British Classical Music: The Land of Lost Content: John Fox ...

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Monday, April 2, 2012

Thirty Five Years of Gilbert & Sullivan: Henry A. Lytton.

Posted on 10:00 PM by humpty

I came across this short essay by the D’Oly Carte singer and actor Henry A. Lytton (1865-1936). It had been published in October 1925 under editorship of Percy Pitt [1].  It is a good personal insight into life with D’Oly Carte and also his relationship with W.S.  Gilbert. I have included a few footnotes and have made some slight edits to the text.

Thirty Five years is a long time to have played the same parts, and I am sometimes asked whether I am not tired of them? Probably I should be if they belonged to anything else except the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. But I never tire of these. They are so perfect from every point of view; they are such a wonderful blend of everything that should be there, that they seem to have eternal freshness and the capacity to keep one's interest constantly alive.
The public takes very much the same view. One might imagine that the enthusiasm shown for these operas in years past could not be exceeded. The D' Oyly Carte Company, in its travels,
visits a particular town and breaks its previous records there; the limit appears to have been reached. Yet when the town is revisited records are broken again. So it goes on all over the country.
The older people who have been listening to the operas for thirty or forty years flock to the theatres as if taking part in a yearly ritual; the younger ones go to see if all the fuss is justified, and quickly become as enthusiastic as their elders. Many people keep a record of their attendances. Often enough, while making my way through crowds at the stage-door,
someone has shouted to me: ‘Good old Lytton! This is my fortieth time at TheMikado.’
I know a man at Liverpool who books two stalls for every performance during our season here. He invites a friend to dinner and theatre each evening.
One night, unfortunately, he found the odd man who does not like Gilbert and Sullivan. The opera was Patience, and when I came on as Bunthorne he asked what my part was. ‘That is Bunthorne, a poet,’ he was told. Then Grosvenor entered. ‘Who is he?’ was his next
question. ‘He is another poet,’ was the reply. What, two poets in one opera?’ he exclaimed. ‘I've had enough of this!’ and out he went.
Perhaps Irish audiences are the most demonstrative of all. They do not merely applaud, but shout and cheer at the top of their voices, and simply insist upon I had not been on the stage more than a few minutes before I felt glad that he encore after encore. But the enthusiasm
everywhere is tremendous. We members of the company always feel that our audiences and ourselves belong to one big family: that there is an atmosphere of friendliness in front and that even if we do make a slight slip we shall be forgiven
More than one actor has found a decided change on leaving to join another company. He misses immediately the Gilbert and Sullivan ‘goodwill’ if I may give it that name; the constantly crowded houses, and the never-failing appreciation.
I remember that when I left the company many years ago, to take part in the new production of The Earl and the Girl [2] at the Adelphi, Walter Passmore [3] said on the opening night:
‘Let me say a friendly word to you. Don't lose heart if you don't find the usual enthusiasm. You've really got to start all over again here. You won't begin with a friendly atmosphere; you'll have to manufacture it.’

I had not been on the stage more than a few minutes before I felt glad that he had spoken to me. How different from the infectious enthusiasm of a Gilbert and Sullivan audience! The piece was a big success, but I have never forgotten the chilly ordeal of the first few nights.
It is all a great tribute to the Savoy operas. The goodwill of the public has not been won without reason: only a combination of circumstances of the rarest kind could have brought it into existence. It is late in the day to heap fresh praises upon the extraordinarily perfect blend of music and libretto, but perhaps I may speak of the great personal care which Gilbert bestowed upon the production of the operas.

His knowledge of stagecraft was remarkable, and this stood him in excellent stead. He has sometimes been spoken of as a martinet. I knew him for many years, and never found him anything but a perfect. English gentleman, kindly and considerate in every action. As an example of his thoughtfulness, he always arranged, if it were humanly possible, that an actor's entrances and exits should be on the side of the stage nearest to his dressing-room.
What that means in the course of an evening only an actor knows. Yet he could be satirical to a degree when it suited him, as all the principals of the company at the time knew. I had an
experience of it during a rehearsal of Ruddigore.
My part was that of Robin Oakapple, a nephew whom his uncle tells at a certain point to leave. I wondered how I should make my exit, and, turning to Gilbert, asked him how he thought it should be done.
“Oh, exit like a nephew," he said, without a smile. I had asked a rather silly question, and Gilbert gave me what he considered a suitable reply.
The late George Grossmith [4] once suggested to him that if certain ‘business’ were introduced it would make the audience laugh.
“So it would if you sat down on a pork pie," was the dry reply.
Gilbert knew exactly what he wanted, and insisted upon having it. The operas are still presented as he directed, and so they will continue to be.
Musical Masterpieces, October 1925

Footnotes
[1] Percy Pitt (1870-1932) English organist, composer and conductor.  From 1926 to 1930 he was General Musical Director of the BBC.
[2] The Earl and the Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by Seymour Hicks, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll. It was produced by William Greet and opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 10 December 1903. It transferred to the Lyric Theatre on 12 September 1904, running for a total of 371 performances. (Wikipedia accessed 17/3/12)
[3] Walter Henry Passmore (10 May 1867 – 29 August 1946) was an English singer and actor best known as the first successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. (Wikipedia accessed 17/3/12)
[4] George Grossmith (9 December 1847 – 1 March 1912) was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades. As a writer and composer, he created 18 comic operas, nearly 100 musical sketches, some 600 songs and piano pieces, three books and both serious and comic pieces for newspapers and magazines. (Wikipedia accessed 17/3/12)

Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to Facebook
Posted in Gilbert and Sullivan | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • York Bowen: Symphony No.2 in E minor, Op.31
    Until a few years ago York Bowen would have been a name known to precious few listeners, even those committed to British music. A number of ...
  • Ernest Tomlinson: Little Serenade
    Ernest Tomlinson (b.1924) is one of the most prolific of all light music composers. He has been compositionally active since before the Seco...
  • Frank Bridge & Cyril Scott Piano Quintets on BMS Label
    Frank BRIDGE (1879-1941) Piano Quintet in D minor, H49a (1904-5: rev.1912)   Cyril SCOTT (1879-1970) Piano Quintet No.1 (1924) Raphael Terr...
  • The Golden Age of Light Music: Bright & Breezy on Guild
    The Golden Age of Light Music: Bright and Breezy GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5180 There are some 81 volumes of Guild’s ‘Golden Age of Light Music’...
  • Alec Rowley: ‘Down Channel’ Overture
    This is one of the works that I have been waiting for. I first heard of this piece in Philip Scowcroft’s essay on ‘ English Composer’s for A...
  • (no title)
    Arthur Benjamin (1893-1960) Violin Concerto (1931) Romantic Fantasy for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (1936) Elegy, Waltz and Toccata [Viola ...
  • John Rutter: Shepherd’s Pipe Carol
    My earliest introduction to the music of John Rutter was the second volume of Carols for Choirs . It was in use by Coatbridge High School ‘s...
  • Arnold Bax: review of first recording of Tintagel.
    In 1929 Eugene Goossens and the New Symphony Orchestra made the first recording of Arnold Bax’s great tone-poem Tintagel . The critic W.R. A...
  • Charles Villiers Stanford's Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 124
    Any consideration of Charles Villiers Stanford’s Seventh Symphony could do worse than begin with Charles Porte’s summary in his book about t...
  • The Thurston Connection: English Music for Clarinet and Piano
    Arnold Bax (1883-1953): Sonata (1934) Roger Fiske (1910-1987): Sonata (1941) Iain Hamilton (1922-2000): Three Nocturnes, Op. 6 (1951) Hugh W...

Categories

  • Adam Pounds
  • Adam Saunders
  • Adrian Boult
  • Alan Rawsthorne
  • Alec Rowley
  • Alfred Hollins
  • Algernon Ashton
  • Alun Hoddinott
  • Angela Morley
  • Anthony Burgess
  • Antony Hopkins
  • Arnold Bax
  • Arthur Benjamin
  • Arthur Bliss
  • Arthur Butterworth
  • Arthur Somervell
  • Arthur Sullivan
  • Benjamin Britten
  • Bernard Stevens
  • Bill Worland
  • Book Reviews
  • Brian Easdale
  • British Film Music
  • British Light Music
  • C.W. Orr
  • Carlo Martelli
  • Charles Halle
  • Charles Hubert Hasting Parry
  • Charles Shadwell
  • Charles Villiers Stanford
  • Charles Williams
  • Cheltenham Festival
  • Christopher Wright
  • Claude Debussy
  • Clive Richardson
  • Concert Series
  • Cyril Cork
  • Cyril Scott
  • Cyril Watters
  • David Bedford
  • David Dubery
  • David Ellis
  • David Jennings
  • Deems Taylor
  • Don Banks
  • Donald Harris
  • E.J. Moeran
  • Edward Elgar
  • Edward German
  • Eileen Joyce
  • Elisabeth Lutyens
  • Eric Coates
  • Eric Craven
  • Eric H. Thiman
  • Erik Chisholm
  • Ernest Tomlinson
  • Ethel Smyth
  • Eugene Goossens
  • Felix Mendelssohn
  • Felix White
  • Festival of Britain
  • Francis Edward Bache
  • Frank Bridge
  • Frank Merrick
  • Frank Tapp
  • Franz Reizenstein
  • Frederic Curzon
  • Frederic Hymen Cowen
  • Frederick Delius
  • G.W.L. Marshall-Hall
  • Gareth Glyn
  • George Frederic Handel
  • George French
  • George Lloyd
  • George Macfarren
  • George Melachrino
  • Gerald Finzi
  • Gilbert and Sullivan
  • Gordon Crosse
  • Granville Bantock
  • Greville Cooke
  • Gustav Holst
  • Gustav Mahler
  • Hamilton Harty
  • Hamish MacCunn
  • Harriet Cohen
  • Harry Farjeon
  • Havergal Brian
  • Haydn Wood
  • Hector Berlioz
  • Henry Walford Davies
  • Henry Wood Promenade Concerts
  • Herbert Brewer
  • Herbert Howells
  • Herbert Sumsion
  • Herman Finck
  • Humphrey Searle
  • Ian Venables
  • Ignaz Moscheles
  • Ina Boyle
  • Irene Scharrer
  • J.S. Bach
  • James Friskin
  • Johann Baptist Cramer
  • John Addison
  • John Ansell
  • John Anthill
  • John Blackwood McEwen
  • John Carmichael
  • John Cook
  • John Fox
  • John Holliday
  • John Ireland
  • John Joubert
  • John McCabe
  • John Purser
  • John Rutter
  • Jonathan Harvey
  • Josef Holbrooke
  • Judith Bailey
  • Julius Harrison
  • Kathleen Ferrier
  • Kenneth Leighton
  • Len Stevens
  • Lennox Berkeley
  • Lionel Monckton
  • Lost Music
  • Malcolm Arnold
  • Malcolm Sargent
  • Malcolm Williamson
  • Marcus Dods
  • Matyas Seiber
  • Maurice Greene
  • Montague Phillips
  • Moura Lympany
  • Myra Hess
  • Paul Lewis
  • Percy Fletcher
  • Percy Scholes
  • Percy Whitlock
  • Peter Dickinson
  • Peter Hope
  • Peter Maxwell Davies
  • Peter Racine Fricker
  • Peter Yorke
  • Philip Lane
  • Philip Sawyers
  • Promenade Concerts
  • Ralph Greaves
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams
  • Richard Addinsell
  • Robert Farnon
  • Robert Still
  • Roberto Gerhard
  • Robin Holloway
  • Roger Quilter
  • Ronald Binge
  • Ronald Stevenson
  • Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • Spike Huges
  • Stanley Wilson
  • Theodore Holland
  • Thomas Dunhill
  • Tobias Matthay
  • Trevor Duncan
  • Vivian Ellis
  • Walter Carroll
  • William Alwyn
  • William Blezard
  • William Lloyd Webber
  • William Mathias
  • William Sterndale Bennett
  • William Walton
  • William Wolstenholme
  • York Bowen

Blog Archive

  • ►  2015 (4)
    • ►  January (4)
  • ►  2014 (123)
    • ►  December (10)
    • ►  November (10)
    • ►  October (11)
    • ►  September (10)
    • ►  August (10)
    • ►  July (11)
    • ►  June (10)
    • ►  May (10)
    • ►  April (10)
    • ►  March (10)
    • ►  February (10)
    • ►  January (11)
  • ►  2013 (122)
    • ►  December (11)
    • ►  November (10)
    • ►  October (10)
    • ►  September (10)
    • ►  August (11)
    • ►  July (10)
    • ►  June (10)
    • ►  May (11)
    • ►  April (9)
    • ►  March (11)
    • ►  February (9)
    • ►  January (10)
  • ▼  2012 (137)
    • ►  December (11)
    • ►  November (10)
    • ►  October (10)
    • ►  September (11)
    • ►  August (12)
    • ►  July (13)
    • ►  June (11)
    • ►  May (13)
    • ▼  April (12)
      • The Letters and Diaries of Kathleen Ferrier: New E...
      • The Annotated Programme: Two Humorous Anecdotes.
      • George Macfarren: Come Away, Death
      • Francis Edward Bache (1833-1858) was a pupil of Wi...
      • Arnold Bax on E.J. Moeran Part II
      • Arnold Bax on E.J. Moeran Part I
      • John Holliday: Punchinello.
      • Spike Hughes, Edward Elgar and Venice
      • Frederick Delius: A Dance Rhapsody – An Analytical...
      • The Golden Age of Light Music: Holidays for Strings
      • Alun Hoddinott: Two Welsh Nursery Tunes
      • Thirty Five Years of Gilbert & Sullivan: Henry A. ...
    • ►  March (11)
    • ►  February (12)
    • ►  January (11)
  • ►  2011 (114)
    • ►  December (13)
    • ►  November (12)
    • ►  October (12)
    • ►  September (12)
    • ►  August (13)
    • ►  July (14)
    • ►  June (14)
    • ►  May (14)
    • ►  April (10)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

humpty
View my complete profile