not to do. In other words, it will look 
 rather more than odd to see announced in the 
 papers that a new comic opera is in preparation, 
 the book by Mr. W. S. Gilbert and the music by 
 Sir Arthur Sullivan. A musical knight can hardly 
 write shop ballads either; he must not dare to 
 soil his hands with anything less than an anthem 
 or a madrigal; oratorio, in which he has so con- 
 spicuously shone, and symphony, must now be 
 his line. Here is not only an opportunity, but a 
 positive obligation for him to return to the 
 sphere from which he has too long descended. 
 Again we would beg him to remember that he 
 alone of all his brother knights possesses youth 
 and strength, and, therefore, it is to him that we 
 look to wield the knightly sword — to do battle 
 for the honour of English art. Let him, with all 
 his native activity and energy, with that scorn of 
 the dolce farniente which characterises him, stand 
 forth as our champion and leader against all 
 foreign rivals, and arouse us thoroughly from 
 our present half-torpid condition. Let our mu- 
 sical daze be broken by our musical knight, and 
 that night prove the forerunner of brighter 
 days."
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 165 
 
 The musical renaissance of Great Britain is part 
 of the history of the last thirty years. It must be 
 left to posterity to give it definition. How truly 
 that renaissance has been due to the genius of 
 Sullivan, and the fact that he has been able to 
 write, so to speak, coram popzdo, will be determin- 
 able when the historian is able to analyse im- 
 partially the work and influence of the men of this 
 generation, at a time when our present petty 
 jealousies and differences of opinion will have 
 been relegated to oblivion. 
 
 On March 14, 1885, was produced the most 
 popular of the Gilbert-Sullivan operas, " The 
 Mikado." It was a triumph on the part of the 
 librettist and of the musician. While Sir Arthur 
 claims " The Yeoman of the Guard " as the best 
 of the operas from the musical point of view, 
 "The Mikado" is probably the most popular of 
 them all. Although it may be said that Gilbert 
 has never written a better libretto, in which regard 
 " The Mikado " is a powerful contrast to its im- 
 mediate predecessor, " Princess Ida " (1884), which 
 I imagine to be the least effective of the operas, 
 certainly neither librettist nor musician has ever 
 been more captivating than in this delightful
 
 i66 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 travesty of Japan. To name the choice things 
 in the opera would be to mention everything in 
 it. Such songs as "A Wandering Minstrel I," 
 "The Sun Whose Rays," "Three Little Maids 
 from School are We," will never lose their 
 vitality. 
 
 Meanwhile, Sullivan had accepted the con- 
 ductorship of the Philharmonic Society, and in 
 the January of '86 we find him taking the chair 
 at the annual dinner of the members of the Bir- 
 mingham Clef Club, of which he was President. 
 It was in the speech which he then made that he 
 let loose upon the world a little anecdote which 
 has travelled so far, and been so bruited about, 
 that I should hesitate to use it again were it not for 
 the pleasure of rendering it accurately: " Well, I 
 have travelled far and seen considerable," he said 
 in allusion to a reference he had already made, 
 " and some of my experiences have been very 
 curious. Amongst them was one I will relate to 
 you if you will permit me, in which arose a most 
 curious case of mistaken identity, more or less 
 gratifying to me as a musician. I was travelling 
 on a stage in rather a wild part of California and 
 arrived at a mining camp, where we had to get
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 167 
 
 down for refreshments. As we drove up, the 
 driver said, ' They are expecting you here, 
 Mr. Sullivan.' I was much pleased, and when 
 I reached the place I came across a knot of 
 prominent citizens at the whisky store. The 
 foremost of them came up to a big burly man 
 by my side and said, 'Are you Mr. Sullivan?' 
 The man said, * No ! ' and pointed to me. The 
 citizen looked at me rather contemptuously, and 
 after a while said, ' Why, how much do you 
 weigh?' I thought this was a curious method 
 of testing the power of a composer, but I at once 
 answered, ' About one hundred and sixty-two 
 pounds. ' ' Well,' said the man, ' that's odd to 
 me, anyhow. Do you mean to say that you gave 
 fits to John S. Blackmore down in Kansas City?' 
 I said, ' No, I did not give him fits.' He then 
 said, ' Well, vv^ho are you ? ' I replied, ' My name 
 is Sullivan.' 'Ain't you John L. Sullivan, the 
 slogger ? ' I disclaimed all title to that and told 
 him I was Arthur Sullivan. ' Oh, Arthur Sulli- 
 van ! ' he said. ' Are you the man as put " Pina- 
 fore " together ? ' — rather a gratifying way of de- 
 scribing my composition. I said 'Yes.' 'Well,' 
 returned the citizen, ' I am sorry you ain't John
 
 i68 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Sullivan, but still I am glad to see you anyway — 
 let's have a drink.' " 
 
 It was in '86 that the bold experiment was 
 made of producing the " Mikado" in Berlin. It 
 was performed by one of the English companies 
 which had been on tour in America. It was an 
 experiment which was fully justified. The semi- 
 official North German Gazette wrote : "At the 
 very outset we were surprised by the pretty 
 scenery and the truly blinding splendour of the 
 dresses, as well as by the easy grace of all who 
 took part in the play. Not only are the solo 
 singers excellent performers, but the inferior 
 members of the choir do their work artistically. 
 We are conscious of entertaining a very pro- 
 nounced predilection for all our home products, 
 but we scruple not to confess that, as a perform- 
 ance, 'The Mikado' surpasses all our operettas. 
 And were it not for the fact that the English 
 dialogue, after all, must remain unintelligible to the 
 bulk of the audience, and thus hamper their ap- 
 preciation of the piece, their delight in the treat 
 which is offered them would be greater still. The 
 music is effective all through, and even comprises 
 some delicate masterpieces."
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 169 
 
 One of Sullivan's finest and most memorable 
 works, " The Golden Legend," was produced at 
 the Leeds Festival, October 16, '86. The effect 
 of the work upon the feelings of the audience 
 was immediate and tremendous, from the time 
 of the splendidly descriptive introductory num- 
 ber, in which the roaring of the tempest, the 
 clang of the cathedral bells, the defiant shouts 
 of the demon, and the answering voices of the 
 spirits of the air are blended with such striking 
 effect, to the no less magnificent chorus which 
 closes the work. Then the pent-up enthusiasm 
 of the vast assemblage burst forth like a torrent. 
 Cheer followed cheer, and the whole audience 
 upstanding, handkerchiefs, books, or anything 
 else that was near at hand were waved aloft, and 
 the overpowered composer-conductor was sub- 
 jected to a bombardment of flowers which the 
 vocalists and ladies of the chorus showered upon 
 him. 
 
 In an article written by the musical critic of 
 The World, October 20, 1886, wherein the mu- 
 sical productions of the preceding week — princi- 
 pally the various new compositions performed at 
 the Leeds Festival — are dealt with in a manner
 
 I70 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 anything but enthusiastic, there is a reference to 
 " The Golden Legend " which I cannot forbear 
 quoting, including one or two somewhat tech- 
 nical allusions, which are, however, extremely 
 interesting. 
 
 " ' The Golden Legend,' about which I said a 
 few words last week, is, not only as the com- 
 poser, but as everybody who has heard it thinks, 
 one of the best works of Sullivan, and one of the 
 greatest creations we have had for many years. 
 Original, bold, inspiring, grand in conception, in 
 execution, in treatment, it is a composition 
 which will make an ' epoch ' and which will carry 
 the name of its composer higher on the wings of 
 fame and glory. The effect it produced at 
 rehearsal was enormous. The effect of the pub- 
 lic performance was unprecedented. I have 
 never to my remembrance found such unanimity 
 of opinion among the public, musicians, and the 
 press. The remark which was made a week 
 ago in a certain journal, that nobody can write a 
 cantata and an opera in six months is entirely 
 disproved by Sullivan, who, in that space of 
 time, wrote this great work and an opera which 
 in ten days may be rehearsed. From the begin-
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 171 
 
 ning with a chord of the seventh/ in itself an 
 innovation, although not quite without prece- 
 dent, to the last note, it is an immense work in its 
 entirety and in its details, its creative power, and 
 its learning. It will go all over the Continent 
 and carry England's flag high, in that very 
 quality which so long and so unjustly has been 
 denied It, in music. The charm and the majesty 
 of the chorus, and the pure style of the unaccom- 
 panied choruses, sung with unexampled purity 
 to the end without flinching, would alone suffice 
 to make Sullivan the Mozart of England." 
 
 The unanimity of the critics concerning the 
 cantata was indeed surprising, but I have only 
 space for one more quotation — from the Musical 
 World, October 23, 1886. 
 
 " Sir Arthur Sullivan in ' The Golden Legend ' 
 has surpassed the expectations of his most 
 ardent admirers, and his success has pleased 
 
 1 In sacred music, beginning with a seventh is, of course, 
 without precedent, for the obvious reason of unprepared disson- 
 ance. In secular music I know only of a concerto by Moscheles 
 which begins so, and the overture to "Masaniello," which begins 
 with a diminished seventh. Playing the first notes on bells is 
 done in V. Masse's overture to his " Les Noces de Jeannette," 
 which begins with the merry wedding bells G E F, 
 G E F.
 
 172 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 them, if possible, even more than himself. That 
 success has indeed relieved them from a some- 
 what awkward position. It was difficult for 
 them to claim a place in the foremost ranks of 
 the English school for the author of ' The Pirates 
 of Penzance,' or even 'The Martyr of Antioch,' 
 but the case of the author of ' The Golden 
 Legend ' rests on a very different basis." 
 
 In the July of 1885 he was at Los Angeles, 
 California, where he had been to assist in straight- 
 ening out some affairs which effected his young 
 nephews; and writing home to his secretary 
 (the late Mr. Smythe), he says: "At Salt Lake 
 City I sent for X., who was proud and delighted 
 to be my friend and guide. He took me about 
 everywhere and showed me the whole Mormon 
 organisation, their houses, families, &c. In the 
 evening we went out to bathe in the Lake — 
 about eighteen miles from the City — with hun- 
 dreds of other citizens. The water is so full of 
 salt and so bouyant, that you can hardly swim in 
 it — your legs are always out of water. The next 
 day (Sunday) I went to the Mormon Tabernacle 
 to service. The hymn tune was my arrange- 
 ment of St. Anne's tune! They had a very fine
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 173 
 
 organ, and I played upon it for an hour on Satur- 
 day. ... I saw all I could of San Francisco, in- 
 cluding the celebrated quarter — Chinatown, and 
 should have enjoyed my stay there very much 
 but for the ceaseless and persistent manner in 
 which I was interviewed, called upon, followed, 
 and written to. From eight in the morning till 
 midnight I was never allowed to be alone. If I 
 happened to be in the hotel I couldn't say I 
 wasn't in; they would come right into the room, 
 or hang about outside until I made my appear- 
 ance; so on Friday I packed up my traps and 
 left, started at 3.30, and arrived here on Satur- 
 day at 1.30 . . . and there I stuck with this let- 
 ter .... the people are quieter now, but at first 
 their attention was oppressing. Morning, noon, 
 and night they would call and ask me what I 
 thought of their state — a sort of welcome to 
 California."
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 SIR ARTHUR'S FAVOURITE OPERA 
 (1886-1889) 
 
 " Ruddigore " — "Yeoman of the Guard" — Emperor and 
 Empress of Germany — "The Gondoliers" 
 
 IT would seem as if the better and weaker of 
 the operas were destined to alternate. 
 "Princess Ida" preceded "The Mikado." 
 which is followed by " Ruddigore," which then 
 gives place to that delightful work, " The Yeoman 
 of the Guard." 
 
 In " Ruddigore " we have the librettist at some- 
 thing less than his best. Even the title can 
 scarcely be considered a good example of Gil- 
 bertian felicity, and the subjects satirised had 
 become, at the time of the production of " Ruddi- 
 gore," somewhat old-fashioned and out of date. 
 As so often happens, many less important matters 
 went with the stream. The stage setting lacked 
 something in ingenuity. Incidentally it was a pity 
 that in what should have been an impressive scene 
 
 174
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 175 
 
 where the ancestors step out of their pictures, the 
 portraits in question were simply drawn up from 
 the resting-places, and on the first night two of 
 them fell down on the stage. There is some 
 delightful music throughout the piece, but one has 
 to look for it more in such concerted numbers as 
 that which furnishes the music to the midnight 
 scene to which I have already alluded, as but 
 few songs in the piece have caught the ear of the 
 public. 
 
 There was much divergent criticism, but it was 
 left to the critic of the Sporting Times (January 
 29, 1887), in a long review of about equal parts 
 of good nature and querulousness, to indite a 
 paragraph which was curiously prophetic. " I 
 scarcely dare venture on a moral, and even the 
 conclusion that I have formed in my own mind 
 probably will not be justified by events, for good- 
 ness only knows what space of time m.ight be 
 occupied with advantage by revivals of the earlier 
 Gilbert-Sullivan operas. For something like ten 
 long years the public has been supplied by Sir 
 Arthur Sullivan and Mr. Gilbert with dramatic 
 farce that has differed in degree rather than in 
 sort. It is, therefore, just possible that the pub-
 
 176 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 lie taste has become vitiated ; the delicacies of 
 Mr. Gilbert's humour, however, are perhaps not 
 quite so nicely appreciated as heretofore, and 
 public appetite may be satiated with surplusage 
 of dainties, and the public constitution may re- 
 quire a pick-me-up. A real comic opera, dealing 
 with neither topsy-turveydom nor fairies, but a 
 genuine dramatic story, written with all Mr. W. 
 S. Gilbert's masterly power, and set to such 
 music as Sir Arthur Sullivan alone can compose, 
 would be a greater novelty and a more splendid 
 success than anything we are at all likely to see 
 during the present dramatic season." 
 
 It cannot often happen that the critic so surely 
 strikes the note of truth, for the " genuine dra- 
 matic story, written with all Mr. W. S. Gilbert's 
 masterly power and set to such music as Sir 
 Arthur Sullivan alone can compose," may fairly 
 be taken, I think, as an absolutely accurate, 
 although prophetic, description of " The Yeoman 
 of the Guard," which was produced in the follow- 
 ing year, 1888. 
 
 Here we have the genuine dramatic story of 
 such a nature and of such a musical setting that 
 I doubt if it can ever be surpassed in its own line.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 177 
 
 It has all the charm of sincerity, whilst there is 
 no lack of the quaint conceits and polished lyrics 
 which mark the master hand of our King of 
 Librettists. Here also Sullivan has fair scope 
 for his musical genius. Through the whole of 
 the piece there is nothing which is not of his 
 best. To mention the ballad of the Jester, " I 
 have a song to sing — O," Fairfax's song, ** Is life 
 a boon," and the ballad for Phebe, "Were I thy 
 bride," and the song, " When our gallant Norman 
 foes," with its refrain, " The screw may twist and 
 the rack may turn," is to recall work which is 
 not less masterly than fascinating. Sir Arthur 
 himself believes the "Yeoman of the Guard" to 
 be the best of the operas he has written. 
 
 " The Golden Legend " was performed at 
 the Royal Opera House in Berlin on March 27, 
 1887. This particular performance was un- 
 fortunate. In fact, the rendering was feeble 
 throughout. 
 
 Sir Arthur having been asked to conduct, the 
 house was crammed, and the Crown Prince, 
 Crown Princess, and the whole Royal Family, as 
 well as the Prince and Princess Christian, were 
 amongst the audience. The performers were
 
 178 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 not equal to the task, and the best points of the 
 work could not be emphasised. Every one sym- 
 pathised with the composer. Worst of all the 
 heroine — a German vocalist of some repute — 
 seemed to have lost her voice for the occasion, 
 and all that remained for Sir Arthur's apprecia- 
 tion was the kindness of the audience on that 
 occasion. It was decided to give another per- 
 formance, and Sir Arthur was fortunate enough 
 to secure the services of Madame Albani for 
 the principal part. This second production, 
 which took place on the following Saturday, 
 April 3, was of so different a character that it 
 resulted in a complete reversal of opinion on the 
 part of the critics in Germany. Madame Albani 
 sang superbly, and created a furore in the 
 "Christe Eleison." She was enthusiastically 
 encored, and Sir Arthur Sullivan received an 
 absolute ovation at the conclusion of the per- 
 formance. An encore in works of this kind is 
 without precedent in that country. 
 
 I may here give my notes of a conversation 
 which I had with Sir Arthur on the subject, and 
 it will be noted that his account of the matter 
 includes his recollection of the Crown Prince and
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 179 
 
 Princess (now Empress Frederick) and their 
 kindness to him. 
 
 " In April 1887 I went to superintend and con- 
 duct the performance of ' The Golden Legend ' in 
 Germany. Owing to various unfortunate circum- 
 stances the first performance was an execrable 
 one. They have no well organised choral socie- 
 ties in Berlin, such as exist in great numbers in 
 London. The solo singers were moderate, and 
 the principal soprano was a light soubrette from 
 the opera ! She was, of course, utterly unfitted 
 to sing the music in question, and for some cause 
 or other she could not manage to sing one note 
 properly at the actual performance. One might 
 have imagined her to be a bad amateur trying to 
 read the music at sight. 
 
 "The performance took place at the Royal 
 Opera House, where there was a very small and 
 racketty old organ, which was also unfortunate, 
 as the organ plays a very important part in 'The 
 Golden Legend.' I could get no bells for the 
 prologue, and through the personal efforts of the 
 Crown Princess we secured some large Chinese 
 gongs to try and represent the bells. Altogether 
 the performance was lamentable. However, I
 
 i8o SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 determined not to be overcome in this way if I 
 could help it, and as Madame Albani was in 
 Holland at that time I telegraphed to her to 
 know if she could sing the work if I gave another 
 performance on the following Saturday. She 
 very kindly replied in the affirmative, and in spite 
 of the drawbacks that I have mentioned Madame 
 Albani sang the music so splendidly that the 
 entire work created quite a different impression. 
 " Both the Crown Prince and the Crown Prin- 
 cess were very good, and extremely kind and 
 sympathetic under the load of misfortune which 
 I had to contend with, and they were most help- 
 ful in every possible way. Although I was living 
 at an hotel they made me look upon their palace 
 as my home. I constantly spent the whole day 
 there, and it was then that I noted the first 
 symptoms of his terrible illness. One day I 
 drove out with them to the races at Charlotten- 
 burg. There was a cold wind blowing, and when 
 the Crown Prince was standing outside the Royal 
 Pavilion the Princess entreated him to go inside, 
 and then it was that I noticed the curious harsh- 
 ness in his voice which indicated the approaching 
 fatality.
 
 ARTHUR SULLIV^X 
 
 AETAT. 44.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY i8i 
 
 " I have never met a man of greater charm of 
 manner. He gave me the notion of great 
 strength and extraordinary gentleness. His fund 
 of general information was both sound and recon- 
 dite, and he always had something interesting to 
 say, whether the conversation turned upon art, 
 literature, science, or politics. The Empress was 
 one of the most captivating women imaginable, 
 and of rare ability. If she had been compelled 
 to earn her own living she would have made her 
 mark, and been successful to a degree in almost 
 any professional vocation." 
 
 It was on October 19, 1888, that, as President 
 of the Birmingham and Midland Institute, Sir 
 Arthur Sullivan distributed the prizes to the stu- 
 dents in the Town Hall, Birmingham, and 
 delivered an address on music which I have 
 ventured to put on more permanent record by 
 reprinting it in a supplementary chapter. 
 
 Amongst Sir Arthur Sullivan's productions this 
 year was the incidental music to "Macbeth," 
 written for the Lyceum and produced by Sir 
 (then Mr.) Henry Irving, December 29, 1888. 
 
 "The Gondoliers ; or. The King of Barataria," 
 produced at the Savoy on December 7, 1889, was
 
 i82 -SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 destined to prove one of the most popular of the 
 operas, the Hbrettist and the musician being at 
 their best, whilst the setting of the piece resem- 
 bles "The Mikado" and *' The Yeoman of the 
 Guard," in the brilliancy of its colour and its gen- 
 eral effectiveness. Once more we are delighted 
 with Sullivan's musical wit, with an orchestration 
 of rare musicianly skill, individualised in this 
 instance by many delightful passages for the oboe 
 which is frequently and very happily employed 
 through the opera, whilst among the many beau- 
 tiful songs one may at least venture to claim per- 
 manence for that enchanting ditty, *' Take a pair 
 of sparkling eyes." As compared to " The Yeo- 
 man of the Guard," the " Gondoliers" is rollick- 
 ing comedy as against melodrama. In regard to 
 the personnel of this first performance it should 
 be mentioned that the part of the heroine was 
 played by Miss Decima Moore, this being, at the 
 age of eighteen, her first appearance on the stage 
 Miss Geraldine Ulmar was the prima-donna. In 
 this piece Rutland Harrington returned to his 
 work at the Savoy. Mr. George Grossmith had 
 seceded from the Savoy and Mr. W. H. Denney 
 and Mr. Frank Wyatt were the new arrivals. Of
 
 22 BARKSTON CaROENS. 
 
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 HIS LIFE STORY * 183 
 
 course the librettist had the personality of the 
 cast in his mind when writing the opera, so that 
 the gap in the ranks caused by the absence of so 
 accomplished a comedian as George Grossmith 
 was scarcely noticeable. As "The Gondoliers" 
 contained no part which would have particularly 
 suited him, invidious comparisons were avoided, 
 and, as all play-goers know, the opera was a 
 tremendous success. 
 
 The musical critic of the Telegraph wrote 
 very much to the point when he said : " The 
 ' Gondoliers ' conveys an impression of having 
 been written con amove. It is as spontaneous as 
 the light-hearted laughter of the sunny south and 
 as luminous as an Italian summer sky. On it 
 flows, adapting itself to every change of circum- 
 stance and sentiment, not less easily than a 
 streamlet conforms to the channel in which it 
 runs. And one can as clearly see to the bottom 
 as distinguish the bed of a mountain burn. It 
 gives us an exuberance of pure tune, never dis- 
 guised, but always, whether sentimental, joyous, 
 or humourous — there is no less humour in the 
 music than in the words — frank, openhearted and 
 free. Connoisseurs of the divine art may listen
 
 i84 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 to it with half-contemptuous toleration, but let 
 none of them carry away the idea that such songs 
 and concerted pieces are easily written because 
 of their transparent simplicity, stories of Ros- 
 sini's fluency to the contrary notwithstanding. It 
 is much less difhcult to compose music that 
 nobody understands — many people do it — than 
 to give forth strains on which no shadow of 
 doubt ever falls. Equally true is it that for a 
 work like ' The Gondoliers,' the mere melodist — 
 of first importance though he be — does not suffice. 
 The trained and expert musician is hardly less 
 necessary for effects that colour the rhythmic 
 outline, and surround it with the embellishments 
 
 of an artistic fancy The happiest devices 
 
 of rhythm, the subtlest shades of inflection, and 
 the choicest effects of colour are lavished on the 
 score with unerring judgment, the result being 
 that the music fits into every fold and crease of 
 the subject. Let no one suppose, then, that, 
 while the general public is delighted, the musi- 
 cian can find nothing for his own special admira- 
 tion. No greater mistake is possible. He has 
 only to follow the orchestration in order to secure 
 an evening's enjoyment of the kind he loves. We
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 185 
 
 have spoken of humour in the music. As to this 
 there is abundance, variously displayed, and 
 often with the quickness and subtlety of an 
 inspiration. Humour, we need not point out, 
 is to a composer an extremely valuable gift, and 
 nearly all the greatest masters had it. With 
 Haydn it overflowed, some of Mozart's pages 
 are a laugh, and even the sombre Beethoven 
 sometimes greets us, on paper, with abroad grin. 
 If valuable in general, it is absolutely essential 
 to a composer of comic opera. Sir Arthur Sulli- 
 van has it in a peculiarly delicate and insinuating 
 form, to which page after page in ' The Gondo- 
 liers ' bears convincing evidence. Leaving the 
 discussion of ingredients in the general effect, let 
 us indicate the all-pervading character of bright- 
 ness and unaffected delight. In the Venetian act 
 the exuberant life of the sunny land finds expres- 
 sion with Rossinian fulness and abandon, while in 
 the more delicate comedy scenes, our English 
 Auber could not be more piquant and charming 
 were he the famous Frenchman himself. By 
 way of exemplifying these remarks, we might go 
 through the numbers of the opera one by one, 
 but such a list may well be spared now that we
 
 i86 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 have indicated features which, as everybody will 
 witness the opera, everybody will identify on his 
 own account." 
 
 The imitation of the old Italian opera of the 
 type of the end of the last century and the begin- 
 ning of the present, many of the peculiarities of 
 which are to be seen in the early operas of Ros- 
 sini, and in those of his predecessors, Jomelli, 
 Martini, Paesiello, Sarti, Salieri, and others of the 
 minor school of later Italian art, forms a subtlety 
 of musical humour which the musician can 
 thoroughly appreciate, and even those unac- 
 quainted with musical history can heartily enjoy. 
 Not alone in the reproduction of the peculiarities 
 of Italian music, operatic or popular, is the skill 
 of the composer exhibited. Of music of a more 
 modern character there is abundance — songs 
 both serious and humorous, such as " When a 
 merry maiden marries," and " Thy wintry scorn 
 I nearly prize," in imitation of the Molloy and 
 popular ballad vein, some that are purely Sulli- 
 vanesque, patter songs of the model suggested in 
 " Pinafore," songs preceded by the time-hon- 
 oured "Chaunt," as it was called, which graced 
 such ditties as the "Fine old English gentleman,"
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 187 
 
 or the *' Conversation between the Monument 
 and St. Paul's," popular half a century ago, all of 
 which, however, are bright and lively, and 
 adorned with the skill that a perfect knowledge 
 of instrumental resources can bring. The quartett 
 "A right down royal Queen" is a marvellous 
 piece of merry music, and the other quartett, 
 " In contemplative fashion," where all the charac- 
 ters sing a quiet strain, relieved by outbursts of 
 alternate comment, and working to a strong 
 crescendo, followed by a calm return to the first 
 manner, although not altogether novel in design 
 — as witness Haydn's trio "Maiden Fair" — is 
 most original in treatment, and made an immense 
 hit. 
 
 "The Golden Legend," than which no musical 
 work has been more enthusiastically received in 
 this country, was the subject of a special " com- 
 mand" performance at the Albert Hall on May 8, 
 '88. In the August of that year it was one of the 
 items in the Birmingham Festival, the directors 
 of which thus took a leaf from the book of their 
 rivals at Leeds. 
 
 The letters which Sir Arthur wrote home 
 during this period — from '86 to '89 inclusive —
 
 i88 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 were addressed to his secretary, the late Mr. 
 Smythe, and it is only to be expected that they 
 are less frequent than when he wrote home to his 
 mother; but amongst the points alluded to in them 
 there is one which, from my point of view as a 
 biographer, I think may very well be alluded to 
 here. Some paragraphs had appeared in the least 
 scrupulous part of the press which would have led 
 any one entirely unacquainted with the tempera- 
 ment and disposition of the composer to imagine 
 that he was a hardened gambler. Such paragraphs 
 scarcely call for contradiction, and the only protest 
 which Sir Arthur made about them is contained 
 in these private letters; and if I take up the ques- 
 tion now it is simply because a biographical work 
 is of even less value than it otherwise may be if 
 false statements are not corrected. In every detail 
 one is naturally anxious to correct false impres- 
 sions. It is the sole virtue of some people to try 
 and find faults in others. The rule is simple. If 
 you cannot discover the fault, invent it, and 
 plume yourself upon your good nature and your 
 accuracy. 
 
 February i8, 1888 (Monte Carlo), in response 
 apparently to Smythe's inquiry. — "Alas! I have
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 189 
 
 not ' broken the bank ' here. They have had 
 sHghtly the better of me as yet, but as I don't 
 play much or high, they won't bring me to 
 grief!" 
 
 March i, '89, in the P.S. — "I hear a great 
 deal of untrue rubbish is written about me in the 
 papers — high gambling, etc. I did one day have 
 five louis on zero and it came up — that has been 
 my most distinguished feat! It happens to others 
 hundreds of times daily, only their faces are not 
 so well known as mine. I wish the papers would 
 leave me alone and confine themselves to Mr. 
 Pigott!" 
 
 Monte Carlo, Ash Wednesday. — "Between 
 ourselves I am bored to death down here. I can't 
 walk up and down hills, especially in the wet. I 
 am tired of the eternal gambling and the jargon 
 connected with it, and the people don't interest 
 me. 
 
 Central Hotel . . . April 7. — "Of course, I don't 
 conduct the first night of 'The Mikado ' — that 
 wouldn't be etiquette, but I shall rehearse the 
 company, and see how they are getting on, and 
 watch the impression. The Crown Prince and 
 Princess invited me to stay and go with them on
 
 19© SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Monday, so now I shall probably accept. Then 
 Tuesday is Princess Victoria's birthday, and she 
 has begged me so hard to remain for it, that if I 
 stay till Monday, I might as well stay a day 
 longer. Nothing will induce me to remain after 
 then. ... I have been longing for weeks to get 
 home, and feel quite home-sick."
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP 
 
 (1889-1898) 
 
 Sullivan and Gilbert Part Company — " H addon Hall" — 
 ' ' Utopia "— " The Foresters "— " The Chieftain "— " The 
 Beauty Stone" 
 
 IT was during the run of the "Gondoliers" at 
 the Savoy that it began to be rumored that 
 the musician and the librettist who had now 
 collaborated so successfully for twenty-three years 
 had dissolved partnership. If one desired to do 
 so, it would serve no useful purpose to recount the 
 circumstances which preceded a disruption which 
 has been so much regretted by the public. It is, 
 indeed, a private and personal matter, and it is 
 therefore questionable whether there will ever be 
 any sufficient justification for a relation of the 
 incidents which preceded this dissolution of pro- 
 fessional partnership. 
 
 Gilbert subsequently wrote a piece which was 
 set to music by the late Alfred Cellier, and which 
 
 191
 
 192 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 was produced at another theatre. It was not 
 until 1892 that Sullivan wrote the music to a play 
 entitled " Haddon Hall," by Mr. Grundy, pro- 
 duced at the Savoy. It can hardly be said that 
 the libretto is inspiriting, and I fancy that many 
 of the lyrics must have somewhat offended Sir 
 Arthur's keen sense of rhythm. However that 
 may be, there are but few songs in " Haddon 
 Hall" which have achieved any great popularity, 
 and it is rather in the so-called "descriptive" 
 music and in the orchestration of the piece that 
 one has to look for Sullivan's best achievement. 
 Miss Lucile Hill took the part of the heroine, 
 and ** Haddon Hall" was also responsible for the 
 introduction to the Savoy of Mr. Charles Ken- 
 ningham. Although Mr. Kenningham had but 
 a small part, he attracted no little attention by 
 reason of his remarkably fine tenor voice and 
 the exceptionally sympathetic quality of his ren- 
 dering. 
 
 In the following year — 1893 — after four years 
 of separation, it seemed as though there were to 
 be a renewal of the artistic partnership, but as a 
 matter of fact, owing to the same circumstances 
 which ruled on the previous occasion, this was to
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 193 
 
 prove merely a temporary re-union. The result 
 of the renewed collaboration was " Utopia, Lim- 
 ited," produced at the Savoy on October 7, 1893. 
 
 In this piece Miss Nancy M'Intosh made her 
 debut. Mr. Walter Passmore, who had made his 
 first appearance at the Savoy in a piece entitled 
 "Jane Annie," created a very favourable impres- 
 sion in "Utopia," and has by this time estab- 
 lished himself as a permanent favourite. Al- 
 though his method seemed a little provincial at 
 first, he has developed into a finished comedian, 
 who has nothing to fear from comparison with 
 his predecessor, Mr. George Grossmith. More- 
 over, Mr. Passmore has one great qualification 
 which by no means necessarily appertains to 
 those who take part in light opera. He is a 
 first-rate musician. 
 
 For some time the opera drew crowded 
 houses. There seemed to be little lacking to 
 ensure success. To begin with, the popular col- 
 laborateurs had " made friends," and were once 
 more working in unison, so that, as a frivo- 
 lous journalist remarked, one felt that a "national 
 calamity " had been averted. No previous Savoy 
 production, although Mr. Carte had never been
 
 194 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 behindhand in stage-setting, had been so lavishly 
 mounted. There was one thing lacking, how- 
 ever, which precludes one from ranking "Utopia, 
 Limited," amongst the best of the operas. The 
 libretto was, in effect, a repetition of much that 
 had gone before, and with regard to the music 
 there was but little which could be detached 
 from the rest of the piece and prove of perma- 
 nent interest to the free and independent vocal- 
 ist who is ever with us. 
 
 Meanwhile, Tennyson's " Foresters " had been 
 produced at Daly's Theatre, for which produc- 
 tion Sir Arthur Sullivan had composed the inci- 
 dental music. With regard to that music I need 
 do no more than quote the critic of The World 
 when he wrote that it is "by far the most beau- 
 tiful that he [Sullivan] has ever given to the 
 poetic and pastoral drama. His musical ode, 
 'To Sleep,' his forest songs, his manly English 
 carols, will live and endure long after the ' Wood- 
 land Masque,' as an acting play, is dead, buried, 
 and forgotten." 
 
 " The Chieftain " was produced at the Savoy 
 Theatre on Wednesday, December 12, 1894. 
 Although it is in part an adaptation of " The
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 195 
 
 Contrabandists," written by Burnand and Sulli- 
 van twenty-seven years previously, there was a 
 good deal of new work in it. It could hardly be 
 said that Mr. Burnand was an adequate substi- 
 tute for Gilbert as librettist, and, indeed, through- 
 out the piece the fun strikes one as thin and 
 transparent; yet, on the other hand, it will be 
 admitted that many of the songs possessed the 
 true lyrical quality, and the musician is better 
 served in this respect, to my mind, than he has 
 been in some other instances, as, for example, in 
 "Haddon Hall" and "The Beauty Stone." It 
 was only to be expected that after such a lapse 
 of time the piece should seem a trifle antiquated 
 and somewhat musty in flavour. But "The 
 Chieftain" is redeemed by some of the extremely 
 felicitous composition of the sort that one has 
 learnt to expect from Sullivan. There is, indeed, 
 some of the best Sullivanesque throughout the 
 pieces, as, for example, the chorus of the gold- 
 washers, the lover's duet in school-French and 
 English, the song, " There is something in that," 
 with its quartett refrain and the sestett for the 
 brigands " Be Mum." 
 
 Once again the coUaborateurs worked to-
 
 196 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 gether in " The Grand Duke," which was pro- 
 duced at the Savoy Theatre on March 7, '96. 
 The primadonna on this occasion was Madame 
 Ilka von Palmay. The piece is memorable for 
 its wedding chorus, and for the vivacious dance 
 music which is interspersed throughout the 
 opera — the madrigal, " Strange views some peo- 
 ple hold," and Julia's song, " Broken every prom- 
 ise plighted." It seems to have been generally 
 admitted that the music was the best feature of 
 "The Grand Duke," and I must confess per- 
 sonally that the libretto is often remorselessly 
 flat and commonplace. The humour of the 
 sausage-roll and the fun of hard-bake and 
 butter-scotch is far from inspiriting, and to say 
 as much is to imply that the libretto is by no 
 means in true Gilbertian vein. The free exer- 
 cise of the blue pencil would have proved 
 highly advantageous. In the music one finds 
 even greater mastery of technique than before, 
 but there is once again an absence of those 
 catchy melodies which, as in such works as "The 
 Mikado," " Pinafore," and " The Yeoman of the 
 Guard," have become permanently memorised 
 by the public.
 
 ARTHUR SUr^LIVAJX 
 
 AKTAT. 52.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 197 
 
 " The Grand Duke " was followed on May 25, 
 '97, by a revival of " The Yeoman of the 
 Guard." 
 
 Meanwhile Sir Arthur had composed the 
 music for a ballet, entitled "Victoria and Merrie 
 England," which was produced May 5 at the Al- 
 hambra. Here we find the musician at his best 
 in lighter vein, with his parody of the old English 
 music, a delicious mazourka, a graceful pas-de- 
 deux, and other dances and descriptive music 
 which haunt the ear. 
 
 On March 22, 1898, a revival performance of 
 "The Gondoliers" was initiated; and meanwhile 
 Sir Arthur was hard at work on a new opera, the 
 libretto of which had been written by Mr. Pinero 
 and Mr. Comyns Carr, produced on May 28, 
 1898. The production is of such recent occur- 
 rence that it is unnecessary to point out that 
 "The Beauty Stone" was a departure from 
 Savoy traditions. The central motive of this 
 musical drama was a delightful one, and I think 
 that some of the music in this work is among 
 the best that Sir Arthur has written. Undoubt- 
 edly the piece suffered much by the tender way 
 in which the superabundant dialogue was
 
 198 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 treated. There is such a superfluity of words 
 that the dramatic significance of the play is often 
 lost sight of ; but I think it will be admitted that 
 wherever the composer has been given a chance 
 he has made excellent use of it, for what can be 
 more charming than the opening duet for the 
 old couple — " Click, Clack." The " Invocation 
 to the Virgin," sung by the cripple girl, is, indeed, 
 beyond praise. It is a masterpiece of pure senti- 
 ment and restrained pathos. One may perhaps 
 add that it was exquisitely rendered by Miss 
 Ruth Vincent, who did excellent work through- 
 out the piece. It was, however, most unfortu- 
 nate, in view of the fact that the central interest 
 of the story is the love of Philip for Laine, that 
 the former should have been represented by an 
 American tenor, whose voice and stage presence 
 indicated nothing in justification of his selection 
 for the part. 
 
 The music of " The Beauty Stone " is not, in- 
 deed, of the kind which would be popular 
 amongst the makers of street organs, but it will 
 prove a fund of delight to the musician. It may 
 not be too much to hope that one day " The 
 Beauty Stone " may be revived, with about half
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 199 
 
 the libretto ruthlessly cut away, and that the 
 heroine shall be supported by a tenor who will 
 not only be able to sing the music, but who will 
 possess the masculine presence which one is in- 
 clined to associate with the assumption of an 
 heroic character. Nor would it be necessary, in 
 such a case, to have one's ear offended by the 
 anachronism of transatlantic accent in the spoken 
 dialogue of a piece dealing with a period con- 
 siderably precedent to the discovery of America.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 OUR LACK OF PATRIOTISM IN MUSIC 
 
 THIS will of necessity be but a short chapter 
 and one might well wish that there were 
 no occasion to write it. The strange 
 lack of patriotism shown in musical matters in 
 this country is a subject about which unfortu- 
 nately a great deal might be written, but it is 
 better, perhaps, in putting the matter once again 
 before the public, and more especially before 
 those " having authority," to do so very briefly, 
 if forcibly. 
 
 It is a point which Sir Arthur has been good 
 enough to discuss with me more than once, but 
 on the occasion of our last conversation it 
 chanced that the Society of British Musicians 
 had just held a meeting at which this subject 
 had been ventilated, and when I commented 
 on this Sir Arthur rejoined, " Yes, the Society 
 
 200
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 201 
 
 of British Musicians is beginning to take up 
 this question now, but I have been fighting 
 this battle for the past twenty-five years. After 
 the Jubilee celebration, for instance, I wrote a 
 letter to The Times on the subject, signing my- 
 self * A British Musician,' though I imagine that 
 its authorship was an open secret. 
 
 " In that long Jubilee procession, regiment 
 after regiment went by, home and colonial, and 
 one day I hope people will find it almost impossi- 
 ble to believe that not one British tune could be 
 heard. It was an occasion intended to be in 
 every way representative of the resources of the 
 British Empire, it was an occasion — if it meant 
 anything — of patriotism, but British music had 
 no representation whatever, its claims were en- 
 tirely ignored. No one will venture to suggest 
 that the performance of foreign music exclusive- 
 ly on such an occasion was due to the fact that 
 there are not plenty of good British tunes. 
 There are two departments of music in which 
 Great Britain is not excelled by any other 
 country — sacred music and stirring popular 
 tunes. The Thnes gave my letter prominence, 
 and bold type, but not a single musical paper
 
 202 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 in England had the courage to take up the 
 question, and no reply has been made to that 
 letter." 
 
 One may fairly hope, however, in response to 
 Sir Arthur's remarks, that the question will no 
 longer be shirked, least of all by a press so free 
 and unfettered in its expression of opinion as 
 that of Great Britain, and while there can be no 
 such thing as insularity in matters of art, the 
 injury done to the musical profession and its 
 professors in this country by this strange lack of 
 patriotism is so serious, and is substantiated by 
 personal evidence of so overwhelming and com- 
 plete a character, that one may be pardoned for 
 feeling confident that the statements made in 
 this chapter will at least call for discussion, and 
 probably some attempt at contradiction by those 
 with whom responsibility rests. 
 
 I cannot do better than print the letter to The 
 Times in extenso, and it may be that this time 
 the musical press of this country will regard the 
 question of whether British musicians should or 
 should not be employed, and whether British 
 music should or should not be played, as being 
 worthy of some pointed discussion.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 203 
 
 From The Times, July 19, 1897: — 
 
 MUSIC AND THE JUBILEE. 
 
 TO THE EDITOR OF The Times. 
 
 " Sir, — The admirable article on the progress 
 of art during the present reign, which appeared in 
 your issue of last Saturday, bears witness to the 
 increased interest taken by the British public in 
 all artistic subjects. It seems to me also that the 
 increased development of national feeling in art 
 — especially music — is well worthy of remark. 
 
 " British music and musicians have gained an 
 amount of sympathy from the public, both here 
 and abroad, that was unthought of sixty years 
 ago. At that period an English name on a title- 
 page was almost sufficient at once to condemn the 
 composition. 
 
 "But this unfortunate and old-fashioned opinion 
 is apparently still held by our military authorities. 
 One would think that on such a thoroughly 
 national occasion as the Jubilee they would gladly 
 display some amount of national feeling in their 
 selection of music, but such was not the case. 
 
 '* For instance, at the Review of Colonial 
 Troops held by the Prince of Wales at Bucking-
 
 204 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 ham Palace I noticed that the programme of the 
 Grenadier Guards was as follows: — 
 
 March 
 
 " Under the Double Eagle " 
 
 . Wagner 
 
 Overture . 
 
 . , . "Zampa" . . . 
 
 . Herold 
 
 Waltz . . 
 
 . . " Weiner Reigen " . . 
 
 . Gung'l 
 
 Selection . 
 
 " Orphee aux Enfers " . . 
 
 . Offenbach 
 
 Waltz . 
 
 . . " Immortellen" . . . 
 
 . Gung'l 
 
 " The above might perhaps be an appropriate 
 selection of music for a military review in Berlin 
 or Paris, but it is not so apparent why such 
 pieces should be chosen to welcome our colonial 
 kinsmen to their Fatherland. I have examined 
 several other similar programmes, and find to my 
 astonishment that British music on these occa- 
 sions (with two or three exceptions) has been 
 totally ignored, the preference in all cases having 
 been given to foreign productions. 
 
 *' I have no idea of depreciating either German 
 or French military music; some of the marches 
 in particular are rich in melody and in accent — 
 are well harmonized and scored, and nearly all 
 have a go and swing which render them admira- 
 ble for military purposes ; nor am I so exclusive 
 as to wish that British music only should be per- 
 formed at British musical entertainments; but on
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 205 
 
 great national occasions it is not unreasonable to 
 expect that the public should be reminded that 
 British tunes do exist. I know of nothing more 
 inspiriting than 'I'm Ninety-five,' 'The Girl I 
 Left Behind Me,' 'Hearts of Oak,' 'The British 
 Grenadiers,' and our whole rich collection of 
 Scotch, Irish, and Welsh national tunes ; but 
 most of these, at the recent Jubilee celebration, 
 were conspicuous by their absence. Yet which 
 would be the most likely to touch the sentiment 
 of our home-coming brethren, such tunes as 
 ' Home, Sweet Home ' and any of the above- 
 mentioned, or marches and waltzes with such 
 unfamiliar titles as ' Gruss an Bayern,' ' Au 
 Secours,' and 'Unter dem Fenster der Gelieb- 
 ten' ? 
 
 "It is only in England that such an anomaly 
 would be possible. It is inconceivable that at a 
 national y"//^ in Berlin the German military bands 
 should confine themselves to performing French 
 and Italian tunes, or that on a similar occasion in 
 Paris songs from the German Fatherland should 
 alone be heard. 
 
 " Our Royal Family, and especially the Prince 
 of Wales and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, have
 
 2o6 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 laboured for many years to foster and encourage 
 British musical art. One would naturally expect 
 that during the Jubilee — the culminating point 
 in Her Majesty's Record Reign — all our musicians 
 would have done their best to show that this 
 royal encouragement has not been thrown away; 
 but our military musical authorities, with a 
 unanimity and persistency worthy of a better 
 cause, seemed to have been determined to show 
 that no practical results have accrued from the 
 efforts made by our Royal Family on behalf of 
 British music. 
 
 "Apologising for the length of this letter, 
 which, I trust, may be excused on the ground of 
 patriotism and a jealous regard for my art, I 
 remain, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 "A British Musician. 
 
 July 17. 
 
 " For my own part," Sir Arthur continued, " I 
 think I may say I have done all that I could. 
 Some time ago I was asked to conduct a State 
 concert at short notice. I chose English singers 
 without exception. I could not put English 
 music exclusively into the programme, but I went
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 207 
 
 as far as I could in that direction. I can assure 
 you that to dispense with the services of foreign 
 singers and foreign executants on such an occa- 
 sion in our own country is a novelty, but not a 
 word was written in any of our musical papers in 
 regard to the not unimportant fact that I had 
 given English artists a preference. I believe 
 that if I had been backed up at all in the efforts 
 which I have made with that end in view, there 
 would have been a great reform in the direction 
 of a decent patriotism in music. 
 
 " Can you imagine foreign artists being em- 
 ployed at a State concert in Paris or Berlin, or 
 conceive of French or German soldiers marching 
 to the strains of English tunes? It is not to be 
 thought of, but here we act as if England were 
 without musicians or music. On such occasions 
 English music is almost entirely set on one side 
 and foreign stuff substituted. Now, as I have 
 already indicated, if there is one phase of music in 
 which we are pre-eminent it is Church music. Yet, 
 take the occasion of the service in memory of one 
 of our Royal Princesses. The piece sung was a 
 morbid anthem of Gounod's. In. this matter I 
 have not been backed up by the Press, and even
 
 2o8 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 from my own profession I have had but little 
 support. 
 
 "This is by no means a matter of sentiment, 
 but one of the greatest concern to every English 
 musician. Every year we are educating young 
 men and women. We encourage them to take 
 musical honors and work hard with a view to 
 adopting music as a profession, and, having done 
 this, we refuse them anything like fair opportu- 
 nities, and close up the market. Sometimes my 
 table here is almost covered with letters from 
 men and women, without work and without 
 much hope of getting it, not because they are 
 incompetent, but because in musical matters it has 
 become a convention with us to give foreigners the 
 preference. The result of it all is that, at the pres- 
 ent moment our schools of music are turning out 
 highly-trained paupers. Personally I have suf- 
 fered nothing from this lack of patriotism, but I 
 wish I could believe that every other British 
 musician is equally fortunate. Every one must 
 have noticed that foreign conductors are accepted 
 here with open arms. English conductors are 
 comparatively few in number, but when the 
 foreign conductor returns to his own country,
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 209 
 
 taking English money away with him, you will 
 find that he never reciprocates by performing an 
 English composer's music, nor can one be sur- 
 prised if his estimate of the ability of the aver- 
 age British musician is a modest one, for if we 
 thought much of our own musicians we should 
 no doubt give them a little encouragement." 
 
 In regard to Sir Arthur's reference to the 
 Press one exception must be made, and I am 
 shown a letter which he had written to the critic 
 in question, and from which I beg leave to quote. 
 
 " The few kindly words you said in print about 
 me the other day are, I think, the only public, or 
 rather published, testimony I have ever received 
 on behalf of the efforts I have made to advance 
 English music and English musicians. I have 
 been at it for years, and in that matter am now 
 thoroughly disheartened, for I have never had 
 the smallest help or encouragement from the 
 Press, or even from musicians themselves. The 
 latter are listless, indifferent ; the former either 
 absolutely neutral, or else actively favourable to 
 the foreigner. There is a strong party of ' Little 
 Englanders ' in music, who are deaf to the merits 
 of the Englishman and the defects of the
 
 2IO SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 foreigner. There is a deal of nonsense 
 talked about no nationality in art. That is very 
 well, but there is nationality in the artist, and if 
 you offer me two men of equal merit, I take the 
 one who is born and (probably) educated in Eng- 
 land. What is the use of founding scholarships 
 and educating hundreds of young people if you 
 shut all the doors against them when they are 
 ready to enter the world, by choosing the for- 
 eigner for everything ? When I have the oppor- 
 tunity of engaging an orchestra I think you will 
 find only Englishmen on the list, and yet I always 
 get a fine band. At the Leeds Festival I have 
 117 men in the orchestra, and every man is an 
 Englishman. Is my band at Leeds inferior in 
 material to that at Birmingham, or any other 
 great Festival ?" 
 
 I have discussed this very point with other 
 musicians, notably, for example, with Mr. Sims 
 Reeves, who told me as a curious instance of the 
 English prejudice against the English in music 
 that, after he had made his debut (some sixty 
 years ago), he received a number of letters 
 recommending him to adopt a foreign name, as 
 likely to prove helpful to him in his vocation !
 
 HIS LIFE STORY an 
 
 Our lack of patriotism in music is not a mat- 
 ter for mere academic discussion amongst those 
 who suffer from the effect of it. I found that 
 Mr. Sims Reeves could have given me many 
 personal instances of men and women which 
 could be added to the many more that Sir Arthur 
 Sullivan could have given me, as unfortunate 
 witnesses to an evil which one may be sanguine 
 enough to believe will be remedied eventually 
 by the force of public opinion, and that in this 
 way a better patriotism in music will soon be 
 made manifest.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 PERSONALITY AND METHODS OP WORK 
 
 THERE are many people who decry any 
 attempt on the part of the scribe to deal 
 with the purely personal. It is an attitude 
 which is more than justified in face of a vulgar 
 curiosity of the most insensate description. Those 
 who pander to this indefensible inquisitiveness 
 have attained depths of banality almost beyond 
 credence. As an extreme case one might in- 
 stance the fact that quite recently the editor of a 
 magazine has requested certain " celebrities " to 
 stand in a glutinous mixture so that their foot- 
 prints may be reproduced for an admiring public. 
 Surely impertinence can go no further. One 
 might regard this as quite an exceptional freak 
 on the part of the brilliant journalist who 
 engineered it were it not for the absurd triviali- 
 ties about people which confront one on every 
 side, and the feeble attempts at so-called personal 
 description, which, while conveying nothing in 
 
 212
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 213 
 
 the shape of sound comment or good definition, 
 are often offensive to the unfortunate man or 
 woman referred to. On the other hand, I have 
 often found that an otherwise justifiable objec- 
 tion to the personal element in journalism and 
 literature has developed into a pose — the poseur, 
 in this instance, holding views on what he may 
 term the maintenance of " personal privacy," 
 which, if pushed to their logical conclusion and 
 carried into effect, would deprive us of not the 
 least interesting or least important part of our 
 literature, and relegate the names of many 
 eminent men and women to oblivion. Many 
 instances could be recalled of those whose person- 
 ality is remembered and whose influence is at the 
 present moment of a tangible character, whilst — 
 though this does not apply to the subject of this 
 book — they have left no permanent record in the 
 shape of achievement in science, letters, or art. If 
 there had been no Boswell there would be, at this 
 moment, no Dr. Johnson. Much might be said, 
 and very fairly, concerning the trivialities, the un- 
 pleasing subservience, and the quaint arrogancies, 
 of the good Mr. Boswell, but it would be a bold 
 man who would contend that Dr. Johnson is
 
 214 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 greatly appreciated as a litterateur, and that his 
 " Rasselas," his " Lives of the Poets," or his 
 "Dictionary" are widely read nowadays, or that 
 his works are destined to hold a permanent posi- 
 tion in literature. It is hardly safe to assume 
 that the artist is anxious to be disassociated from 
 his art, and while every insistence must be made 
 upon the dictates of good taste and discretion, it 
 is only natural — more especially where we are 
 interested in work which we believe to be good, 
 which is certainly popular, and which is probably 
 destined to be permanent — that we should feel a 
 corresponding interest in the worker. Indeed, I 
 think one need make no apology for wishing to 
 know all about the author or artist to whose work 
 one feels indebted. It is no small pleasure to us 
 when we find that his life and character bear out 
 what we have deduced from his work, our infor- 
 mation enhancing rather than interfering with 
 the ardour of our appreciation. 
 
 Nevertheless, anything worth having in the 
 shape of "personal description" demands the pen 
 of a Carlyle, perhaps with something less of his 
 acerbity; and having said this much, it is not to 
 be wondered at if I shrink from making any
 
 SIK AKTIIITR SITLLIVAX 
 
 PKESENT PAV.
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 315 
 
 attempt in this direction, or even if I succeed in 
 entirely evading the issue. Moreover, in some 
 measure the endeavour would be superfluous, as 
 Sir Arthur is so well known to the public. It 
 may not be uninteresting, however, and may be 
 amusing, to see what outward seeming he has 
 borne to those who have essayed the task of 
 description. 
 
 At the end of a biographical article which 
 appeared in a weekly paper long years ago, there 
 is a paragraph which strikes me as piquant. 
 
 " As a singular fact, it may be added that Mr. 
 Sullivan is by no means demonstrative in the 
 concert-room. Strangely pale, the dead-white of 
 the forehead contrasting remarkably with the 
 black hair, worn low on the forehead, and per- 
 fectly self-possessed, he presents himself without 
 any expression of emotion or pleasure, does his 
 work, and goes again, without effort, excitement, 
 or apparent sense of his position." 
 
 This paragraph was published is 1871 — just 
 twenty-eight years ago, and it is presumably too 
 late now to inquire what the writer implied by 
 the suggestion that Mr. Sullivan showed " no 
 sense of his position," or had his " position " been
 
 2i6 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 more clear to him, what he would have been 
 expected to do under the circumstances; but all 
 who know Sir Arthur will appreciate the point 
 which the writer of the paragraph endeavoured 
 to make. 
 
 It has been my lot, as a mere item in the mod- 
 ern development of interview-journalism, to come 
 into contact with many men and women, eminent 
 in their respective professions, but I have never 
 met any one who excelled Sir Arthur Sullivan in 
 sincerity, whole-heartedness, and simplicity — as 
 indicated in the sense of an entire absence of the 
 least jot or tittle of mannerism, affectation, or 
 ostentation. His entire absence of pose and 
 prejudice, his catholicity of taste and equitable 
 poise of temperament, must have been disappoint- 
 ing to those who regard any form of genius as 
 an abnormal development which implies a sort 
 of lop-sidedness, forgetful that extreme ability is 
 more often the outcome of mind and body work- 
 ing in splendid harmony than the growth of a 
 faculty to the exclusion of everything else, as if 
 it were an extraneous excrescence. Level- 
 headed and business-like to a degree, it is but 
 rarely, I imagine, that the possession of so much
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 217 
 
 common sense — to use that best-abused term — is 
 allied to such extreme sensibility, true sympathy, 
 and healthy sentiment. I believe I shall not be 
 charged with sycophancy if I add that his strong 
 will, his definiteness of purpose, his dogged per- 
 sistence, have often been exercised in a manner 
 which does not fall short of heroism. Two or 
 three of his most popular operas have been written 
 in the brief intervals of acute suffering. On two 
 occasions during his long and arduous career the 
 accumulated returns of his work have disappeared 
 in a moment, but never has anything occurred to 
 shake his fortitude. The greatest success never 
 brought with it any arrogance or modification of 
 his views. Of course it pleased him, but it 
 brought no strange excitement with it, and so, 
 when on that eventful day in 1882, to which I 
 have already alluded, he discovered that if he had 
 been the most unsuccessful musician imaginable 
 he could hardly have been worse off, for he had 
 but a few sovereigns left in the world, there was 
 no sound of complaint, no alteration of demean- 
 our, and not the slightest abatement of the verve 
 and painstaking care with which he conducted 
 the first-night performance of " lolanthe " on the
 
 2i8 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 self-same evening of that extremely dark day. 
 This is, indeed, the temperament of the man 
 who, in the paragraph which I have quoted, 
 " does his work and goes again, without effort, 
 excitement, or apparent sense of his position," as 
 the ingenious journalist in question has phrased 
 it. 
 
 Perhaps I may absolve myself from sketching 
 physiognomical details, and in place of making 
 the attempt may be permitted to quote from an 
 article written some time ago: 
 
 " Of medium height, broad-shouldered, well- 
 built, Dr. Sullivan at once impresses you with a 
 sense of power. The expression of his face is 
 sympathetic, it has a touch of orientalism, is 
 dark, and the features are mobile. Black wavy 
 hair is brushed away from a compact intellectual 
 forehead. The eyes are dark, the nose is sensitive, 
 the jaw and chin indicate firmness and strength 
 of character. He is a man with whom you are 
 at home at once." 
 
 Here is a statement which will prove interest- 
 ing: 
 
 " My chief companion in the Academy was 
 Arthur Sullivan, now the famous operatic com-
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 219 
 
 poser. Six years my junior, he came fresh from 
 the Chapel Royal, as merry and as mischievous a 
 boy as can well be imagined. Although a huge 
 favourite among the students, he was a sad thorn 
 in the side of some of the professors, and to 
 none more than Charles Lucas, the director of 
 the Academy orchestra. It was no unusual 
 thing at the rehearsal to hear at times the most 
 unearthly noise proceed from one instrument 
 and then the other, and the reason, therefore, 
 was usually summed up in Lucas' exclamation, 
 ' Now, Sullivan, you are at it again,' which might 
 possibly have been further from the truth. Sulli- 
 van's mastery over orchestral instruments even 
 then, at fourteen years of age, was marvellous. 
 He played them all with apparent ease. In an- 
 swer to my inquiry where on earth had he acquired 
 his skill, he replied that from his babyhood he 
 had been a regular attendant at the rehearsals 
 conducted by his futher in the band-room of the 
 regiment of which he was bandmaster, and that 
 by constant practice and his father's teaching 
 he had gradually overcome all difficulties in this 
 direction. As a matter of fact, he was one of the 
 most gifted prodigies known to fame, and his
 
 220 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 facility in every department was simply stupen- 
 dous. He could read anything at sight, play from 
 a formidable score, clearly distinguish and declare 
 any and all combinations of sounds even at the 
 very top of the piano, without seeing the notes 
 struck; and he acccomplished in the line of study 
 in five minutes what others could not succeed in 
 doing in five months. Let me add one word of 
 testimony to his excellent character as a man. 
 Although he and I are now separated by an al- 
 most impassable gulf, both socially and musically, 
 he is one of the best friends I have in the world; 
 and amid all the pressure of work, and, I regret 
 to say, under the burden of much sickness, he 
 continues to this day to write me the cheeriest 
 and kindest of letters, letters which are alike a 
 credit to his head and his heart. I happen to 
 know, too, that his goodness of heart and gener- 
 osity of disposition extend to the whole brother- 
 hood of musicians, and hundreds of the poorer 
 brethren have good cause to bless the name of 
 Arthur Seymour Sullivan." 
 
 The actual manual labour of musical composi- 
 tion is exceptionally hard; yet, although SirAr- 
 ' thur has certainly been extremely prolific, he has
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 221 
 
 found time for many forms of physical exercise, 
 recreation, study, wide reading, and travel. 
 Shooting, fishing, boating, riding, and driving 
 have been amongst the outdoor exercises and 
 sport in which he has delighted, whilst indoors 
 he will take a hand at billiards, whist, or the old- 
 fashioned game of bezique. But reading — and 
 fairly wide reading — has provided his favourite 
 and most complete recreation. The works of 
 many German and French writers find an 
 honoured place on his shelves, together with a 
 wide range of English works, though, of course, 
 books dealing with musical history, biography, 
 and reminiscences have a special prominence. 
 More than once Sir Arthur has told me of his 
 antipathy to fiction of a morbid or decadent 
 character. It might be interesting to the authors 
 to mention the titles of some of the books of 
 which the first chapter more than sufficed, but 
 one must refrain, although with regret. 
 
 Thackeray, and Dickens, more especially, are 
 permanent and evergreen favourites, and, of 
 contemporaries, he misses nothingby Bret Harte, 
 Conan Doyle, Stanley Weyman, or Anthony 
 Hope. At the time of one of my last interviews
 
 322 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 with Sir Arthur preparatory to the compilation 
 of this book I found that he was alternating the 
 latest volume of stories by Louis Becke with a 
 re-perusal of Stanley's " In Darkest Africa," and 
 Sir Arthur told me that the books of travel and 
 adventure have an increasing fascination for him. 
 " I often feel now that I can read nothing else 
 but books of travel," he told me; "and I am 
 reading every traveller's story that I can lay my 
 hands on. In fiction I must say that I do like 
 what I call healthy work," he adds vigorously, 
 "and when by any chance I come across some- 
 thing of the other sort, I find myself bored to 
 death if I try to read it, and cannot help specula- 
 ting upon the attitude of mind and the condition 
 of body of those writers who are willing to pro- 
 duce such nauseating and impotent stuff." And, 
 as I found myself so thoroughly in agreement with 
 him on this point that there was no room for 
 discussion, Sir Arthur went on to speak of the 
 perils and vicissitudes endured and the hardihood 
 evinced in Stanley's " long walk " through the 
 Dark Continent. 
 
 The description of the way in which Sir Arthur 
 Sullivan's compositions are written will form, I
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 223 
 
 hope, not the least interesting part of this book. 
 To many who picture every composer as com- 
 pelled to sit at a piano, running his fingers over 
 the keys, seeking after inspiration, it will be 
 almost a shock to discover that, in this instance, 
 at all events, the composer handles nothing but 
 pen, ink, and paper. 
 
 " Of course the use of the piano," Sir Arthur 
 remarks, when discussing the subject, " would 
 limit me terribly, and as to the inspirational 
 theory, although I admit that sometimes a happy 
 phrase will occur to one quite unexpectedly 
 rather than as the result of any definite reason- 
 ing process, musical composition, like everything 
 else, is the outcome of hard work, and there is 
 really nothing speculative nor spasmodic about 
 it. Moreover, the happy thoughts which seem to 
 come to one only occur after hard work and 
 steady persistence. It will always happen that 
 one is better ready for work needing inventive- 
 ness at one time than at another. One day work 
 is hard and another day it is easy, but if I had 
 waited for inspiration I am afraid I should have 
 done nothing. The miner does not sit at the top 
 of the shaft waiting for the coal to come bubbling
 
 224 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 up to the surface. One must go deep down and 
 work out every vein carefully." 
 
 Sir Arthur's methods would certainly seem to 
 be distinguishable from those of many composers 
 in two directions — his insistence upon rhythm 
 before everything, and the extreme rapidity of 
 his work. 
 
 Referring more particularly to the famous 
 comic operas, to quote his own words: 
 
 " The first thing I have to decide upon is the 
 rhythm, and I arrange the rhythm before I come 
 to the question of melody. As an instance let us 
 take 
 
 "Were I thy bride, 
 
 Then all the world beside 
 Were not too wide 
 To hold my wealth of love 
 Were I thy bride ! 
 
 " Upon thy breast 
 
 My loving head would rest, 
 As on her nest 
 The tender turtle-dove — 
 Were I thy bride ! 
 
 You will see that as far as the rhythm is con- 
 cerned, and quite apart from the unlimited pos- 
 sibilities of melody, there are a good many ways 
 of treating those words," and that I might not be
 
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 ESSAYS IN RHYTHM. 
 
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 HIS LIFE STORY 225 
 
 unconvinced Sir Arthur sat down at his table and 
 worked out the little exercises in rhythm, in the 
 form of dummy bars, reproduced in this chapter. 
 This essay in rhythm will be of interest to musi- 
 cians, and it will be seen that the rhythm given 
 last, as being that ultimately selected, is best 
 suited to the sentiment and construction of the 
 lines. 
 
 " You see that five out of six methods were 
 commonplace, and my first aim has always been 
 to get as much originality as possible in the 
 rhythm, approaching the question of melody 
 afterwards. Of course, melody may come before 
 rhythm with other composers, but it is not so with 
 me. If I feel that I cannot get the accent right 
 in any other way, I mark out the metre in dots 
 and dashes, and it is only after I have decided 
 the rhythm that I proceed to notation. 
 
 " My first work — the jotting down of the 
 melodies — I term 'sketches.' They are hiero- 
 glyphics which, possibly, would seem undecipher- 
 able. It is my musical shorthand, and, of course, 
 it means much to me. When I have finished 
 these sketches the creative part of my work is 
 completed. After that comes the orchestration,
 
 226 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 which is, of course, a very essential part of the 
 whole work, and entails some severe manual 
 labour. Apart from getting into the swing of 
 composition, it is often an hour before my hand 
 is steady enough to shape the notes well and 
 with sufficient rapidity. When I have made a 
 beginning, however, I work very rapidly. 
 
 " You must remember that a piece of music 
 which will only take two minutes in actual per- 
 formance — quick time — may necessitate two or 
 three days' hard work in the mere manual labour 
 of orchestration, apart from the question of 
 composition. The literary man can avoid sheer 
 manual labour in a number of ways, but you can- 
 not dictate musical notation to a secretary. 
 Every note must be written in your own hand, 
 there is no other way of getting it done ; and 
 every opera means four or five hundred folio 
 pages of music, every crotchet and quaver of 
 which has to be written out by the composer. 
 Then, again, your ideas are pages and pages 
 ahead of your poor, over-worked fingers." 
 
 To carry on the description of the method of 
 work adopted for the operas, Sir Arthur con- 
 tinues :
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 227 
 
 "When the 'sketch' is completed, which 
 means writing, rewriting, and alterations of 
 every description, the work is drawn out in so- 
 called ' skeleton score,' that is, with all the vocal 
 parts, rests for symphonies, &c., completed, but 
 without a note of accompaniment or instrumental 
 work of any kind, although, naturally, I have all 
 that in mind. 
 
 " Then the voice parts are written out by the 
 copyist, and the rehearsals begin. On those 
 occasions I vamp an accompaniment, or, in my 
 absence, the accompanist of the theatre does so. 
 It is not until the music has been thoroughly 
 learnt, and the rehearsals on the stage, with the 
 necessary action and 'business,' are well ad- 
 vanced, that I begin orchestration. 
 
 "As soon as the orchestration is finished, the 
 band parts are copied, two or three rehearsals of 
 the orchestra only are held, then the orchestra 
 and the voices together without any stage busi- 
 ness or action; and, finally, three or four full 
 rehearsals of the complete work on the stage are 
 enough to prepare the work for presentation to 
 the public." 
 
 Meanwhile the full score has been taken in
 
 228 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 hand, and from it an accompaniment for the 
 voice parts has been " reduced " for the piano, 
 so that the " words and music," that is to say, 
 music for the piano as an accompaniment to the 
 voice parts, is ready for the public simultaneously 
 with the production. 
 
 After a full-dress rehearsal to which the fa- 
 voured few are admitted comes the " first night," 
 when, as on so many pleasant occasions, we have 
 had the privilege of seeing Sir Arthur conduct 
 the performance. Here the work of the com- 
 poser is completed. This is, I think, a faithful 
 description of the whole process, from the time 
 that the libretto is handed by the author to the 
 composer until the eventful night when the rap 
 on the desk of the composer's b^^ton is the signal 
 for the overture which precedes the rise of the 
 curtain. 
 
 In regard to the rapidity with which much of 
 Sir Arthur's work has been accomplished I can- 
 not do better than quote some of the instances 
 referred to by Mr. Willeby in the little mono- 
 graph to which I have already alluded. 
 
 To go back to the extravaganza ** Cox and 
 Box" (1866), as soon as the composer had re-
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 229 
 
 ceived the manuscript from its author, Mr. F. C. 
 Burnand, he set to work on the music, and it was 
 performed several times in private ; but, as is his 
 wont to this day, he wrote out no accompani- 
 ment, preferring, when required, to extemporise 
 one himself. Some time afterwards it was ar- 
 ranged to perform the work at the Adelphi 
 Theatre. 
 
 Sullivan deferred writing the accompaniment 
 from week to week, from day to day, until the 
 very last week had arrived, and the performance 
 was announced for the following Saturday after- 
 noon. Up to the previous Monday evening not 
 a note for the orchestra had been written. On 
 that night he began to score, and finished two 
 numbers before going to bed. On the Thursday 
 evening two more had been completed and sent 
 to the copyist, so that on Friday evening, at 
 eight o'clock, when he sat down to work, there 
 were still five longish numbers to be scored, and 
 the parts to be copied. Then began the tug of 
 war. Two copyists were sent for, and as fast as 
 a sheet of score was completed by the composer, 
 the copyists in another room copied the parts. 
 Throughout the night they kept it up, until at
 
 230 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 somewhere about seven in the morning Sullivan, 
 on going into the other room, found them both 
 fast asleep. He was in despair. A moment's 
 thought, however, decided him. One thing was 
 certain — there was no time to score. There was 
 then but one alternative — to orchestrate the re- 
 maining numbers in parts. This he did, and at 
 eleven in the morning all was finished, and at 
 twelve the piece was rehearsed. 
 
 What the achievement of a feat of this kind 
 means, the strain on the memory and the appli- 
 cation required, only a musician can fully realise. 
 But in this respect he is, at all events, in England, 
 unique. For rapidity of work Mr. Willeby 
 writes " he may have been equalled in the history 
 of music, but I do not think that he has been sur- 
 passed." 
 
 " Contrabandista," which followed "Cox and 
 Box," was composed, scored, and rehearsed with- 
 in sixteen days from the time he received the 
 MS. libretto. The overture to " lolanthe " was 
 begun at nine in the morning and finished at 
 seven the next morning. That to " The Yeoman 
 of the Guard " was composed and scored in twelve 
 hours, while the magnificent epilogue to " The
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 231 
 
 Golden Legend," which for dignity, breadth, and 
 power stands out from amongst all of his choral 
 examples, was composed and scored within 
 twenty-four hours. Merely to write the number 
 of notes in such a composition as this would be 
 a feat to most men, but when all is perfection, as 
 it is here, it is nothing short of prodigious.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 ANECDOTAL 
 
 In the Auction-room — Thirty years afterwards — Old 
 Church at Sandhurst — Rev. Thomas Helmore and the 
 Boys — Battle of the Alma — Early Composition — Sterndale 
 Bennett — Bach's room at Leipzig — Amateur Choral 
 Societies — Gladstone and Disraeli — Burnand and his book 
 — Byron and Palgrave — With the Duke of Edinburgh on 
 the Hercules — The German Emperor — Peterhof — In 
 the Baltic — Buffalo etiquette — "The Mikado" plagiarised 
 in real life — Water and Good Society — The Gentlemanly 
 Guide — Earthquake at Monte Carlo — Coincidences — 
 Tennyson — Sullivan's Grand-parents and Napoleon I. at 
 St. Helena. 
 
 IT has been Sir Arthur Sullivan's habit when 
 writing an opera or other big work, to take 
 a house in the country for two or three 
 months, driven from London by the curse of 
 street music. Except for this chapter, this book 
 had been passed for the printer and made up into 
 pages by the time Sir Arthur had left town for 
 Wokingham, where he had taken a house, which, 
 at the time of writing — the end of September 
 
 1899 — he is now occupying while at work on 
 
 232
 
 ANECDOTAL 233 
 
 his new opera for the Savoy Theatre. After 
 returning me the corrected proofs of that part of 
 the book dealing with facts, Sir Arthur was good 
 enough to invite me to spend a day with him at 
 his place at Wokingham in order that we might 
 have a final conversation in regard to this book. 
 Hence it happens that the many interesting 
 anecdotes which he told me after lunch, while we 
 were discussing tea and cigarettes on the lawn, 
 find their place, in fragmentary fashion, in this 
 supplementary chapter, instead of being inserted 
 in their proper sequence in the precedingchapters. 
 In order to make a virtue of necessity it may be 
 hinted that there are some who may prefer a 
 number of anecdotes put together by way of 
 dessert, after the more serious courses of the 
 meal which have preceded it, and those who 
 prefer a more methodical manner may perhaps 
 find it possible to excuse the inevitable. 
 
 " One of the earliest incidents which made an 
 impression upon me in childhood was that which 
 was known as the Frimley murder. Frimley was 
 a village about two miles from where we lived.
 
 234 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Burglars had broken into the rectory in the 
 middle of the night, and in the course of the 
 struggle which ensued, shot at and killed the 
 rector, Mr. Holiest. My brother, who went to a 
 school close by there, when coming home in the 
 evening, noticed three strange men standing out- 
 side a little public-house, and as in those days 
 every face was known for miles round, he was 
 struck by their appearance, and as soon as he 
 arrived home, he told us that he had seen three 
 dreadful-looking men in the village. This was in 
 the late afternoon, and at the time he saw them 
 they must have been contemplating the burglary 
 which resulted in murder that night. The men 
 were brought to trial, and I think all three were 
 hanged, but the capture effected the discovery 
 and break-up of a considerable gang of burglars 
 and thieves. 
 
 " Subsequent to the murder an auction of the 
 household goods was held at the rectory, and I 
 went over with my mother to the sale. For 
 some reason or other we became separated for a 
 time, and not long afterwards an acquaintance 
 came up to my mother and said to her: ' Mrs. 
 Sullivan, do you know that your son is bidding
 
 ANECDOTAL 235 
 
 in the auction-room? ' I was about eight years of 
 age at the time. My mother hurried to the 
 auction-room and found that what her acquaint- 
 ance had told her was perfectly true. I had 
 already acquired a pair of leather hunting- 
 breeches, at eighteenpence, a flat candlestick 
 and a pair of snuffers which had taken my fancy, 
 and was then bidding for a sofa! Why I bid for 
 these things I have no idea. I should have been 
 swallowed up in the breeches, I had no use for flat 
 candlesticks, and I don't know who would have 
 found room for the sofa. I had no money, but 
 finding that some of the people were nodding 
 their heads and saying * Sixpence,' I did the 
 same, with the notion of acquiring something of 
 value. My mother acted promptly, and the 
 auctioneer was bound to take the things back, as 
 I was under age. 
 
 " It is a curious thing," Sir Arthur continues, 
 "that I came to write 'The Golden Legend' 
 in the house where I had lived as a child. I 
 was about three years of age when my father 
 went to Sandhurst, and we had rooms in the 
 college. A few years later when my brother 
 and I grew older we took two cottages in York
 
 836 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Town, threw them into one, and lived there until 
 1858, when my father joined the staff at Kneller 
 Hall. Well, it was a curious coincidence that in 
 1886, when I wrote to some friends living in that 
 part, asking them to find me some quiet country 
 lodgings, so that I might peacefully write * The 
 Golden Legend,' they took rooms for me in the 
 very house at York Town where I had lived 
 as a child. So it happened, quite without any 
 initiative of my own in the matter, that, thirty 
 years afterwards, I found myself doing my work 
 in the same house." 
 
 " Sometimes I used to go to Sunday afternoon 
 service at the old church at Sandhurst. The 
 church was old in every respect : old-fashioned, 
 high-backed, whitewashed pews, with a gallery at 
 one end of the church for the musicians. What 
 used to interest me most was the little ceremony 
 which the clerk performed so solemnly in regard 
 to the hymns. After he had, from his desk 
 underneath the pulpit, given out the hymn, 
 always selected from Tate and Brady's Psalter, 
 he would walk slowly and solemnly to the other
 
 ANECDOTAL 237 
 
 end of the church, mount to the large empty 
 gallery by means of a ladder, and picking 
 up his clarionet, would lead the musical accom- 
 paniment, which consisted only of his own 
 instrument, the clarionet, a bassoon, and a 
 violoncello ! 
 
 " I also remember going by coach from York 
 Town to London to see the Great Exhibition of 
 185 1, and returning in the same manner. There 
 was no railway near us." 
 
 " I always recall my old master, the Rev. 
 Thomas Helmore, with affection and respect. I 
 was greatly influenced by his great idea of relying 
 upon the boys' sense of honour, and he certainly 
 did make us vefy conscientious in the perform- 
 ance of our work. We had to practise the music 
 for the Chapel Royal service every Saturday 
 morning for the following day. He would say to 
 us, ' Now, boys, if you get the music thoroughly 
 well done you may go as soon as you like. 
 There will be no need for you to stay in during 
 the afternoon.' I directed the practice of the 
 music, whilst my schoolfellow, Alfred Cellier,
 
 238 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 played the accompaniments. It was, I think, 
 something to our credit and to the credit of 
 Helmore's manner of dealing with us, that with 
 the temptation of an afternoon's holiday in front 
 of us we never scamped anything, and on more 
 than one occasion, we stayed on well into the 
 late afternoon in order to get the music cor- 
 rectly. Nor did we have any assistance of any 
 kind. Helmore relied upon Cellier and myself. 
 
 " No, we never had any rehearsal of the Sunday 
 service with the men during the whole time I was 
 at the Chapel Royal. The actual service was the 
 only occasion that the boys and men sang the 
 music together. 
 
 "One day in 1854 Helmore came into the 
 schoolroom and said, ' Put away your books, 
 boys. I am going to give you the best lesson in 
 English history you have ever had.' He then sat 
 down, and, producing the Times newspaper from 
 his pocket, read us the account of the battle of 
 the Alma, described so graphically by my old 
 friend, Dr. W. H. Russell. Sometimes the tears 
 rolled down his cheeks, and down ours, too, as 
 he read the account of some of the daring deeds 
 and instances of heroism of our men at the
 
 ANECDOTAL 239 
 
 battle of Alma. At that time the use of the 
 
 telegraph had not discounted beforehand the 
 interest in these brilliant letters." 
 
 " I remember singing for Sir Henry Bishop at 
 some benefit concerts which were organized for 
 him. Old John Braham came and heard me 
 sing, and praised me very much afterwards. He 
 was a very old man at the time, and had long 
 given up singing 'The Death of Nelson,' and 
 other similar songs, chronicling events which 
 took place in his own lifetime." 
 
 " I was always composing in those days. 
 Every spare moment I could get I utilized for it. 
 A short time ago I came across a four-part 
 madrigal in an old manuscript book perfectly 
 complete, and scribbled across it is, ' Written on 
 my bed at night in deadly fear lest Helmore 
 should come in and catch me.' " 
 
 "The instruction at the Royal Academy of 
 Music in those days was, perhaps, somewhat
 
 240 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 desultory. ... I remember how we would wait 
 there for Sterndale Bennett from five o'clock 
 until seven in the evening, until the message 
 would come to ask us to kindly go up to his 
 house in Russell Place, and then, although he 
 was weary from teaching all day, he would give 
 us some interesting lessons, telling us his expe- 
 rience of intercourse with various great com- 
 posers. His wife was a most charming woman, 
 and when I was there late, she invariably made 
 me stay to supper with him. I must say that I 
 enjoyed these evenings immensely. There was 
 something very instructive and fascinating about 
 Bennett's personality. He was, however, bitterly 
 prejudiced against the new school as he called 
 it. He would not have a note of Schumann, 
 and as for Wagner, he was outside the pale of 
 criticism! Cipriani Potter was converted, and 
 became a blind worshipper of Schumann, but all 
 my efforts with Sterndale Bennett were inef- 
 fectual. My master for harmony and composi- 
 tion, Sir John Goss, was more eclectic in his 
 taste, and more open to conviction. I am 
 eternally grateful to him ; he had a wonderful 
 gift of part writing, and whatever facility I
 
 ANECDOTAL 241 
 
 possess in this respect I owe entirely to his 
 teaching and influence." 
 
 "At Leipzig I frequently went to Hauptmann's 
 house for lessons in counterpoint, and took them 
 in the very room where Bach wrote all his great 
 works when in Leipzig, so you can imagine the 
 atmosphere of that room as being impregnated 
 with counterpoint and fugue. 
 
 "When I came back to England at that time 
 small choral societies which met at private houses 
 were much in vogue. I conducted many of these. 
 Sometimes we met at Mr. Gladstone's house in 
 Carlton House Terrace. Occasionally he took 
 part in the choruses. I had the honour on two 
 occasions," Sir Arthur adds smilingly, " of sing- 
 ing bass with him from the same copy. . . . Once 
 as the result of our continual practice a perform- 
 ance of ' The Prodigal Son' was given at a lady's 
 house in Grosvenor Place. Of course all the 
 chorus were amateurs, and the principal parts 
 were taken by the more distinguished well- 
 known amateurs of the day. The house was 
 crowded. It was a hot night, and all the win-
 
 842 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 dows were open. Our first mishap was that 
 when the lady (Mrs. Moulton^) who was to sing 
 the soprano part arrived, she found the place so 
 crowded that she could not get up the stairs, so 
 went away, and her part was taken by another 
 lady who generously volunteered. The second 
 blot on the performance was that just as the 
 tenor was singing the pathetic solo, ' I will arise 
 and go to my father, and will say unto him,' he 
 was overpowered by the linkman's voice, who 
 bellowed : ' Mrs. Johnson's carriage stops the 
 way.' It came in so appositely that the interrup- 
 tion proved too much for our gravity, and the 
 performance was very nearly temporarily sus- 
 pended." 
 
 The mention of Gladstone's name called up 
 another reminiscence which the reader may or 
 may not find illustrative of two types of character. 
 " I was dining at the late Baron Meyer de Roths- 
 child's," remarks Sir Arthur, " and Mr. Disraeli 
 was present. After the ladies had left the table 
 I found myself next to him, and the conversation 
 
 ' A celebrated amateur vocalist, now Countess Daneskiold.
 
 ANECDOTAL 243 
 
 had become general : he turned to me with the 
 remark that the process of musical composition 
 had always been a matter of mystery to him, and 
 begged me to explain it. Of course I complied 
 to the best of my ability, telling him that when 
 the composer sat down to write, he could, as it 
 were, plainly hear and judge of the effect of 
 every note and every combination of notes men- 
 tally, without their being sounded, just as an 
 author hears the words he is writing, and so on, 
 and tried my best to talk well. At the end of it 
 Disraeli said to me : ' Well, it is still a wonder 
 to me, but you have made many things much 
 clearer to me than they were before.' Of course 
 I felt quite elated and very well pleased with 
 myself. Well, it happened that, a short time 
 after my chat with Disraeli, Mr. Gladstone in- 
 vited me to breakfast. We had not gone very 
 far with the breakfast when Mr. Gladstone put 
 precisely the same question to me. I set out to 
 give much the same reply that I had given Dis- 
 raeli, but I had not uttered six words before 
 Gladstone interrupted me and proceeded to 
 give an eloquent discourse on the subject of 
 musical composition. He was very animated,
 
 244 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 and it was very interesting. No doubt I could 
 not have told him so much about it myself, but 
 you can imagine which incident would best please 
 a young man." 
 
 * * * * 
 
 " Frank Burnand and I used to ride on horse- 
 back together two or three times a week. One 
 day, when we had got as far as Merton, his horse 
 stumbled and very nearly threw him, but after 
 getting off and walking a little way, he re- 
 mounted, only to find himself compelled to dis- 
 mount immediately, as the horse had gone dead 
 lame. 'Well, this is a nice thing!' he said, 
 'what am I to do?' and good-humouredly ex- 
 claimed, ' Happy thought ! Walk ! ' and so he 
 went on enunciating all sorts of notions, preced- 
 ing each new suggestion with the exclamation, 
 ' Happy thought !' This incident gave him the 
 idea of using the phrase for the brilliant series 
 of papers which became so deservedly popular." 
 
 " Byron was constantly saying rather sharp 
 things. One night I was at the late Charles 
 Mathews' house, and amongst the amusements
 
 ANECDOTAL 345 
 
 provided for the visitors was a raffle for penny 
 toys. You drew a paper, and, if successful, made 
 your selection. Palgrave Simpson, the dramatic 
 author, drew a prize, and said, in his finnicking 
 way ' Dear, dear me ! What shall I choose 
 amongst these?' Byron immediately took up a 
 penny sword, pulled it out of its sheath, and ex- 
 claimed, ' Take this, Palgrave : you need some- 
 thing that will draw,' which was rather hard upon 
 Palgrave, who had just perpetrated a dead 
 failure." 
 
 " One of my pleasantest recollections is a cruise 
 I had in 1881 on the Hercules. When the 
 Duke of Edinburgh was in command of the 
 Reserve Squadron he very kindly invited me to 
 go with him on his annual cruise in the Baltic. 
 This proved very interesting indeed. Kiel was 
 the first place we landed at. We were met by 
 Prince William of Prussia, now Emperor of Ger- 
 many, and his brother Prince Henry. The Duke 
 of Edinburgh presented me to Prince William, 
 who shook me cordially by the hand, and said — 
 quoting ' H.M.S. Pinafore' — 'I think you polished
 
 246 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 up the handle of the big front door, did you not, 
 Mr. Sullivan ?' 
 
 "From thence we went on to Copenhagen. 
 Here I was much impressed with the popularity 
 of the Royal Family and the homely way in which 
 they mixed with the people. We dined at the 
 Hermitage, one of the royal palaces situated a 
 little way outside Copenhagen. The windows 
 were wide open, the people walking about the 
 park and sometimes coming right up to the 
 windows, but they never stared in, and were 
 never guilty of the slightest shadow of disrespect 
 or inquisitiveness. The next evening was the oc- 
 casion of a greatykV^ at the Tivoli Gardens. There 
 must have been about ten or twelve thousand 
 people there. The King and Queen did not go, 
 but the Crown Prince went with us and mixed 
 freely with everybody, and was subject to no awk- 
 ward attention of any sort. The King and Queen 
 of Denmark were the most kind and fascinating 
 people I have ever met. 
 
 "Afterwards we went on to St. Petersburg, 
 where we arrived shortly after that terrible 
 tragedy, the assassination of the Emperor. As it 
 was the dead season of the year there was no one
 
 ANECDOTAL 247 
 
 at St. Petersburg. The Emperor and Empress 
 were living at Peterhof, and so we — the Duke of 
 Edinburgh and party — stayed at Peterhof. The 
 Emperor and Empress lived in a villa close to us. 
 They could not stay in the palace because it could 
 not be surrounded by sentries. It was quite a 
 terrible business. Every few steps one took one 
 was met by a policeman, Cossack, or guard. I 
 had an official pass, written in Russian and with 
 a big seal attached to it, and I was told never to 
 go outside the door without it. The place was in 
 a state of ferment. The Emperor himself was 
 brave enough, but those about him would not let 
 him go out without a strong guard to surround 
 him all the time. 
 
 " On our way back we were caught by a thick 
 fog in the Baltic which lasted for thirty hours. 
 During that time the Admiral was scarcely ever 
 absent from the bridge, and took no rest at all. 
 It was no small responsibility; ' Eight ironclads, 
 some thousands of lives, and a musical com- 
 poser!' to quote his Royal Highness' words." 
 
 Speaking of his experiences with Gilbert in
 
 248 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 America, Sir Arthur tells me : " Gilbert and I 
 arrived at Buffalo early one winter morning. We 
 went to a hotel, the Tifft House, and walked 
 upstairs to our rooms. We wanted the fires lit, 
 upon which the maid told us, with great dignity 
 and condescension, that 'the gentleman' — allud- 
 ing to the colored servant — would do that for us. 
 He did, but before he had finished the maid came 
 up again, and ejaculated, 'Either of you men got 
 any washing? the gentleman has called for it,' 
 to which we replied, with delicate irony, 'When 
 this gentleman has finished lighting the fires he 
 will probably be kind enough to take the washing 
 down to the gentleman who is waiting to take it 
 away,' and then we subsided." 
 
 " When I was at Los Angeles a curious thing 
 had just occurred. It seems there was a little bit 
 of land between California and Mexico which, by 
 some accident, had been left out of the United 
 States survey. The result was that no one quite 
 knew who had jurisdiction, but there was one man 
 who was Judge, Sheriff, and Executioner, besides 
 being anything else that was considered requisite
 
 ANECDOTAL 249 
 
 for the proper carrying out of the law. One day 
 a Mexican killed another man. There was no 
 doubt about it. He was brought up before our 
 friend of the multiple offices, who tried him 
 and sentenced him to death. Meanwhile there 
 was no likelihood of the man running away, so he 
 was left perfectly free, and told that his execution 
 would take place within three days of sentence. 
 When the day arrived, the Judge, being his own 
 Sheriff, went to look for him, and having found 
 him, said, ' Come along, Juan Baptisto! Time's 
 up!' But Juan was engaged in a very exciting 
 game of euchre, and asked the Judge for permis- 
 sion to finish the game. The Judge, being a bit 
 of a sportsman, acceded, and I am not sure that 
 he did not take a hand in it himself. As soon as 
 the game was over Juan declared himself ready, 
 and within a few minutes afterwards the Judge 
 and Sheriff satisfactorily performed his duty as 
 hangman." It should be added that " The 
 Mikado" had been produced some time before 
 this occurrence." 
 
 3(c :(: :(( :|e 
 
 " When in the train one day, travelling from
 
 250 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Salt Lake City to Sacramento, while passing 
 through the great Alkali Desert, I remarked upon 
 it to another man in the carriage — there were 
 only three of us — and said, ' I suppose that's all 
 right in its way. It's a pity it can't be utilized? ' 
 to which my friend replied, ' Yes, the soil is good 
 enough; plenty of water and good society would 
 make it a regular Paradise.' Then the other man, 
 who had been silent hitherto, said drily, pointing 
 his forefinger downwards, 'Yes, that's all the other 
 place wants!' " 
 
 "When we were at Naples, my travelling com- 
 panions and myself went outside the hotel, after 
 dinner, not quite knowing how best we could 
 spend the evening. In the porch of the hotel 
 we noticed a most dignified-looking gentleman in 
 black frock coat and tall hat, resembling an Eng- 
 lish clergyman in his dress and the gravity of his 
 appearance. Raising his hat, he said, * Do you 
 want a guide? and told us that he knew every- 
 thing to be seen in the city or its environs. On 
 our replying ' No, not just at present,' he handed 
 us a card which (I suppress the real name) read
 
 ANECDOTAL 251 
 
 as follows : ' Vermicelli Giovanni, Organisateur 
 de Menus Plaisirs, Napoli.' What a delicate 
 
 name for his real profession! " 
 
 * * * * 
 
 ** I was at Monte Carlo when the earthquake 
 took place at 6:10 a.m. The hotel in which I 
 was staying suffered little damage, but it was 
 shaken severely. The effect of it was as if a 
 giant had taken hold of the house, shaken it, 
 then had paused to take breath, shaken it 
 again with a more rapid movement, and then 
 repeated the performance for the third time 
 with increased energy. Every one was running 
 about in night attire. We had several shocks 
 within the next two or three hours, and I had a 
 curious feeling of annoyance at being disturbed, 
 rather than fear. The next day all Monte 
 Carlo seemed to have turned out. The poorer 
 people had lit fires and camped out on the 
 grass, and when night came one could see 
 them there offering up prayers to the Virgin. 
 When a further shock came later in the morn- 
 ing, I was standing at a window of the hotel, 
 and seeing the trees swaying from side to 
 side made me feel actually sick, as if at sea."
 
 252 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 *' Some years ago there was a series of dis- 
 asters in the south of France, but very few have 
 noted the following extraordinary coincidences 
 in regard to it. The terrible railway accident 
 at Monte Carlo occurred on a Shrove Tuesday 
 evening. The next year, on Shrove Tuesday 
 evening, the theatre at Nice was burned down, 
 causing a fearful sacrifice of life; and again on 
 Shrove Tuesday in the third year came the 
 great earthquake in the Riviera." 
 
 * * * * 
 
 Sir Arthur is able to furnish me with some 
 information throwing an extremely interesting 
 side-light on history in regard to Napoleon I., 
 as follows: 
 
 "My grandfather was born 126 years ago in 
 the county of Kerry. He was an impoverished 
 young Irish squire, much given to steeple- 
 chasing. One day he won a noteworthy steeple- 
 chase, and riding homewards he stopped at a 
 little village inn to celebrate the event. This 
 he did, as was the wine-bibbing custom in those 
 days, somewhat too freely. At that time every 
 able-bodied man was being pressed into the 
 Queen's service. There happened to be a re-
 
 ANECDOTAL 253 
 
 cruiting-sergeant in the inn, who pressed the 
 Queen's shilling into my grandfather's hand. 
 The next morning when he awoke from his 
 heavy sleep he discovered that he had enlisted. 
 There was no help for it. Unfortunately he had 
 just married the handsome daughter of a well- 
 to-do farmer, but the farmer absolutely declined 
 to buy his discharge, and having no money 
 himself, there was nothing to be done but to 
 submit to the inevitable. He was immediately 
 ordered off for foreign service, and took part in 
 the Peninsular campaign, and behaved with dis- 
 tinction at Vittoria, Salamanca, and Badajos. 
 These engagements thinned out the regiment 
 so much that it was ordered home to the 
 depot. 
 
 " After the battle of Waterloo my grandfather 
 was ordered with a detachment of his regiment 
 to St. Helena, and his wife accompanied him. 
 At first they lived in the regimental quarters 
 close to Longwood, where Napoleon lived, 
 and while there a child was born to my 
 grandmother. During her confinement one of 
 the soldiers was sentenced to receive twenty- 
 five lashes for being drunk on duty, but the
 
 254 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 doctor declared that his cries would make my 
 grandmother very ill, so he was taken down 
 from the triangle, let off, and was eternally 
 grateful to my grandmother. Amongst Napo- 
 leon's companions were General Bertrand, the 
 Comte and Comtesse Montholon, faithful adher- 
 ents, who preferred to share their exile with 
 Napoleon, and there was also his valet, Las 
 Casas. The Comtesse Montholon was confined 
 about the same time as my grandmother, and 
 being very ill, could not nurse her child. My 
 grandmother, who was strong and healthy, 
 offered to nurse the child with her own, and 
 so removed to Longwood, where she and her 
 husband remained until Napoleon's death, and 
 my grandfather — who was a man of superior 
 education for those days — became, I believe, 
 paymaster of Napoleon's household. The chil- 
 dren were brought up together, and when the 
 little ones were old enough to toddle about. 
 Napoleon would make them the companions of 
 his daily walks, taking one child by each hand, 
 giving them cakes, sweets, etc., and he became 
 very much attached to them both. In the ordi- 
 nary way he contented himself with walking up
 
 ANECDOTAL 255 
 
 and down the corridors. This was his only 
 exercise, for he never went outside Longwood 
 for fear of being pointed out or stared at. 
 
 " Napoleon complained bitterly of the harsh 
 behaviour of Sir Hudson Lowe, and of both the 
 quantity and quality of the food supplied, but his 
 complaints were in vain. By way of remedy, he 
 conceived the notion of breaking off the gold and 
 silver eagles from his covers and plates, which 
 my grandfather, who was devoted to him, used 
 to sell for him, in order to furnish necessaries 
 for the table. When this device was discovered 
 it would seem to have had some effect, for bet- 
 ter treatment followed. 
 
 "When Napoleon died — on May 5, 182 1 — his 
 body was opened for embalming, and his heart 
 taken out and placed in a wash-hand basin in an 
 adjacent room, with a lamp on the table beside 
 it. Longwood was infested with rats, and fear- 
 ing the result of an incursion of these voracious 
 creatures, my grandfather volunteered to sit in 
 the room all through the night with an old 
 ' Brown Bess ' in his hand and shoot the rats 
 when they came too near 
 
 "Sir Hudson Lowe, on his return to England,
 
 256 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 lived a solitary life in an old-fashioned brick 
 house in Chelsea. The house stood in large 
 grounds, with tall trees giving shelter to hun- 
 dreds of rooks. To-day, house and trees have 
 disappeared to give place to palatial flats.* He 
 was in the habit of walking alone every after- 
 noon in the Park ; and returning one day through 
 Wilton Crescent, he was met by a man who 
 looked at him for a moment, and then produced 
 a heavy riding whip with which he lashed Sir 
 Hudson Lowe across the back two or three times, 
 and then disappeared. That man was Las 
 Casas, Napoleon's valet." 
 
 * * * * 
 
 " Read this," said Sir Arthur to me. 
 
 " ' I remember poor Byron, Hobhouse, Trelaw- 
 ney, and myself dining with Cardinal Mezzocaldo 
 at Rome,' Captain Sumph began, ' and we had 
 some Orvieto wine for dinner which Byron liked 
 
 * The house stood just off Cadogan Terrace, and a few yards 
 east of it was a Roman Catholic chapel built by the Abbe Voyaux de 
 Franoux, a French noble who escaped to England during the Reign 
 of Terror. He settled there and devoted his life to good works. 
 One day, on hearing that the Comte de Chambord was going there 
 to early service, his followers flocked to the spot in hundreds, and 
 literally stormed the building, leaping over seats and pews like a rush
 
 ANECDOTAL 257 
 
 very much. And I remember how the Cardinal 
 regretted that he was a single man. We went 
 to Civita Vecchia two days afterwards, where 
 Byron's yacht was — and, by Jove! the Cardinal 
 died within three weeks ; and Byron was very 
 sorry, for he rather liked him.' 
 
 " ' A devilish interesting story, Sumph, indeed,' 
 Wagg said. ' You should publish some of these 
 stories, Captain Sumph, you really should,' Shan- 
 don replied.' " 
 
 " Each time that I am temped to relate some 
 incident in my life that to me is of interest, the 
 above passage from Thackeray's immortal 
 * Pendennis ' rises warningly before me. I feel 
 that I am Captain Sumph. Yet in spite of such 
 warnings the reminiscences will roll out. 
 
 " Who of us does not love to dwell on his asso- 
 ciation with the great ones who have left us? and 
 on the other hand, surely we love to hear of them 
 — no matter how trifling the incident — first hand, 
 direct from personal contact. I call to mind with 
 what awe I listened to Sterndale Bennett saying 
 
 into a theatre on Boxing Night, in order to catch a glimpse of their 
 beloved Prince. The Comte himself escaped the scrimmage by 
 being forcibly pulled in through a small door.
 
 258 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 familiarly : ' When I was dining with Mendels- 
 sohn one day ' ; or to Moscheles saying : ' As 
 Beethoven and I were walking in the Graben,' 
 etc.; and to any one, in fact, who had spoken 
 with departed great statesmen, warriors, or 
 artists. There was a fascination in looking at 
 and speaking with such an one. And at those 
 times I could appreciate poor Captain Sumph 
 and should have loved to be with him. 
 
 " Here is a reminiscence worthy of the gallant 
 captain: 
 
 " The first time Tennyson came to dine at my 
 house, the door was opened to him by a parlour- 
 maid who had been with us many years and was 
 like one of the family. She was fairly staggered 
 by the appearance of the visitor, who, as will be 
 remembered, always wore a deep, broad-brimmed 
 black felt hat and a black cape or short cloak, 
 which made him look exactly like a conspirator 
 in an Italian or Spanish play. Our little party 
 consisted of Tennyson, Millais, Francis Byng 
 (now Earl of Strafford), myself, my mother and 
 another lady (Captain Sumph again!). We met 
 to discuss the proposed work in collaboration 
 — which afterwards was published without Mil-
 
 ANECDOTAL 259 
 
 lais' illustrations as 'The Window; or, the Loves 
 of the Wrens.' When the guests had departed, 
 Kate, the maid, said to me, " Was that really 
 the great poet, Master Arthur? [I was nearly 
 thirty!] Well! he do wear clothes! ' ' Of course,' 
 I replied with subtle irony, ' all poets do. Be- 
 sides,' I added, 'you forget that he is Poet- 
 Laureate.' 
 
 "She hadn't forgotten it, for she had never 
 known it. Then after a slight pause, she said 
 thoughtfully: ' What a queer uniform!' 
 
 " Now, I wonder if she imagined that Tenny- 
 son belonged to a brigade all dressed in the 
 same way. 
 
 " I long now to tell of my friendship and asso- 
 ciation with others besides Tennyson. Millais, 
 in whose studio I passed hours when a lad, and 
 who in after years had much difficulty in paint- 
 ing my portrait, and made me vow I would never 
 disclose the enormous number of sittings I gave 
 him for it; Leighton, who in his younger days 
 was fond of singing Italian songs and duets, and 
 who with Millais at my instigation first invited 
 musicians to the Royal Academy banquet, and 
 who there first introduced the toast of ' Music
 
 26o SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 and the Drama/ to which Irving and myself 
 responded; of Sir A. Cockburn and his love of 
 music — how we frequently went to concerts to- 
 gether, and upon one occasion missed a Monday 
 Popular Concert altogether in consequence of 
 sitting until ten o'clock discussing some very fine 
 old port and the Tichborne case at the same 
 time. At one time this cause celebre absorbed his 
 thoughts and conversation entirely; and I re- 
 member at a dinner at his house, when some 
 distinguished foreigners were present, he gave a 
 complete resume of the case in French (which he 
 spoke perfectly — his mother was French, I be- 
 lieve), lasting a couple of hours. Then Brown- 
 ing — the very antithesis of Tennyson in every 
 respect; Fred Clay, one of the most gifted and 
 brilliant of men, and like a brother to me; 'Sim' 
 Egerton (the late Earl of Wilton), a born musical 
 conductor, who struggled manfully against the 
 disadvantages of birth, wealth, and position; and 
 Sir Frederic Ousely, whose musical genius met 
 with the same obstacles — both these men would 
 have made a mark in the musical world if they 
 had had to work for their living. Apropos of 
 Ousely a humorous episode comes to my recol-
 
 ANECDOTAL 261 
 
 lection. He was of a very gentle, shy nature, 
 and rather shunned mixing in society, but drawn 
 on the subject of music he became vivacious and 
 talkative. One Sunday evening he and I were 
 invited by ' Sim ' Egerton to dine at mess with 
 the Life Guards: his natural reserve and hesita- 
 tion with regard to a Sunday dinner were soon 
 overcome by assurance that it would be very 
 quiet and staid, and so we went. Shy at first, some 
 one talked to him about music, when he bright- 
 ened up and began to tell various incidents in 
 his musical career. He overlooked the fact that 
 with one or two exceptions none present under- 
 stood his reference to technical details, but he 
 crowned his recital by describing the humorous 
 points in an exercise for the degree of Doctor of 
 Music which had come before him as Professor 
 of Music at Oxford. The officers listened re- 
 spectfully, hardly comprehending a word, and he 
 finished up by exclaiming: 'And you'll scarcely 
 believe me, Colonel So-and-So, when I tell you 
 that the whole movement was in the hypomyxo- 
 lydian mode!' 'God bless my soul, you don't 
 say so!' replied the Colonel, with well-feigned 
 astonishment. 'It is a fact,' replied Ousely."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 "ABOUT MUSIC" 
 
 An Address Delivered in the Town Hall, Birmingham, on Octo- 
 ber 19, 1888, by Sir Arthur Sullivan. 
 
 IT has come to my good fortune to have to 
 address you as President of the Birming- 
 ham and Midland Institute, and I naturally 
 choose the subject of Music. I can choose no 
 other. Music has been my incessant occupa- 
 tion since I was eight years old. All my ener- 
 gies, all my affections, have been bestowed upon 
 it, and it has for long been to me a second nature. 
 The interests and triumphs of my art are dearer 
 to me than any other interests and triumphs can 
 be. Music is to me a mistress in every sense of 
 the word ; a mistress whose commands I obey, 
 whose smiles I love, whose wrongs move me as 
 no others do. And therefore it will not be diffi- 
 cult for you to understand the gratification with 
 which I address you in this famous city, a city 
 which first set England the example of combin- 
 
 262
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 263 
 
 ing the triumphs of practical science with those 
 of art by founding here, in the middle of your 
 workshops and factories, the world-renowned 
 Birmingham Festival, and afterwards crowning 
 the edifices of this great town by the majestic 
 portico of that temple in which so many master- 
 pieces of music have been first heard by thou- 
 sands of enthusiastic worshippers. 
 
 But I confess that it is with very considerable 
 diffidence that I speak to you on the subject of 
 music, and I can at once relieve you of all anxiety 
 by stating that my address will be a very short 
 one, because all my life I have been making 
 music and not talking about it. It is so easy, in 
 an address on music, either to sink into dull 
 platitudes, or to indulge in wearisome and, to 
 many in a general audience, incomprehensible 
 technicalities. I shall, however, endeavour to 
 avoid both of these errors, and in the few 
 remarks I am addressing to you shall give utter- 
 ance to a few thoughts of my own on the subject, 
 which may, I trust, interest you as they have 
 interested me. 
 
 Among the many advances of our country in 
 the last half-century, surely none has been
 
 264 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 greater than that of music. Publications and per- 
 formances are now so extraordinarily multiplied 
 that the masterpieces — not only of the old com- 
 posers, but of the most modern writers — are 
 brought within the means of every one, more so, 
 probably, than in any other country ; and Eng- 
 land has thus, so far, the chance of again assum- 
 ing the position that she held many hundred 
 years ago of being at the head of Europe as a 
 musical country. She was once (as I believe the 
 most Teutonic of German historians now allow) 
 a long way in advance of other nations — yet how 
 little is this known or acknowledged by ourselves ! 
 So far back as the year 1230 a piece of music 
 composed by a monk of Reading (John of Forn- 
 sete was his honoured name, and the MS. of his 
 work is at the British Museum) was far, far in 
 advance, both in tunefulness and expression, of 
 anything else produced at that time. I allude to 
 the celebrated glee, in six vocal parts, *' Sumer is 
 a-cumin in." And observe that that pre-emi- 
 nence implies many years (I might say centuries) 
 of previous study and progress on the part of 
 our countrymen. But we need not trust to impli- 
 cation only; records exist to prove how dili-
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 265 
 
 gently and enthusiastically music was pursued 
 in England from the reign of King Alfred to 
 the time of the Reformation. Here are a few 
 facts : — 
 
 In 550 A. D. there was a great gathering and 
 competition of harpists at Conway — an early 
 Eisteddfod. 
 
 In 866 King Alfred instituted a professorship 
 of music at Oxford, and there must have been 
 concerted music in those Anglo-Saxon times, for 
 in the British Museum is an old picture of a con- 
 cert consisting of a six-stringed harp, a four- 
 stringed fiddle, a trumpet, and a crooked horn. 
 Curiously enough, this is, with the exception of 
 the horn, exactly the same combination of instru- 
 ments that we see nearly every Saturday night 
 playing outside a London public-house! I have 
 not noticed whether the background of the pic- 
 ture I allude to represents the corresponding 
 locality of that period. 
 
 Even then music had begun to exercise an 
 influence on trade; the metal industry and join- 
 ery must have already benefited by it, for in the 
 tenth century the monk Wulston gives a long 
 description of a grand organ in Winchester Ca-
 
 266 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 thedral, and St. Dunstan, famous for his skill in 
 metal work, at the same date fabricated an organ 
 in Malmesbury Abbey, the pipes of which were 
 of brass. 
 
 Long before the Conquest, three-part harmony 
 was practised, and is spoken of by the chroniclers 
 as the "custom of the country." Thomas ^ 
 Becket, on his visit to France to negotiate the 
 marriage of Henry II., took with him 250 boys, 
 who sang a harmony of three parts, which 
 is expressly recorded to have been ** in the 
 English manner, and till then unheard of in 
 France." 
 
 It is a satisfaction to know, also, that in those 
 days musicians were well paid; for at the wedding 
 of Edward I.'s daughter every King's minstrel 
 received forty shillings — equal, at least, to twenty 
 pounds in these days. Chaucer, in his " Prin- 
 cesses' Tale," mentions approvingly that young 
 children were taught to sing as much as they 
 were taught to read. But he somewhat weakens 
 the value of his judgment, in my eyes, by express- 
 ing elsewhere the opinion that every country 
 squire should be taught to play the flute. 
 
 In the reign of Edward II. harmony had
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 267 
 
 advanced. At the " Tournament of Tottenham" 
 we read that — 
 
 " In all the corners of the house 
 Was melody delicious 
 Of six-men songs." 
 
 The constitution of military bands in England 
 was also of a very early date. Henry VI., when 
 he went to war with France, took over with him 
 a band consisting of ten clarion players and 
 other instrumentalists, who played at head- 
 quarters morning and evening. This is the first 
 military band we have a record of. Queen 
 Elizabeth improved upon it so far as to have a 
 band which played during her dinner, of twelve 
 trumpets, two kettledrums, pipes, cornets, and 
 side drums, and I am not astonished when I read 
 that "this musicke did make the hall ring for 
 half-an-hour." 
 
 In her reign the priest must have been (as he 
 often is now) the musician of the parish, and a 
 cheery good fellow; for in Vernon's " Hunting of 
 Purgatory and Death," 1561, the author says: — 
 " I knewe a priest whiche, when any of his 
 parishioners should be maryed, would take his 
 backe-pype and go fetch them to the Church,
 
 268 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 playinge sweetlie afore them; and then he would 
 lay his instrument handsomely upon the aultar 
 tyll he had maryed them and sayd mass. Which 
 thyng being done, he would gentillye bringe 
 them home again with his backe-pype." 
 
 I could produce an immense mass of evidence 
 as to the forward condition of music in England 
 up to the beginning of the sixteenth century, but 
 I will not weary you with details — details which 
 you can learn for yourselves in your excellent 
 Free Library, if you are inclined to go more 
 deeply into the matter. Suffice it to say that we 
 have clear proof of the existence of a highly 
 educated school of theoretical musicians who 
 preserved the plain-song of the Church in its in- 
 tegrity, and made it the basis of harmonic treat- 
 ment; who wrote out their harmony in score, and 
 from one of whom emanated the earliest remain- 
 ing composition of freedom and beauty, the be- 
 fore-mentioned glee, " Sumer is a-cumin in." 
 And this was followed up by a succession of origi- 
 nal works by such writers as John Dunstable, who, 
 though now little known in England, had in his 
 own day a great reputation abroad. 
 
 Thu Universities of Cambridge and Oxford
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 269 
 
 acknowledged the importance of music by mak- 
 ing it a faculty, and granting doctors' degrees, 
 analogous to those granted in Divinity, Law, 
 and Medicine, at a very early date. Joan of Arc 
 and her tragical end seem to us a long, long way 
 back in our history, and yet only thirty years 
 after her death was the first musical degree con- 
 ferred at Cambridge; and even now no other 
 universities in Europe but English ones confer 
 musical degrees. 
 
 There are clear indications that up to the time 
 of the Reformation music was in continual pro- 
 gress. But, unfortunately, the Wars of the Roses 
 and the ruthless destruction which accompanied 
 the suppression of the monasteries (the only 
 homes of art of all kinds in those rough savage 
 days) have obliterated all but the rarest indica- 
 tions. But it is certain, not only from the trea- 
 tises and compositions of the fourteenth and fif- 
 teenth centuries that have survived, but from 
 the splendour of the English School when we 
 again encounter it about 1520, that in the inter- 
 val our music had been growing and flourishing, 
 as everything in England grows and flourishes 
 when it really seizes hold of the English people.
 
 270 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Palestrina (from 1550 to 1600) no doubt wrote 
 more nobly than any of his contemporaries, 
 including our own Tallis and Byrd; but it is not 
 too much to say that the English predecessors of 
 Tallis and Byrd — Edwards, Redford, Shepperd, 
 Tye, White, Johnson, and Marbecke, who date 
 from 1500 to 1550, were much in advance of any 
 of the predecessors of Palestrina on the Conti- 
 nent. For they were their equals in science, and 
 they far surpassed them in the tunefulness and 
 what I may call the common sense of their music. 
 Their compositions display a " sweet reasonable- 
 ness," a human feeling, a suitability to the words, 
 and a determination to be something more than 
 a mere scientific and mechanical puzzle, which 
 few, if any, of the Continental composers before 
 1550 can be said to exhibit. I have only to 
 mention the familiar title of the charming and 
 favourite madrigal, *' In going to my lonely bed" 
 (by Edwards, 1523- 1566) to convince many here 
 present of the truth of what I am saying. Such 
 was our position in the first half of the sixteenth 
 century; and the half-century following is the 
 splendid time of English music, in which the 
 illustrious names of Morley, Weekes, Wilbye,
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 271 
 
 Ford, Dowland, and Orlando Gibbons shine like 
 stars. These names may be unknown to some 
 of you, but the men existed, and their works live; 
 live not alone by reason of their science, their 
 pure part-writing and rich harmonies, but by the 
 stream of beautiful melody which flows through 
 all their works — melody which is ear-haunting 
 even to our modern and jaded natures, and 
 which had no parallel elsewhere. Those of you 
 who have heard such works as the " Silver Swan," 
 by Gibbons, and " Since first I saw your face," by 
 Ford, will, I am sure, endorse my opinion. 
 
 I will not go into the causes which, for nearly 
 200 years, made us lose that high position, and 
 threw us into the hands of the illustrious foreign- 
 ers, Handel, Haydn, Spohr, Mendelssohn (so long 
 the favourite composers of the English), and of 
 the Italian Opera, which exclusively occupied 
 the attention of the fashionable classes, and, like 
 a great car of Juggernaut, overrode and crushed 
 all efforts made on behalf of native music. My 
 belief is that this was largely due to the enthusi- 
 asm with which commerce was pursued, and to 
 the extraordinary way in which religious and 
 political struggles, and, later still, practical sci-
 
 272 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 ence, have absorbed our energies. We were con- 
 tent to bziy our music, while we were making 
 churches, steam-engines, railways, cotton-mills, 
 constitutions, anti-Corn-Law Leagues, and Cau- 
 cuses. Now, however, as I have already said, 
 the condition of things is changing — it has 
 changed. And yet I cannot but feel that we are 
 only at the entry of the Promised Land. Habits 
 of mind and modes of action are still to be found 
 which show that we have much to do before we 
 become the musical people that we were in the 
 remoter ages of our history. We do, indeed, 
 love music, but it is with an inferior affection 
 to that which we lavish on other objects of life. 
 We have not yet ceased to talk whilst music is 
 being performed ; we still come in late to a con- 
 cert, and whilst some noble and pathetic work is 
 enchaining the attention of every one, we- too 
 often insist upon disturbing twenty or thirty peo- 
 ple and destroying their enjoyment because we 
 have bought seats Nos. 23, 24, and 25, and mean 
 to have our money's worth. And if we come 
 late, depend upon it we always go out before the 
 concert is finished, to show how thoroughly inde- 
 pendent we are. In this we are like Charles
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 273 
 
 Lamb, who, when a clerk in the East India 
 Office, was reproached by his chief, " Mr. Lamb, 
 you come so late in the mornings." "Yes sir," 
 was the reply, " but I go away so early in the 
 afternoons." 
 
 I am not apt to praise the foreigner at the 
 expense of Englishmen, but we have a lesson to 
 learn from both Germans and Frenchmen in this 
 respect. I fear we must admit that even at pres- 
 ent, in the mind of a true Briton, business, 
 society, politics, and sport, all come before art. 
 Art is very well ; we have no objection to pay for 
 it, and to pay well. But we can only enjoy it if it 
 interferes with none of these pet pleasures ; and in 
 consequence it has often to suffer. 
 
 I will name an amusing little instance of similar 
 indifference in another art which came to my 
 notice while preparing these remarks. A very 
 eminent commercial firm gave my friend, Sir 
 John Millais, a large sum for a beautiful picture, 
 with the full-size facsimile of which we are fami- 
 liar — the lad blowing soap-bubbles. The bub- 
 ble is in the air over the boy's head, and the 
 picture tells its tale to every one. But a second 
 facsimile has been posted, and in order that the
 
 274 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 name of the firm may be made more prominent, 
 the bubble has been covered over and the whole 
 point of the painting is lost. 
 
 But besides the indifference I speak of, there 
 is no doubt that music has had to suffer much 
 from the lofty contempt with which she and her 
 votaries have been treated by those who pro- 
 fessed to have a claim to distinction in other 
 walks. True, since the days of that piggish 
 nobleman, Lord Chesterfield, things have greatly 
 changed. Eton, Harrow, Rugby — all the great 
 schools — have now their masters for music on the 
 same footing as other instructors. Go into the 
 officers' quarters in barracks, and you find piano- 
 fortes, violins, and violoncellos ; and lying about 
 there will be good music. Amateur societies 
 flourish, which bring rich and poor together. 
 H.R.H., the Duke of Edinburgh told me that 
 he had a complete string quartette amongst the 
 officers on board his ship — all these things point 
 to a great reaction in the feelings of the profes- 
 sional classes towards music. 
 
 But much of the old leaven remains, and one 
 of its most objectionable developments is a curi- 
 ous affectation of ignorance on the part of many
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 275 
 
 men of position in the political and scientific 
 world — as if music were too trivial a matter for 
 their lofty intellects to take notice of. At any 
 great meeting of the subject of music, arch- 
 bishops, judges, politicians, financiers — each one 
 who rises to speak will deprecate any knowledge 
 of music with a snug satisfaction, like a man 
 disowning poor relations. 
 
 I am not here to explain why music should be 
 cultivated, nor to apologise to superior-minded 
 persons for its existence, nor to speak humbly 
 and with bated breath of its merits ; but I claim 
 for it boldly and proudly its place amongst the 
 great things and the great influences in the 
 world ; and I can but express pity for those who 
 are ignorant and stupid enough to deny its 
 importance in the world and history, and to look 
 upon it as a mere family pastime, fit only for 
 women and children. 
 
 Darwin, in his " Descent of Man," says: — 
 ** Neither the enjoyment nor the capacity of 
 producing musical notes are faculties of the 
 least direct use to man in reference to his ordi- 
 nary habits of life." Physiologically he is prob- 
 ably correct, but as soon as merely rudimentary
 
 276 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 actions are left, as soon as existence becomes 
 life, his statement is completely false. Indeed, 
 music is, as the same philosopher elsewhere 
 says, bound up in daily life, and a necessity of 
 existence. 
 
 Of its usefulness in daily life there can be no 
 question. What would religious services be 
 without organs and singing? What would 
 armies be without bands? If music were a mere 
 luxury, would people spend so much time and 
 money on it? It is not to obtain mere ear-enjoy- 
 ment — it is because it is a necessity to satisfy cer- 
 tain requirements of the mind. It enters into 
 the chemistry of the mind as salt does into the 
 chemistry of the body. Here and there you 
 meet with a person who says, " I never eat salt 
 — I do not require it." Well, you are sorry for 
 him ; there is evidently something wrong in his 
 physical constitution. So when any one assumes 
 a tone of lofty superiority, and boasts that he 
 knows nothing about music, and pretends not to 
 be able to distinguish one tune from another, 
 you may either accept his statement with a con- 
 siderable amount of reserve, or conclude that 
 there is something wrong in his physical or
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 277 
 
 mental faculties, and recommend him to consult 
 an artist. 
 
 Now bear with me a few moments while I 
 briefly consider three points about music — its 
 usefulness, its necessity for the mind, and its over- 
 powering influence in the world. It is singular 
 from how very early a date music took a great 
 position. In the account of the origin of man- 
 kind as given us in the book of Genesis, we find 
 society divided into three great divisions, (i) 
 Agriculturists, " those that dwell in tents and 
 have cattle"; (2) Manufacturers, "artificers in 
 brass and iron "; (3) Musicians, " such as handle 
 the harp and pipe," i.e., strings and wind. Music 
 is put on a level with such essential pursuits as 
 agriculture and manufactures. And this equal 
 share in the economy of the world music has 
 maintained ; but belonging, as it does, to the 
 inmost part of man's nature, its presence is often 
 overlooked, and we are as unconscious of it as 
 we are of the air we breathe, the speech we utter, 
 the natural motion of our muscles, or the beat- 
 ing of our hearts. It is co-extensive with human 
 life. From the soft lullaby of the mother that 
 soothes our cradle-life to the dirge that is sung
 
 278 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 over the grave, music enters into our existence. 
 It marks periods and epochs of our life, stim- 
 ulates our exertions, strengthens our faith, speaks 
 both words of peace and of war, and exercises 
 over us a charm and indefinite power which 
 we can all feel, though we cannot explain. I 
 repeat, it is a necessity to the mind, as salt is to 
 the body. 
 
 And now, to bring the question of its 2^^^ forcibly 
 forward to our British understandings, what 
 would commerce be without the music trades, 
 without that multitude of industries, those mil- 
 lions of workers who are necessary for the 
 production of organs, pianofortes, and every 
 kind of wind, string and percussion instruments; 
 for the engraving, type-setting, and printing 
 of music ; for the manufacture of the millions 
 of reams of paper used in music-printing and 
 copying ? 
 
 I will take one item, comparatively a small 
 one, but one which for Birmingham has a pecu- 
 liar interest. Have you ever thought of the 
 amount of steel wire used in the manufacture of 
 pianofortes? It is impossible to get the actual 
 statistics of the pianoforte trade of the world,
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 279 
 
 but I have been to some pains to inquire, and 
 have formed a fairly approximate estimate. 
 Taking the products of the principal manufactur- 
 ing countries, England, France, Germany, Amer- 
 ica, and smaller states, I find that the total of 
 pianofortes manufactured every year is about 
 175,000, and that the average amount of wire 
 used in each pianoforte is about 570 feet; your 
 own quick calculation will tell you that this rep- 
 resents in length 18,892 miles of steel wire ! If it 
 were in one continuous piece it would reach from 
 here to Japan and back again, and then you would 
 have enough left over to run up with to Scotland 
 and back. 
 
 When we come to the question of the influence 
 of music, we arrive at its most important function 
 — the era of its greatest power. Who shall mea- 
 sure the boundless influence of music on human 
 feeling? Who shall gainsay the mighty power it 
 exercises over human passions ? or deny the 
 dynamical force which it has exerted in history? 
 In the ancient world it is constantly found associ- 
 ated with eventful episodes. The earliest records 
 of the Bible contain more than one such combi- 
 nation. To the incident in the life of Lamech,
 
 28o SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 the antediluvian hero — an incident embodied in 
 what are perhaps the earliest lines of poetry in 
 the world — I shall only refer ; but I would remind 
 you that in the East verse and music are more 
 constantly associated than they are with us, and 
 that Lamech's poetry probably had its own 
 melody. Jubal, the inventor of string and wind 
 instruments, and the father of all the musicians 
 who have succeeded him, has (as I have already 
 pointed out) his existence announced in exactly 
 the same terms as the discoverers of agriculture 
 and of engineering. The greatest of the great 
 wells which supplied the Israelites during their 
 wandering in the wilderness is expressly stated 
 to have been dug to the sound of a solemn 
 national music, of the extent of which we can 
 form little idea from the concise terms of the 
 ancient narrative; but from the mention of the 
 fact that, at the special command of Jehovah, 
 the great Lawgiver himself, the leaders of the 
 people and the whole congregation took part in 
 the singing, there can be little doubt that it was 
 a most imposing and impressive musical cere- 
 monial. We have the words, the very words 
 themselves: —
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 2S1 
 
 *' Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it ; 
 The well which the princes digged, 
 Which the nobles of the people delved 
 With the sceptre and their staves. " 
 
 Would that the music had also been preserved ! 
 
 In Greece we find that the first definite political 
 revolution in Athens — the murder of Hipparchus 
 the tyrant, and the establishment of free govern- 
 ment, as early as 514 b. c. — was consecrated and 
 probably accompanied by a song which is still 
 preserved, the song of Harmodius and Aristo- 
 geiton. This song was for generations a rallying 
 cry to the Greek Jacobins. 
 
 In more modern times music fully maintained 
 its political influence. The Reformation in Ger- 
 many was powerfully advanced by Luther's famous 
 hymn, "Ein feste Burg," and by his other chorales, 
 which are well known to have precipitated the 
 conversion of whole towns to the reformed faith, 
 and which during the late Franco-German war 
 were lively symbols of heroic rejoicing, and watch- 
 words of the national faith. During the same war 
 the national song of the " Wacht am Rhein" had 
 a popularity and an influence which it is difficult 
 for us to understand, seeing how weak the tune 
 is, but which is perpetuated in the immense
 
 282 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 national monument near Bingen on the Rhine, 
 erected in the year 1883. I need hardly do more 
 than refer to the French warlike songs of " Mal- 
 brouk," the " Ca ira," and the "Marseillaise," 
 which played so large a part in the French Revo- 
 lution of 1790, or to " Dunois the young and 
 brave," and the "Chant du Depart," which 
 fanned the flames on both sides in the later 
 revolutions. 
 
 Nor have we Britons been without our musical 
 influences. The enormous power exercised by 
 the Welsh bards of old caused their extirpation. 
 Readers of Carlyle's " History of Cromwell" will 
 recollect his account of the Battle of Dunbar, and 
 the emotion which forced that silent and unde- 
 monstrative man into urging his soldiers forward 
 by shouting and making them shout the 117th 
 Psalm to the version still used in the Church of 
 Scotland, and to a still existing tune. On the 
 other side " The King shall enjoy his own again" 
 and " Bonnie Prince Charlie" were of great 
 political importance in inspiring and encouraging 
 the Royalist party. And need I, in an assem- 
 blage of Britons, do more than allude to the 
 tune of mighty force which binds us all together
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 283 
 
 over the whole wide world, " God Save the 
 Queen ! " 
 
 Dibdin's songs, simple and melodious, with- 
 out doubt, have taught our sailors lessons of 
 patriotism and self-denial, and " Auld Lang 
 Syne" has brought about kindness, goodwill, and 
 the extinction of many a long estrangement be- 
 tween friends. 
 
 Well, this is all sentiment, many may be dis- 
 posed to say. Yes, but he who refuses to accept 
 the force of sentiment on human nature is a blind 
 fool. Many a statesman has found, and will still 
 find this to his cost. 
 
 That the force of sentiment has been recog- 
 nised we know from the fact that certain music 
 has been prohibited by reason of its influence. 
 In Poland, no man, woman, nor child was allowed 
 by the Russians to sing any of their own national 
 songs. They raised feelings dangerous to the 
 conquerors. Certain tunes are even now for- 
 bidden to be played by the bands of the Highland 
 regiments when they are quartered in foreign 
 parts far from home. The effect on many of the 
 men is actually physical; they fall ill of the in- 
 tense longing for home which the music excites.
 
 284 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 And the same thing happens to the Swiss peasant 
 when he is removed from his mountains and 
 valleys; the loved strains of the " Ranz des 
 Vaches " produce positive suffering — an actual 
 home-sickness. 
 
 I have myself witnessed the extraordinary effect 
 of their rhythmical music on the Arabs in Egypt, 
 more especially at the great ceremony of the de- 
 parture of the Sacred Carpet for Mecca. In one 
 tent there were nearly a hundred dervishes sway- 
 ing their bodies in all kinds of movements and 
 contortions, and singing the same monotonous 
 measure over and over again, until they got 
 maddened, and fell down, some senseless, some in 
 furious fits when they were really dangerous. 
 
 And is not our own British soldier moved at 
 the tunes of " The British Grenadier" and " I'm 
 ninety-five," which thrill his whole being and 
 make him feel that he is still equal to five 
 foreigners! 
 
 Now, if this influence is so great, ought it not 
 to be recognised and controlled by proper educa- 
 tion? — education, not for performance — but for 
 appreciation and understanding;. The School 
 Board is doing something, but it could do a great
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 285 
 
 deal more. ;i^i6o,ooo a year is apportioned by- 
 Parliament to music, but it is not spent directly 
 on teaching — it is brought in as an allowance for 
 attendance, with what result I do not quite know. 
 I ought to have referred to my friend, Sir John 
 Stainer, who is the able Government Inspector of 
 Schools. But great things might be done with 
 so splendid a sum devoted to instruction. 
 
 The love of music by children is remarkable — 
 see what pleasure they derive from their school 
 songs and hymns. And their love of music does 
 not cease with their school-days; the girls carry 
 it with them into the factories, and the lads be- 
 come a principal element in the numerous brass 
 bands, which have lately so much increased in the 
 midland and northern counties. There is a sort 
 of continuity in the musical life of our country 
 which should be fostered and encouraged. The 
 early home, the village school, the church choir, 
 the choral society, or the brass band, and, in 
 special cases, systematic study at one of our great 
 music schools. The municipalities ought to take 
 up this work and systematise it by the establish- 
 ment of some kind of secondary schools. Ireland 
 possesses a special Act sanctioning the teaching
 
 286 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 of music in municipal schools with aid from the 
 rates in support; but we are not yet so fortunate 
 in England. Our legislation not only does not 
 encourage music, but it exhibits a curiously 
 Philistine attitude towards it; I speak of the 
 classing of music and drinking licences together, 
 under the same authoritie. I suppose there is 
 some subtle reason for it, but I fail to understand 
 why it is that in the midst of all that is low and 
 degrading, the one humanising element which 
 might lift poor besotted creatures, if only for a 
 few moments, out of the depth of their wretched 
 and sordid condition, should require the special 
 sanction of a board of magistrates. They may 
 drink as much as they like, but let any one of 
 them sing a song, or play a tune on the cornet or 
 violin, and down comes the law upon them. 
 
 I wonder if this anomaly arises from the lofty 
 contempt in which so many of our so-called poli- 
 ticians have held music in their unsalted minds. 
 With them it was an occupation for the "lower 
 classes," the fit companion to drinking or tight- 
 rope dancing. Of course it is the place that is 
 licensed — not the art ; — that I know. But neither 
 a picture gallery nor a bookseller's shop requires
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 287 
 
 a licence ; and yet a great deal more harm can be 
 done to public morals by books and pictures than 
 by music. 
 
 And herein lies one of the divine attributes of 
 music, in that it is absolutely free from the power 
 of suggesting anything immoral. Its countless 
 moods and richly varied forms suit it to every 
 organisation, and it can convey every meaning 
 except one — an impure one. Music can suggest 
 no improper thought, and herein maybe claimed 
 a superiority over painting and sculpture, both 
 of which may, and indeed do at times depict 
 and suggest impurity. This blemish, however, 
 does not enter into music ; sounds alone (apart 
 from articulate words, spectacle, or descriptive 
 programme) must, from their indefinite nature, 
 be innocent. Let us thank God that we have 
 one elevating and ennobling influence in the 
 world which can never, never lose its purity and 
 beauty. 
 
 And now I have come to the end of telling you 
 the thoughts that entered my mind whilst con- 
 sidering my address to you. They have been 
 somewhat rambling perhaps, and there has been 
 no intention to point any particular moral. I
 
 288 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 have endeavoured to show you how England was 
 at one time in the foremost place amongst musi- 
 cal nations, and I would now only urge you to 
 use all your efforts to restore her to that proud 
 position. The means lie in education. We 
 must be educated to appreciate, and appreciation 
 must come before production. Give us intelli- 
 gent and educated listeners, and we shall pro- 
 duce composers and performers of correspond- 
 ing worth. Much is now being done in England 
 for the higher education of musicians. At the 
 Royal College of Music, my old and valued 
 friend, Sir George Grove, is doing work of incal- 
 culable value, guiding and directing with unerr- 
 ing judgment his splendid staff of professors, and 
 imbuing every one with his own enthusiasm. 
 Nor must we forget the services the Royal Acad- 
 emy of Music has rendered to musical education, 
 and that under the spirited guidance of that 
 gifted musician. Dr. Mackenzie, it is daily in- 
 creasing its sphere of usefulness. Many other 
 kindred institutions are fighting earnestly and 
 unflaggingly the battle of our art, and to-night 
 we have witnessed the result of that sturdy energy 
 which Birmingham possesses in such a high de-
 
 HIS LIFE STORY 289 
 
 gree in the prosperity of the Midland Institute, 
 where I am proud to see that musical education 
 plays such a prominent part. I read on the list 
 of teachers the names of men well known to me 
 — their names are a guarantee that the instruc- 
 tion is sound. But there is one particular branch 
 for which no professor is appointed, and with 
 good reason, for I am sure that every teacher on 
 the staff includes it in his instruction — namely, 
 the art of listening. We want good listeners, 
 rather than indifferent performers ; and with this 
 little moral axiom, and with my warm thanks for 
 the great compliment you have paid me in being 
 yourselves such kind and attentive listeners, I 
 will conclude.
 
 SULLIVAN AS A COMPOSER 
 
 BY B. W. FIN DON 
 
 TO anticipate posterity is a hazardous under- 
 taking, and a most invidious task is it 
 even to endeavour rightly to place a man 
 in artistic rank among his contemporaries, for, 
 however impartial the critic, the sympathetic 
 leaning of his nature, due to association, personal 
 predisposition, or zealous appreciation of what 
 he considers pleasing and beautiful must inevi- 
 tably sway his judgment. If, therefore, there 
 appears in this short critical review of Sir Arthur 
 Sullivan's life-work an admiration which others 
 less sympathetically inclined may deem excess- 
 ive, the writer makes no apology, begs no pardon, 
 and is content to take his stand on opinions that 
 have been carefully formed, that are the outcome 
 of an intimate acquaintance with the works under 
 notice, and that are put forward with an honesty 
 of intention born of sincere conviction. 
 
 Since the days of Purcell, England has, hap- 
 
 290
 
 AS A COMPOSER 291 
 
 pily, produced many estimable musicians, but not 
 one who is more closely allied in spirit to that 
 first and foremost of all native composers than Sir 
 Arthur Sullivan. During the present century we 
 have known the facile, fecund genius of Michael 
 William Balfe, and the finished style of William 
 Sterndale Bennett ; but in each of these there 
 was a quality lacking, and this minimised the 
 value of their compositions as a whole, and 
 forbade them that unique place in the Temple of 
 Art which otherwise might have been theirs. 
 But in Arthur Sullivan the chief characteristics 
 of these two men are united with the happiest 
 results : with the one he shares that marvellous 
 flow of spontaneous melody, and with the other 
 that mastery of refined and carefully chosen 
 expression which gives such charm to his various 
 compositions. True it is that Sullivan studied 
 under Bennett at the Royal Academy, and from 
 him he may have learned the more subtle graces 
 which go so far to enhance the solid attractive- 
 ness of his music to those qualified to appreciate 
 it from an intellectual aspect. The balance of 
 form, the peculiar nicety of musical phraseology 
 have ever been noticeable in all that Sullivan has
 
 292 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 accomplished. Let the hardened and, if need be, 
 the antagonistic critic search his works through, 
 and he will not be able to put his hand on a 
 slovenly phrase or a progression that is not 
 scholastically correct and perfectly designed to 
 illustrate the meaning intended. The thought at 
 times may be commonplace, but its decoration 
 gives it sterling worth ; in literature the placing 
 of words is next in importance to the idea they 
 are called upon to set forth, and the same re- 
 mark applies to music. This faculty, however, 
 can seldom be acquired in all its fullness ; it must 
 be born in the man, and is as much a part and 
 parcel of his nature as his own soul. The true 
 poet is he who can penetrate the mysteries of 
 nature, and by his power of expression act as an 
 interpreter to his less divinely endowed fellow- 
 men ; the true composer is he who can put in 
 tangible form the music of our souls, the tunes 
 of our imagination. This is he who gives us the 
 songs that go direct to a nation's heart, the melo- 
 dies that become associated with the innermost 
 history of our lives. He may not be for all ages, 
 he may only be of contemporary worth, but he 
 has some share of the divine quality, and is a
 
 ASACOM POSER 293 
 
 true child of the Muse. It is within this hallowed 
 circle that we rank Arthur Sullivan. He has 
 earned his position by deeds which have won 
 for him the regard and the love of the whole 
 English-speaking race. His melodies have 
 winged their way to the furthermost corners of 
 the earth, and found a welcome resting-place in 
 the affections of those to whom the old country 
 is a shrine that not all the exotic luxuriance of 
 southern lands, or the stern beauties of more 
 northern latitudes can efface from their recollec- 
 tions ; his songs are known to the hardy pioneers 
 of civilisation who make their adventurous way 
 through trackless forests, and to the industrious 
 settlers who are as laborious and determined in 
 their living as those pilgrims of the Mayflowef 
 who laid the foundations of that great empire 
 which, once an integral part of our own, is now 
 again allied to us in the strong bonds of mutual 
 good faith and love. Here, then, is contempo- 
 rary fame almost or absolutely unparalleled in 
 musical history, and can we believe that a talent 
 so universally acknowledged will go unappreci- 
 ated by succeeding generations ? It seems im- 
 possible, and yet prophecy is a dangerous and
 
 294 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 barren form of amusement, and one that it is no 
 imperative duty of ours to indulge in. 
 
 Much of Sullivan's popularity is due to the 
 beautiful spontaneity of his work ; his language 
 is simple, clear, and direct, as all great language 
 should be, and therefore it is understood of the 
 people. Though nurtured in the academies, the 
 force of his own individuality, of his genius, has 
 kept him free from the pedantic narrowness of 
 professorial writing, while at the same time he 
 has found within the accepted limitation of legiti- 
 mate rules ample scope for the expression of his 
 fertile imagination. Unlike the extreme modern 
 school of to-day he has not deemed it necessary 
 to descend to the barbarous practices of those 
 composers, who, having no inspired utterance of 
 their own, so twist and distort the phraseology 
 of music that their work not infrequently more 
 nearly resembles the uncouth cries of wild animals 
 in pain than the coherent speech of cultivated 
 humanity. Not a little, however, of this singular 
 directness and gracefulness of expression is owing 
 to the early bent of his studies while a chorister 
 at the Chapel Royal, for there Arthur Sullivan 
 had the opportunity of becoming intimately
 
 AS A COMPOSER 295 
 
 acquainted with the compositions of the great 
 church writers of the seventeenth century ; and 
 with his quick gift of perception, his ready power 
 of assimilation, it is not surprising that he 
 obtained a complete mastery of their lucid style 
 and a ripe familiarity with the canon, fugue, and 
 mitation which form so important a part in their, 
 compositions. 
 
 But now let us glance at the other side of the 
 shield. Let us put ourselves in the position of 
 those who think that Sullivan might with his 
 great gifts have accomplished work which would 
 have placed him by the side of his greatest com- 
 peers. Their attitude is not altogether unrea- 
 sonable. No young composer ever made a more 
 brilliant debut than did he at the Crystal Palace 
 when his " Tempest " music was performed, and 
 at that time he was only in his nineteenth year. 
 In spite, however, of his juvenility his composi- 
 tion was mature in thought and form ; it was the 
 accomplishment of a perfectly equipped musi- 
 cian. There was nothing in it which suggested 
 that the composer owed his success to a lucky 
 stroke of inspiration, or that he would not in the 
 future be able to write something equally good,
 
 296 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 or better. His symphony in E flat which was 
 given a hearing at the same place five years later 
 was even more indicative of exceptional talent, 
 and the surmise that did he choose to confine 
 himself to the more laborious branch of his art 
 he would become, at least, the English Men- 
 delssohn, was perfectly justifiable. Fortune, 
 however, smiled on the young composer. To 
 escape the drudgery of teaching he indulged in 
 the more agreeable occupation of song writing, 
 and he at once touched the sympathies of the 
 public with his delightful essays in this direction. 
 Society took him to its bosom. Royalty extended 
 to him a flattering hand ; he was not called upon 
 to tread the rugged path which so many of the 
 world's great men are and have ever been com- 
 pelled to pace, and the sunny nature of his dis- 
 position found itself perfectly at home in the 
 environment which spread itself about him. 
 With few exceptions the masterpieces of the 
 world have been the outcome of an intense nerv- 
 ous apprehension of its ills, if not of actual parti- 
 cipation in them. Apart, however, from the 
 troubles that inevitably attend men both old and 
 young in the course of their earthly pilgrimage,
 
 AS A COMPOSER 297 
 
 there was nothing in the earlier life of Sullivan 
 calculated to stir the deeper emotions within 
 him. The death of his father first touched his 
 affectionate nature to the quick, and that resulted 
 in the production of that beautiful example of 
 the emotional in music, the " In Memoriam " 
 overture. Here was the tangible outcome of his 
 gift of introspection ; here was evidence of the 
 latent capacity ; why was it not developed? But 
 man can only control his destiny to a certain 
 extent ; the strongest of us are but toy boats on 
 the waters of life, subject to its swiftly running 
 currents, and to varying breezes. And what he 
 might have accomplished in abstract art had he 
 followed its course it is difficult to say. " There's 
 a divinity that shapes our ends, roughhew them 
 how we will," and it became Arthur Sullivan's 
 end to minister to the happiness of the greatest 
 number, to elevate and ennoble a lighter form of 
 art, instead of gratifying the exacting desires of 
 the comparative few ; and much as may have been 
 lost in the process, there can be no doubt that the 
 world at large has gained. The pen that pro- 
 duced " Cox and Box " was predestined to write 
 " The Mikado," and the fortuitous association
 
 298 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 with Mr. W. S. Gilbert in "Trial by Jury " had 
 its natural outcome in the series of comic operas 
 that began with the "Sorcerer" at the Opera 
 Comique in 1877. It was just as much Sullivan's 
 mission to write such music as it was Brahms' to 
 put forth sonatas and symphonies, and to censure 
 him for not entering into rivalry with the few 
 great composers of abstract music of his genera- 
 tion is as fatuous as to blame Burns for not hav- 
 ing essayed the epic form of Milton. But in Sul- 
 livan's case it was an easier matter for him to 
 write a symphony, as he showed, that should 
 command the respectful attention of critical and 
 exacting minds than it would have been for the 
 two or three men who have composed successful 
 symphonies during the past thirty years to have 
 accomplished a comic opera of the excellence of 
 " The Yeoman of the Guard." Not Brahms 
 himself could have brought more perfect knowl- 
 edge and skill to bear on the orchestration, while 
 as for the ability to succeed in suiting the music 
 to the words there is no man of his time so hap- 
 pily gifted. 
 
 (It is the consummate mastery of his art as 
 a whole that has enabled Sullivan to achieve
 
 AS A COMPOSER 299 
 
 success in his lighter music. The general public 
 have realised the beauty of his work, they know 
 that his music differs from all other music they 
 have heard in the theatre, and there is a 
 something in connection with it of which they 
 are conscious, which they cannot explain, but 
 which gives them a full and unique measure of 
 sensuous enjoyment. The people have their 
 faults, they make mistakes in plenty, but their 
 judgment is right in the long run. They venture 
 on no subtle distinctions, no analysis of the cause 
 of their pleasurable emotions; they are content 
 with their knowledge of the fact, even as they 
 are content to gaze on a lovely sunset without 
 bothering their heads as to the forces of nature 
 which produce it. But there are others who do 
 know and appreciate the marvellous merit of 
 this light music of his, and others, again, who 
 affect towards it a patronising air and pityingly 
 express their regret that Sullivan should waste 
 his time on such ephemeral work ; they have 
 even been known to describe these unique mas- 
 terpieces of their kind as " pot-boilers," and in 
 other ways to give evidence of their superior 
 intellectual equipment, their admiration for only
 
 300 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 that which is severe and lofty in art, and in some 
 cases they have even boasted of their entire 
 ignorance of the works in question. Such people 
 are the curse of the musical world, for their 
 whole existence is based on a point d'orgue of 
 cant, and they are all but dead to the healthy 
 sensibilities of rational life. What a pity it is 
 that we have not some Pied Piper who could 
 periodically pipe such people away to the cavern- 
 ous depths of a specially appointed Koppenberg, 
 where their punishment would be to listen to the 
 eternal playing of neglected masterpieces by 
 unknown composers! 
 
 Fortunately, however. Sir Arthur Sullivan's 
 reputation does not depend on his success in 
 either department of music alone. If we except 
 chamber-music — for the few fugitive pieces he 
 has written for the piano can scarcely count — he 
 has worked and achieved distinction in ways as 
 various as Purcell himself, but we confess to a 
 lingering regret that he made no efforts in the 
 direction of the instrumental quartette. With 
 his delicate appreciation of all that is essentially 
 lovely in music, with his consummate mastery of 
 instrumental effects, with the immense capacity
 
 AS A COMPOSER 301 
 
 he has shown for four and five part harmony, his 
 technical skill in counterpoint, we should, in all 
 probability, have been endowed with work that 
 might have occupied an honoured place by the 
 side of similar compositions by Mendelssohn, 
 Schubert and others, who have left behind for 
 the enjoyment of posterity so many delightful 
 examples of one of the purest and most sensitive 
 branches of musical art. To speculate on the 
 might have been is, however, one of the least 
 profitable exercises of the mind, and Sullivan has 
 given mankind so much that is worthy of consid- 
 eration that we can well afford to overlook his 
 lack of effort in this particular groove. It is 
 only because he has accomplished so much 
 that we desire more and have a greedy 
 propensity for pandering to an ever-increasing 
 appetite.} 
 
 v,As it is the present day fashion to detach a 
 composer's life into periods we shall review Sul- 
 livan's work from three points of view, which may 
 be classified as the Sacred, the Secular, and the 
 Dramatic. It was in the domain of church art 
 that he first displayed the signs of a creative 
 talent which was afterwards to bear such rich
 
 302 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 fruit, and which has to a certain extent coloured 
 all his subsequent endeavours. Even in his 
 operas we find it sprouting forth, sometimes 
 with a peculiarly touching effect and at others 
 with that subtle strain of humour that is ever 
 enchanting without being offensive. No better 
 example of this latter can be found than in the 
 ecclesiastical accompaniment which attends the 
 presence of Friar Tuck through " Ivanhoe," his 
 most ambitious operatic attempt. Here the 
 broad harmonies and cadences of the church are 
 employed with such refined taste, with such 
 dramatic appropriateness, that it is impossible 
 for the most fastidious to take offence. Again, 
 we have the delightful parody of the Handelian 
 style in the martial music given to Arac and the 
 Three Knights in the third act of " Princess Ida." 
 Then, too, the results of his studies of the old 
 English masters are equally obvious in the glees 
 and madrigals which abound in his operas, and 
 nothing more perfect of its kind exists than his 
 humorous parody of the glee of the latter end of 
 the seventeenth century in " A British Tar is a 
 soaring soul," in the first act of " H.M.S. Pina- 
 fore." But these are points which may be more
 
 AS A COMPOSER 303 
 
 fittingly discussed when we arrive at the dramatic 
 section of his work. Reference is now only 
 made to them in order to illustrate his remarka- 
 ble aptitude for putting acquired knowledge to 
 practical use. There are many composers who 
 are as theoretically well equipped as Sullivan, 
 but lack this serviceable power, just as there 
 are learned men at our universities whose minds 
 are stored with-the philosophy of ages, but lack 
 the inestimable gift of being able to commu- 
 nicate their mental wealth to their fellow-men, 
 and who, for the most part, are walking encyclo- 
 paedias with two-thirds of their leaves stuck 
 together. With this general reference to Sulli- 
 van's work we may now proceed to deal with it 
 more in detail; with this reservation, his achieve- 
 ment will be measured by his more important 
 contributions to musical literature, and no 
 attempt will be made to survey the complete list 
 of his compositions, or to indulge in a technical 
 analysis which would be as mystifying and un- 
 profitable as it would be uninteresting to the 
 general reader, to whom dullness is the one 
 unpardonable crime in an author or reviewer/
 
 SACRED MUSIC 
 
 IN his career as a composer Sir Arthur Sullivan 
 has enjoyed two advantages which do not 
 fall to the lot of the many, and both of which 
 have largely influenced his work. In the first 
 place he was cradled to the sound of the military 
 band, and, secondly, he was made to study music 
 from a practical standpoint at an age when most 
 boys are more versed in the gentle arts of hop- 
 scotch and leap-frog. His earliest footsteps took 
 him to the practice room of his father's soldier 
 musicians at Sandhurst, and there began his 
 intimate acquaintance with instrumental music, 
 while as a chorister at the Chapel Royal he was 
 initiated into the fine vocal excellences of com- 
 posers who remain unsurpassed in their contribu- 
 tions to our choral literature. Seldom, indeed, 
 have such unique opportunities been presented to 
 one so eminently favoured, and seldom have they 
 been turned to better advantage. It really 
 seemed that the gods were bent on adding to the 
 
 304
 
 SACRED MUSIC 305 
 
 gift of a great natural talent all the accessories of 
 musical art for daily consumption with his bread 
 and butter, that his receptive and intellectual 
 faculties generally should be taught to assimilate 
 musical form and sound with that unconscious 
 certainty which is one of the blessings of pre- 
 cocious childhood. It is impossible to exaggerate 
 the importance of this association with instru- 
 mental music from his infancy, for he then 
 undoubtedly possessed himself of a practical 
 knowledge that stood him in good stead when he 
 was called upon to pursue his theoretical studies, 
 and in later years enabled him to score his works 
 with a readiness and exactitude that largely 
 accounts for the spontaneous quality of his com- 
 positions and their apposite instrumentation. Nor 
 could any training have been better adapted to 
 Sullivan's characteristic bent as a second course 
 than that which he received as a chorister at the 
 Chapel Royal. Spread out before him were the 
 masterpieces of Tallis, Byrd, and Gibbons; of 
 Pelham Humphreys, Blow, and the immortal 
 Purcell; of Boyce, Battishill, Attwood, and a 
 score of others who have bequeathed to us music 
 which will co-exist with the English Church, and
 
 3o6 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 perhaps survive it. The sacred motet or anthem 
 and the hymn tune, brought into prominence by 
 Luther, became an integral part of the church 
 service from the early years of Elizabeth, and 
 with these glorious examples before him it was 
 only to be expected that Sullivan would try his 
 prentice hand at imitation. Church music, there- 
 fore, forms no inconsiderable feature of his life's 
 work, and, to put aside the youthful exercises in 
 this direction, he is responsible for two services, 
 a score of anthems and miscellaneous pieces, and 
 about fifty hymn tunes, to which must be added 
 his more important festival productions. His 
 anthems are characterised by the best attributes 
 of their kind, and are well-known in all choirs and 
 places where they sing ; while some of his hymn 
 tunes are familiar to well-nigh every cottage home, 
 in fact, his "Onward, Christian Soldiers," might 
 almost be described as the war song of the English 
 Church Militant of the nineteenth century. We 
 may now pass on to Sullivan's more ambitious 
 devotional music. 
 
 If Englishmen have not been wholly nurtured 
 on hymns, anthems, chants, and oratorios, there is 
 no doubt that their musical proclivities owe not a
 
 SACRED MUSIC 307 
 
 little of their peculiar bent to those forms of com- 
 position. To our forefathers, indeed, the music 
 of the parish church was the mainstay of their 
 knowledge of the art, and music and the Bible 
 were so associated in their minds that the way 
 was made easy and clear for the oratorios of 
 Handel and Haydn, Bach and Mendelssohn. 
 The words appealed to their religious instincts, 
 and the music supplied a picturesque colouring 
 which gratified their sensuous cravings; the same 
 causes are at work to-day, and so it is that certain 
 oratorios are still in the zenith of their popularity 
 with middle-class England, and will remain so 
 while we are a church-loving nation. Naturally, 
 therefore, almost every English composer has 
 essayed this form of composition, or its half- 
 brother, the cantata, and it is scarcely necessary 
 to say that Sullivan is numbered among the eager 
 aspirants for honours in this direction. Emerson 
 has said that " The sweetest music is not in the 
 oratorio, but in the human voice when it speaks 
 from its instant life tones of tenderness, truth, or 
 courage. The oratorio has already lost its relation 
 to the morning, to the sun, and the earth, but that 
 persuading voice is in tune with these." By this
 
 3o8 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 we are to understand that we have lost the free- 
 dom of form, the infinite essence of true art, the 
 sweet flowing fountain of invention and beauty. 
 The severe critic would probably say much worse 
 of the oratorio that owes its birth to contemporary 
 endeavour, and it is an undoubted fact that 
 England has not produced a simple composer who 
 has given to the world a work of the enduring 
 quality of the " Elijah," and only one who has 
 produced something on a smaller scale that rivals 
 in popularity and merit Mendelssohn's "Hear my 
 Prayer." 
 
 Sullivan's first oratorio was " The Prodigal 
 Son," which was produced, at the Worcester 
 Festival of 1869. In this work he broke new 
 ground and made a very satisfactory attempt to 
 do justice to his own genius and to show that he 
 was capable of sustained effort in a class of com- 
 position that tries the strength of a man almost 
 beyond any other form of vocal and instrumental 
 work. The music of " The Prodigal Son" is 
 intensely devotional and the composer makes no 
 attempt to sever himself from the religious aspect 
 of the subject, while the choruses, as might be 
 expected, are admirable exhibitions of sacred
 
 SACRED MUSIC 309 
 
 writing. That the work is now only heard at 
 long intervals is no disparagement to its worth 
 as a composition, for although the oratorio-loving 
 public will courteously listen to novelties, perhaps 
 give a grateful ear to them a second time, their 
 standard is the " Messiah" and " Elijah," and 
 unless an oratorio has the captivating power of 
 Handel, orthe mellifluousqualityof Mendelssohn, 
 it has no chance of being even temporarily en- 
 rolled among the people's favourites. 
 
 "The Light of the World," a more ambi- 
 tious and elaborate oratorio was produced at 
 the Birmingham Festival of 1873, where both it 
 and the composer met with a flattering reception. 
 To maintain the peculiar quality of sacred 
 music throughout a long and diffuse text restrains 
 within too narrow a limit a gift which leans so 
 closely to the dramatic as Sullivan's; but again 
 we are constrained to admire the wonderful art 
 of the part-writing and the beauty of the orches- 
 tral accompaniments. A fine illustration of his 
 accomplishment in the direction of concerted 
 vocal music is the imposing chorus, " I will pour 
 my spirit," while his more delicate method is 
 well instanced by the grateful children's chorus,
 
 3IO SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 " Hosanna to the Son of David "; and his exqui- 
 site handling of four and five part harmony is 
 adequately shown in the unaccompanied quar- 
 tette and quintet. A somewhat singular feature 
 in connection with this work is that it presents 
 Jesus in the first person, and an inner orchestra is 
 provided especially to accompany the utterances 
 of the Saviour, which throughout are of a par- 
 ticularly solemn character. " The Light of the 
 World" may not take rank with the highest 
 examples of oratorio art, but its undoubted 
 merits entitle it to an honoured and intimate com- 
 panionship with its more favoured brethren. It is 
 a member of the same family, it has the noble 
 traits of a great inheritance; but it is of the 
 younger branch and once removed from the 
 direct line of succession. Its production gave an 
 additional cachet to the composer's fame, and its 
 musicianly qualities will certainly not lessen his 
 reputation in the eyes of the student of the 
 future. 
 
 Only a few composers have been successful in 
 producing pieces d' occasion that have in them 
 sufficient merit to stand the test of an initial per- 
 formance, and it would not have been surprising
 
 SACRED MUSIC 311 
 
 if Sullivan's Festival "Te Deum " had shared 
 the usual fate of these hasty works of art, more 
 especially when it is borne in mind that it was 
 presented under difficulties which would have 
 handicapped any work whatsoever. To celebrate 
 the recovery of the Prince of Wales, the Crys- 
 tal Palace Company organised an enormous fete 
 and commissioned Mr. Sullivan to write the hymn 
 of praise which was to be sung in testimony of 
 the people's gratitude for the return to health of 
 the heir to the English throne. The perform- 
 ance of the "Te Deum" took place in that 
 section of the Palace which is utilised for the 
 purpose of the Handel Festival, in the presence 
 of a large audience that it would be a wild 
 stretch of fancy to describe as musical or as in 
 any way capable of appreciating fine musical 
 work. The very circumstances of the day were 
 unpropitious for the presentation of a new and 
 unfamiliar work, for the people had foregathered 
 as to a national fete of which the " Te Deum" 
 was but an incident among many others more 
 alluring to the public mind. The first perform- 
 ance of Berlioz's " Symphonie Funebre " was 
 scarcely given under worse conditions ; but the
 
 312 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 merits of the " Te Deum " were sufficiently 
 obvious to the appreciative few, and although 
 seldom heard in the metropolis we know of its 
 repeated performance by small choral societies 
 to the simple accompaniment of pianoforte and 
 harmonium. One of the most characteristic 
 features of the work is the ingenious way in 
 which the composer has manipulated the well- 
 known St. Anne's hymn tune; the contrapuntal 
 writing to be found in the " Finale " is quite 
 remarkable, while a striking effect is obtained by 
 the use of a military band for the " Domine 
 Salvam fac Reginam." 
 
 We now pass from the strictly sacred work of 
 Sullivan to another phase, which, however, is so 
 closely allied to the sacred that it may well be 
 included under that heading. The sacred or 
 dramatic cantata has the advantage of offering 
 the composer a wide scope for the exercise of 
 his talent and less restriction in the matter of 
 form and style. He is more at liberty to follow 
 the dictates of fancy and to colour his work with 
 the hues of a vivid imagination. That Sullivan 
 should recognise the suitability of the dramatic 
 poem to his particular requirements after the
 
 SACRED MUSIC 313 
 
 striking success that had attended his efforts on 
 the stage was only to be expected, and the pro- 
 duction of " The Martyr of Antioch " at the 
 Leeds Festival of 1880 fully justified his expecta- 
 tions. The work achieved an instant success 
 and its frequent performance is sufficient testi- 
 mony to its abiding charm. Last year the Carl 
 Rosa Opera Company had the cantata adapted 
 for stage purposes, and some very effective 
 representations were given in the leading pro- 
 vincial cities. The air " Come, Margarita," has 
 long since become popular with tenors for con- 
 cert room purposes, and another solo number 
 which is strongly attractive is the contralto air 
 " lo Paeon," with its peculiarly quaint accom- 
 paniment. One of the most important numbers 
 is " The Hymn to Apollo," which takes up 
 seventy-two pages of the vocal score and is a fine 
 example of Sullivan's scholarly attainment and 
 original charm. 
 
 The next work of its kind was " The Golden 
 Legend," which was produced at the Leeds 
 Festival of 1886 with a success so pronounced, so 
 striking, so unequivocal that its like had not 
 been witnessed for half a century, not since,
 
 314 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 indeed, Mendelssohn conducted his " Elijah " at 
 the Birmingham Festival of 1846. To slightly 
 alter a phrase of Balzac's with regard to Victor 
 Hugo, we might remark of "The Golden 
 Legend," " It's a great work; let's say no more 
 about it." For, whatever variety of opinion there 
 maybe with regard to Sullivan's other ambitious 
 endeavours, there can be no two opinions with 
 respect to the qualities that make his second, 
 and unfortunately up to the present time, his last 
 cantata popular in every town and district of the 
 United Kingdom. In this work Sullivan reaches 
 his highest level of utterance. Nothing in 
 English modern art surpasses it; nothing equals 
 it; nothing even approaches it in beauty of design, 
 conciseness, symmetry, execution, and achieve- 
 ment. It stands unique among compositions of 
 its class. The master hand grips the attention 
 from the moment the original and thoughtful 
 writing of the prologue falls on the ear and holds 
 it to the last strain of its choral epilogue. The 
 music allotted the respective characters is so dis- 
 tinctly characteristic, so dramatically appropri- 
 ate, so teeming with suggestiveness, that we do 
 not find in it one superfluous bar, one unneeded
 
 SACRED MUSIC 315 
 
 note. How beautifully tender are the numbers 
 in which Elsa is engaged; how abundantly clever 
 the orchestration that accompanies Lucifer; how 
 quaint the mixture of monkish chant with 
 Satanic malignity, how almost cloyingly sweet 
 the unaccompanied hymn "O Gladsome Light"! 
 In short, the marvellous completeness of the 
 cantata justifies the enthusiasm with which it 
 has been received, and however much of Sulli- 
 van's work may find its way into the Wallet of 
 Oblivion we may surely assume that "The 
 Golden Legend " will live as a worthy memorial 
 of musical art during the Victorian era and as a 
 lasting tribute to the genius of its most popular 
 composer.
 
 SECULAR AND DRAMATIC MUSIC 
 
 NO review of Sir Arthur Sullivan's music 
 would be complete without some few 
 special comments on the songs which did 
 so much so make his name popular with the Eng- 
 lish public three decades ago. We have always 
 been a ballad-loving nation, and the list of com- 
 posers who have left behind them worthy exam- 
 ples of the art of song writing is extremely 
 lengthy and varied. But in the middle part of 
 the present century the old virility and charm of 
 song-making had seemingly vanished, and at 
 a time when we were beginning to be inundated 
 with the mawkish sentimentality of the drawing- 
 room ballad, Sullivan appeared on the scene, 
 and by his art and engaging qualities did not a 
 little to bring back the taste of the public to 
 something more nearly akin to that which pre- 
 vailed in the early part of the century, when 
 Henry Bishop was chief among a very able num- 
 ber of composers, who were largely influenced 
 
 316
 
 SECULAR AND DRAMATIC MUSIC 317 
 
 by Purcell and his immediate successors. To the 
 melodious beauty of the old English ballad, Sul- 
 livan added the finish and refinement of modern 
 workmanship, and most satisfactory to the musi- 
 cal mind are his Shakesperean songs, his setting 
 of the Tennyson series — " The Window; or, The 
 Loves of the Wren," and " O, fair dove." But it 
 is an invidious task to mention merely a few out 
 of a collection that numbers close on one hun- 
 dred and with such melodies -ringing in the 
 mind as " Once Again," " Let me dream again," 
 "Looking Back," " O, ma charmaijle," "The 
 Distant Shore," to say nothing of ■' The Lost 
 Chord," of which more than a quarter of a 
 million copies have been sold, and which still 
 charms and captivates English-speaking audi- 
 ences the whole world over. In his songs there 
 is the same careful attention to musicianly details, 
 the same apt fancy for arriving at appropriate- 
 ness of thought and expression, which charac- 
 terises his more elaborate and ambitious work ; 
 and although he does not always succeed in 
 maintaining the same high level of achievement, 
 there is not one among them to which, great as 
 his reputation now is, he need be ashamed of
 
 3i8 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 seeing his name attached. In his part songs he 
 was equally conscientious and equally success- 
 ful, and there is scarcely an amateur vocalist 
 who is not acquainted with " O, hush thee, my 
 babie." 
 
 And now it becomes our duty to consider the 
 works which, when all is said and done, stand for 
 a memorial of Sullivan's accomplishment in ab- 
 stract art, and as indicative of what he might 
 have achieved had he taken a wholly ideal view 
 of his mission in life, and pursued it with unhes- 
 itating firmness and persistency. Even those of 
 us who are his warmest admirers, who recognise 
 the great service he has accomplished in doing 
 what he has done for comic opera, who still 
 delight lovingly to pursue our way through the 
 vocal scores of " Pinafore," " Patience," and the 
 others of that wonderful series, occasionally 
 dwell pensively and sometimes sadly on the 
 little he has given us of that higher beauty 
 which one might almost say transcends art, 
 and approximates the grander products of 
 nature. And yet who could wish " The Gondo- 
 liers " unwritten? Pondering over Sullivan's 
 career is like sitting on two stools, and the ulti-
 
 SECULAR AND DRAMATIC MUSIC 319 
 
 mate choice of either would leave us frankly dis- 
 satisfied. We would not be without our Savoy 
 reminiscences, and yet we would have him clas- 
 sically allied with Beethoven and Bach and 
 sharing their domain ; in short, to take an illustra- 
 tion from nature herself, we would that we could 
 liken him to those mountains of the Cordilleras 
 which, having their base in a torrid zone and 
 their peaks in the snowy clouds, pass through 
 the varying temperatures of the spheres, their 
 sides bedecked with the herbaceous growths of 
 every latitude. But, perhaps, in our enthusiasm 
 and admiration for his talent we over-estimate 
 his limitations; perhaps he himself has gauged 
 them more accurately and from a more modest 
 standpoint. In choosing as he did, whether 
 actuated by art or profit, it matters not which, 
 he has attained as near perfection as possible, 
 and better is it for man to do something super- 
 latively, irreproachably well than something 
 which his fellows can equal, and which his pred- 
 ecessors have surpassed. Let us, therefore, 
 descend from the misty heights of speculation, 
 and come direct to the more material subject of 
 actual accomplishment.
 
 320 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 The production of his " Tempest" music at the 
 Crystal Palace in 1862 was rightly hailed at the 
 time as a significant epoch in the history of Eng- 
 lish musical art. It was the work of a boy of 
 eighteen, and yet to the astutest critic there were 
 no signs of inexperience, crudity, or ill-digested 
 thought. Chronicling the production, H. C. 
 Chorley, the eminent critic, remarked " that there 
 has been no such first appearance in England in 
 our time," and we can well understand by the 
 light of performances in our own day the effect 
 the composition must have had on an audience as 
 visibly impressed by the youthfulness of the com- 
 poser as by the remarkable quality of his work. 
 vThat the " Tempest" music strongly reflects the 
 influence of Mendelssohn detracts in no way 
 from its captivating merit. Mendelssohn at the 
 time Arthur Sullivan was a student at Leipzig 
 was almost as paramount as Wagner is at pres- 
 ent, and his winning personality added not a lit- 
 tle to the dominion he held over the musical stu- 
 dents of the middle part of the century. But the 
 listener of to-day can easily discern in the work 
 the characteristics that have marked Sullivan's 
 music throughout his whole career, and which
 
 SECULAR AND DRAMATIC MUSIC 321 
 
 belong to himself and to none other. If we 
 simply take as an example the shipwreck music 
 of the third act, we have the familar charm of 
 his orchestration, the quaint fancy and conceit of 
 a mind devoid of vulgarity ; or again, in the 
 admirable prelude to act five, we have that poet- 
 ical and mysterious sweetness which has ever 
 been a noticeable feature of Sullivan's sedater 
 moments. His incidental contributions to the 
 Shakespearean literature include the delightful 
 music to the masque in the " Merchant of Venice," 
 a work that was performed at the recent Leeds 
 Festival, and wholly fascinated an audience 
 which was astonished at the freshness, the charm, 
 and the modernity of the composition. The 
 " Henry VIII." music, equally delightful, main- 
 tains its position in the concert programme ; 
 while the overture to the " Macbeth " music, com- 
 posed for the Lyceum in 1888, is a remarkably 
 majestic and impressive piece of writing. Men- 
 tion must also be made of the " Marmion" over- 
 ture, and the graceful and melodious " Overture 
 di Ballo," which, composed for the Birmingham 
 Festival of 1870, remains one of his most popular 
 works. Allusion has previously been made to
 
 322 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 the " In Memoriam" overture and the source of 
 its inspiration, and a brief return need only be 
 made to it for the purpose of drawing special 
 attention to the pathetic beauty of the work as a 
 whole ; its combination of pious hope and poign- 
 ant grief, and its wonderfully impressive finale, 
 wherein the organ joins the instrumental family 
 with all the grandeur of its breadth and power. 
 There are some few weak moments in the second 
 movement, but he must be a stony-hearted cynic 
 indeed who can listen to its performance 
 unmoved, or fail to realise in its religious spirit 
 the active current of man's best emotional 
 instincts. 
 
 The year of the "In Memoriam," 1886, also 
 saw the production of the Symphony in E minor, 
 which has been erroneously termed the " Irish " 
 Symphony, This is the most ambitious effort 
 Sullivan has made in the pure regions of abstract 
 art, and its recent performances at the Crystal 
 Palace enabled not a few to appreciate at a much 
 higher value his remarkable talent. The work 
 was composed when Sullivan was but twenty-two 
 years of age, and its aesthetic bearing seems to 
 have been induced by a visit to Ireland, for
 
 SECULAR AND DRAMATIC MUSIC 323 
 
 although the Hibernian title is denied it, yet 
 there is sufficient internal evidence to show that 
 it contains the evidence of Irish character, not, it 
 might be said, a difficult thing for Sullivan to 
 accomplish, seeing he was but speaking the 
 language of his race. /In its various movements 
 there is to be found the plaintive chord of sad- 
 ness, the irrepressible and ebullient humour, the 
 strange contradiction of melancholy and mirth, 
 the close association of laughter and tears, which 
 are typically characteristic of the Celt, and only 
 a composer of keen dramatic instinct could have 
 invested his theme with such psychological truth- 
 fulness. Sullivan, in this symphony, writes with 
 the authority of a master, the form and sym- 
 metry of classic design must have been his by 
 natural inspiration, as we have here a complete 
 work of its kind, full of intellectuality, and lack- 
 ing in no indication of creative greatness. Music 
 is not made by Rule of Three, but produced, as 
 Socrates said of the poet's achievement, " under 
 the influence of enthusiasm, like prophets and 
 seers." Alas ! it is the only symphony the com- 
 poser has given us, and it is too late in the day 
 to expect that he will make good the deficiency.
 
 324 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 Sullivan's dramatic music is so well known, and 
 its fine qualities are so generally admitted, that it 
 almost becomes a work of supererogation to 
 deal with it from a critical point of view, and the 
 purposes of this review will be served by lightly 
 touching on a few of its salient features, for to 
 dwell on the detailed charm of all that excites 
 our admiration in his brilliant series of comic 
 operas would be to begin with Bouncer's song in 
 " Cox and Box," and end with the final chorus 
 in "The Beauty Stone." The one fact, however, 
 which may be driven home in the minds of the 
 unthinking is their superiority to any works of 
 the kind that any composer of native birth has 
 produced, and we might go further and include 
 alien musicians. What Boieldieu did for opera 
 comique in France at the beginning of the cen- 
 tury Sullivan has done for comic opera in Eng- 
 land at its end. It used to be the fashion to dub 
 him " the English Offenbach," a compliment to 
 the Frenchman certainly, but except in one partic- 
 ular the two are as distinct in quality as the Pari- 
 sian diamond and the genuine crystal of nature. 
 Given a favourable light the one sparkles with 
 almost the brilliancy of the other, but a fairly
 
 SECULAR AND DRAMATIC MUSIC 325 
 
 competent judge is quickly able to distinguish 
 the meretricious from the true, the artistically 
 beautiful from the merely alluring. Offenbach 
 has the same free fancy for inventing melody, 
 but his talent has its affinity in the cafechantant, 
 while Sullivan's is instinct with the charm of an 
 eminently refined nature ; added to which he has 
 that technical mastery of his craft which Offen- 
 bach never possessed. Seldom, indeed, has poet, 
 painter, or musician ever succeeded more com- 
 pletely in achieving the art of concealing art. 
 The instrumental scores of his comic operas are 
 as complete and as perfect in their way as the 
 masterpieces of Beethoven and Brahms ; they 
 abound with every indication of ripe scholarship, 
 with a wealth of the most delicious melody, and 
 they have the rare quality of a humour so gen- 
 uinely racy, so opposed to the vulgarisms which 
 had hitherto been allowed to pass muster, that 
 Sullivan may almost be credited with the dis- 
 tinction of inventing a new and delightful phase 
 of art. 
 
 It was our original intention to have touched 
 briefly on the leading features of each opera, but 
 on reflection that course appears unnecessary.
 
 326 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 The words of approval suited to the one are 
 equally adapted to each of the others. The rich 
 vein of ore that was discovered in " Cox and 
 Box" runs through the remainder of the series, 
 for in the little operetta he wrote in collaboration 
 with Mr. F. C. Burnand he sprang, after the 
 manner of Minerva, full-grown and fully armed 
 into the world of comic opera. " Cox and Box " 
 is as complete in its way as " The Mikado," and 
 the essential characteristics of the one are the 
 essential characteristics of the other. " H.M.S. 
 Pinafore " was the work which unquestion- 
 ably first gave Sullivan and Gilbert their world- 
 wide reputation, and " The Yeoman of the 
 Guard "we hold to take the highest rank as a 
 work of art, although from a musical point of 
 view " Ruddigore," the least successful of the 
 series, runs it very close. Special attention may 
 be directed to the wonderful orchestration of the 
 "dream "song in " lolanthe," and this done we 
 may cease to explore and explain the obvious. 
 In "Haddon Hall" a more pretentious stand was 
 taken, and again in " The Beauty Stone," and 
 each work bears the unmistakable stamp of Sul- 
 livan, although they are not distinguished by any
 
 SECULAR AND DRAMATIC MUSIC 327 
 
 new features which call for special notice. In 
 "Ivanhoe," however, Sullivan undoubtedly es- 
 sayed a distinctly higher form of art, and his 
 music is characterised by a much more ambi- 
 tious fancy ; but like so many of his predecessors 
 he was handicapped by the nature of the libretto, 
 and this has told against the permanent success 
 of the work. Its orchestration is extremely able 
 and appropriate, the vocal part-writing, although 
 somewhat simple in texture, is very charming, 
 and from a lyrical point of view the work is 
 wholly delightful. The Templar's love song in 
 C flat in the third scene of act two is the best 
 example of passionate writing that Sullivan has 
 accomplished, and the duet which follows it is so 
 strikingly beautiful and powerful that it would 
 scarcely be exceeding the bounds of discretion 
 to describe it as the finest to be found in the 
 whole range of English opera. 
 
 Enough has now been said of Sullivan's work 
 for contemporary purposes; what the judgment 
 of posterity will be we have no manner of know- 
 ing. In years to come it may be thought that 
 the diadem which might have adorned the fair 
 brow of our English Muse has not received its
 
 328 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN 
 
 adequate equivalent in the golden treasure that 
 has been given to the world for the past three 
 decades. But this much may be said in reply. 
 Sullivan's comic opera music has made the world 
 healthier and happier; it has given exquisite 
 pleasure to myriads of his race; it has cheered 
 the family circle and lightened the burden of 
 many a wearisome day. And, this acknowledged, 
 can it be said that he has misused his great gift, 
 that he has not fulfilled his artistic mission; that 
 he has failed to put to good purpose his " five 
 talents" ? The academical and the pedantic may 
 regret that he did not confine himself more 
 devotedly to the path of abstract art; but how 
 many more have rejoiced at the rapturous notes, 
 the blissful melody, the gush of harmonious 
 sound that have been borne on the bosom of 
 enchanted winds to the four corners of the 
 earth !
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 COMPRISING A COMPLETE LIST OF 
 
 SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN'S 
 
 WORK 
 
 COMPILED BY WILFRID BENDALL
 
 330 
 
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 331 
 
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 King Arthu 
 
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 fH 
 
 
 
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 332 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 
 
 13 
 
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 333 
 
 o 
 
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 43
 
 334 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 SERVICES, ANTHEMS, CAROLS, AND PART SONGS. 
 
 Title. 
 
 Description. 
 
 Publisher. 
 
 Date. 
 
 When Love and Beauty. 
 
 Madrigal. 
 
 Novello. 
 
 1863 
 
 pub- 
 lished 
 
 i8q8 
 
 O Love the Lord. 
 
 Anthem. 
 
 1 1 
 
 1864 
 
 We have heard with our ears. 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 1865 
 
 Te Deum, Jubilate and Kyrie. 
 
 Service. 
 
 - 
 
 1866 & 
 1872 
 
 The Rainy Day. 
 
 Part Song. 
 (S.A.J.B.) 
 
 •• 
 
 1867 
 
 Hush Thee, My Babie. 
 
 M 
 
 ,, 
 
 j^ 
 
 Taste and See. 
 
 Anthem. 
 
 ,, 
 
 1868 
 
 Rejoice in the Lord. 
 
 ,, 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 >i 
 
 Evening. 
 
 Part Song. 
 (S.A.J.B.) 
 
 Novello. 
 
 11 
 
 Joy to the Victor. 
 
 >> 
 
 j^ 
 
 1 1 
 
 Parting Gleams. 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 II 
 
 Echoes. 
 
 J, 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 Song of Peace (from On Shore 
 
 and Sea). 
 
 I Sing the Birth. 
 
 )» 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 .. 
 
 Sacred 
 
 
 
 
 Part song 
 
 
 
 
 (S.A.J.B.) 
 
 
 
 The Long Day Closes. 
 
 Part song 
 (S.A.J.B.) 
 
 Novello. 
 
 II 
 
 The Beleaguered. 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 ji 
 
 Sing, Heavens. 
 
 Anthem. 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 1869 
 
 All this Night. 
 
 Carol. 
 
 Novello. 
 
 1870 
 
 God, Thou Art Worthy. 
 
 Anthem. 
 
 J 
 
 1871 
 
 I Will Worship. 
 
 ,, 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 ,, 
 
 It came upon the Midnight. 
 
 Sacred 
 Part song 
 (S.A.J.B.) 
 
 >> 
 
 " 
 
 Lead, Kindly Light. 
 
 ,, 
 
 ,, 
 
 „ 
 
 Through Sorrow's Path. 
 
 ,, 
 
 II 
 
 II 
 
 Watchman, what of the Night ? 
 
 tf 
 
 
 
 The Way is Long and Drear. 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 ,, 
 
 Festival Te Deum (see Table B). 
 
 •• 
 
 " 
 
 "
 
 APPENDIX 335 
 
 Services, Anthems, Carols and Part Songs— Continued. 
 
 Title. 
 
 Description. 
 
 Publisher. 
 
 Date. 
 
 r 
 
 Choruses 
 
 
 
 
 adapted 
 
 
 
 Turn Thee Again. 
 
 from 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 1874 
 
 Mercy and Truth. 
 
 Russian 
 Church 
 
 
 
 
 Music. 
 
 
 
 I Will Mention. 
 
 Anthem. 
 
 1, 
 
 1875 
 
 Upon the Snowclad Earth. 
 
 Carol. 
 
 Metzler. 
 
 1876 
 
 Hearken unto Me. 
 
 Anthem. 
 
 Novello. 
 
 1877 
 
 I will Sing of Thy Power. 
 
 ,, 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 Turn Thy Face. 
 
 ,, 
 
 11 
 
 1878 
 
 Who is Like unto Thee ? 
 
 ^ ^ 
 
 
 1883 
 
 Hark, what means ? 
 
 Carol. 
 
 Patey 
 Willis. 
 
 •• 
 
 Wreaths for our Graves. 
 
 Anthem. 
 
 Novello. 
 
 1898 
 
 SONGS, ETC. 
 
 Publisher. Date 
 
 Israel (Sacred) 
 
 Bride from the North 
 
 1 heard the Nightingale .... 
 
 Arabian Love Song 
 
 Orpheus with his Lute 
 
 O Mistress Mine 
 
 Sigh no more, Ladies 
 
 The Willow Song 
 
 Sweet Day, so Cool 
 
 Rosalind 
 
 Over the Roof (from The Sapphire Neck- 
 lace) 
 
 Thou art Lost to Me 
 
 Will he Come ? 
 
 A Weary Lot is Thine 
 
 If Doughty Deeds 
 
 She is not Fair to Outward View . 
 
 County Guy 
 
 The Maiden's Story 
 
 Novello. 
 Cramer. 
 Chappell. 
 
 Metzler. 
 
 Cramer. 
 Boosey. 
 
 Chappell. 
 
 Boosey. 
 Ashdown. 
 Chappell. 
 
 1855 
 1863 
 
 1866 
 
 1867
 
 336 
 
 APPENDIX 
 Songs, Etc. — Continued, 
 
 Give 
 
 In the Summers Long Ago . 
 
 afterwards 
 My Love beyond the Sea 
 What does Little Birdie Say ? 
 The Moon in Silent Brightness 
 O Fair Dove, O Fond Dove . 
 
 Sweet and Fair .... 
 
 1 Wish to Tune my quiv'ring Lyre 
 The Snow lies White . 
 The Mother's Dream 
 The Troubadour .... 
 Birds in the Night (from Cox and Box, 
 
 different words) .... 
 Sad Memories .... 
 
 Dove Song 
 
 A Life that Lives for You 
 
 The Village Chimes 
 
 Looking Back .... 
 
 The Window; or the Loves of the W 
 
 cycle of twelve songs . 
 
 Once Again 
 
 Golden Days 
 
 None But I can Say 
 
 Guinevere 
 
 The Sailor's Grave 
 The Maid of Arcadia (from Thespis) 
 There Sits a Bird .... 
 Looking Forward .... 
 The Young Mother (three songs) . 
 The Days are Cold 
 
 afterwards 
 Little Darling, Sleep Again . 
 
 Ay di Mi 
 
 The First Departure 
 
 afterwards 
 The Chorister . . . . 
 O Ma Charmante . 
 O Bella Mia (Italian version) 
 
 , with 
 
 ren. 
 
 Publisher; 
 
 Boosey. 
 Metzler. 
 
 Ashdown. 
 
 Metzler. 
 Ashdown. 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 Metzler. 
 Boosey. 
 
 Strahan. 
 Boosey. 
 
 Cramer. 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 Cramer. 
 
 Metzler. 
 Cramer. 
 Metzler. 
 Cramer. 
 
 Metzler. 
 Cramer. 
 
 Date. 
 
 1867 
 
 1868 
 
 1869 
 
 1870 
 
 1871 
 1872 
 
 1873 
 
 1876 
 
 1873 
 1876 
 
 1873 
 1878 
 1873
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Songs, Etc. — Continued. 
 
 337 
 
 Name. 
 
 Publisher. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Sweet Dreamer 
 
 Two songs in The Miller and his Men : 
 
 (drawing-room entertainment) 
 The Marquis de Mincepie 
 Finale 
 Nel Ciel Sereno (Merchant of Venice) . 
 
 Venetian Serenade 
 
 Sleep, my Love, Sleep 
 
 Mary Morison 
 
 The Distant Shore 
 
 Thou art Weary 
 
 My Dear and only Love .... 
 
 Living Poems 
 
 Tender and True 
 
 Christmas Bells at Sea ..... 
 The Love that Loves me not 
 Love laid his Sleepless Head 
 
 Let me Dream Again 
 
 Thou'rt Passing Hence 
 
 Sweethearts 
 
 My Dearest Heart 
 
 Sometimes 
 
 The Lost Chord 
 
 When Thou art Near 
 
 I Would I Were a King .... 
 
 King Henry's Song (from Henry Vin.) 
 Morn, Happy Mom (trio) (in the play 
 
 Olivia) . 
 
 Old Love Letters 
 
 St. Agnes' Eve 
 
 Edward Gray 
 
 The Sisters (duet) (originally published in 
 
 the Leisure Hour) 
 
 In the Twilight of our Love (from Patience, 
 
 with different words) 
 
 A Shadow 
 
 Ever 
 
 I'tu Nol Sai \ (^° t^® P^^y °^ ^^^ Profligate) 
 
 Cramer. 
 
 Bosworth. 
 Boosey. 
 
 Chappell. 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 I » 
 Chappell. 
 Novello. 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 Chappell. 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 Metzler. 
 
 Boosey. 
 S. Lucas. 
 
 Chappell. 
 Patey 
 
 Willis. 
 Chappell. 
 
 Bid me at Least 
 
 1873 
 
 1874 
 
 187: 
 
 1876 
 1877 
 
 1877 
 
 1878 
 
 1879 
 1880 
 1881 
 
 1887 
 1889 
 1S94
 
 338 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 HYMN TUNES. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Where first PubUshed. 
 
 Publisher. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Hymn of the 
 
 Good Words. 
 
 Strahan 
 
 1867 
 
 Homeland. 
 
 
 (afterwards 
 
 Boosey). 
 Macmillan. 
 
 
 Thou God of 
 
 Book of Praise H3minal. 
 
 1867 
 
 Love. 
 
 
 
 
 Of Thy Love. 
 
 »> )> 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 Mount Zion. 
 
 Psalms and Hymns for 
 
 Nisljet. 
 
 
 
 Divine Worship. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 Formosa 
 
 Psalms and Hymns for 
 
 
 
 (Falfield). 
 
 Divine Worship. 
 
 
 
 St. Luke. 
 
 Psalms and Hymns for 
 Divine Worship. 
 
 >> 
 
 >» 
 
 The Strain 
 
 Brown Borthwick's 
 
 Novello. 
 
 1868 
 
 Upraise. 
 
 Supplemental Hymn 
 and Tune Book. 
 
 
 
 The Son of 
 
 Brown Borthwick's 
 
 f 1 
 
 
 God. 
 
 Supplemental Hymn 
 and Tune Book. 
 
 
 
 Hymn of the 
 
 — 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 ,, 
 
 Homeland. 
 
 
 
 
 Gennesareth 
 
 (Heber). 
 
 Lacrymas, 222. 
 
 Sarum Hymnal. 
 
 — 
 
 1869 
 
 The Hymnary. 
 
 Novello. 
 
 1872 
 
 Lux Mundi, 225. 
 
 ,, 
 
 )> 
 
 
 Saviour, when 
 
 
 
 
 in Dust, 249. 
 
 
 
 
 Welcome, 
 
 
 91 
 
 
 Happy Morn- 
 
 
 
 
 ing, 284. 
 
 
 
 
 St. Revin, 285. 
 
 
 }> 
 
 
 Onward, Chris- 
 
 
 >) 
 
 
 tian Soldiers 
 
 
 
 
 (St. Gertrude), 
 
 
 
 
 476. 
 
 
 
 
 Safe Home, 507. 
 
 
 
 
 Gentle 
 
 
 99 
 
 
 Shepherd, 509. 
 
 
 
 
 Angel Voices, 
 
 
 99 
 
 
 532. 
 
 
 
 
 Propior Deo, 
 
 
 »J 
 
 
 570. 
 
 

 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Hymn Tunes — Continued. 
 
 339 
 
 Name. 
 
 Where first Published. 
 
 Publisher. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Venite (Rest), 
 
 The Hymnary. 
 
 Novello. 
 
 1872 
 
 597- 
 
 
 
 
 St. Edmund, 646 
 
 ,1 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 Christus, 496. 
 
 Church Hymns with Tunes 
 
 S.P.C.K. 
 
 1874 
 
 Ccena Domini, 
 
 'I >} 
 
 
 
 207. 
 
 
 
 
 Coronao, 354. 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 Dulce sonans, 
 
 
 
 J, 
 
 316. 
 
 
 
 
 Ever Faithful. 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 414. 
 
 
 
 
 Evelyn, 390. 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 Golden 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 Sheaves, 281. 
 
 
 
 
 Hanford, 400. 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 Holy City, 497. 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 Hushed was 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 the Evening 
 
 
 
 
 Hymn 572. 
 
 
 
 
 Litany, 585. 
 
 
 
 •' 
 
 .. 592- 
 Paradise, 473. 
 
 
 
 " 
 
 Pilgrimage, 367. 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 Resurrexit, 132. 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 St. Francis, 220. 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 St. Nathaniel, 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 257. 
 
 
 
 
 Saints of God, 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 191. 
 
 
 
 
 Ultor Omni- 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 potens, 262. 
 
 
 
 
 Valete, 30. 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 Veni, Creator, 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 346. 
 
 
 
 
 St. Mary 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 Magdalene, 494. 
 
 
 
 
 Lux in Tenebris, 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 409. 
 
 
 
 
 Lux Eoi, 67. 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 St. Patrick, 144. 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 St. Theresa, 566. 
 
 
 
 •■
 
 340 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Hymn Tunes — Continued. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Where first Published. 
 
 Publisher. 
 
 Date. 
 
 (Also seven 
 tunes specially 
 adapted or 
 arranged. ) 
 Dominion 
 
 Hymn. 
 
 Courage, 
 
 Brother. 
 
 O King of Kings 
 
 (Bishopgarth) 
 
 Church Hymns with Tunes 
 
 S.P.C.K. 
 
 Chappell. 
 
 1874 
 1880 
 
 Good Words. 
 
 Written by command for 
 the Queen's Jubilee. 
 
 Strahan. 
 
 Eyre and 
 
 Spottis- 
 
 woode, 
 
 afterwards 
 
 Novello. 
 
 1882 
 1897 
 
 
 
 
 WORKS FOR PIANO. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Thoughts, two pieces for piano solo . 
 
 Afterwards published as 
 
 Reverie in A ) 
 
 Melody in D \ 
 
 The same arranged for piano and violin 
 
 Day Dreams, six pieces for piano solo . 
 
 Twilight 
 
 Duo concertanto for piano and 'cello 
 
 Publisher. 
 
 Cramer. 
 
 Phillips 
 and Page. 
 
 Phillips 
 and Page. 
 
 Boosey. 
 
 Chappell. 
 
 Lamborn 
 
 Cock. 
 
 1862 
 
 1867 
 1868
 
 PRINTED BY R. R. DONNELLEY 
 AND SONS COMPANY, AT THE 
 LAKESIDE PRESS, CHICAGO, ILL.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 APR 2 8 1943 
 
 IVIAY 2 6 1943 
 F5:6-4G1944 
 
 QCl 10 1945 
 
 JAN 3 5 m^ 
 
 m 2 3 194S 
 
 « 1 1 Ihmi 
 
 HUG 7 1958 
 
 ■O^rW 4 1954 
 OCT « I \9» 
 
 ^APR 1 5 'SI 
 
 Form L-0 
 20m-l,'-12(851«> 
 
 AUG t 6 '58 All 
 AUG 3 '58 
 
 Pw 
 
 1t1» 
 
 AS6Z' 
 
 UNiVEKSlTY OF CAUFOftNU 
 
 AT 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 000 257 666 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 ML 
 
 410 
 S95L4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 AUXlUARY