Clive Richardson: Beachcomber

All of us love to walk along the beach: whether it is during our summer holidays in the Costa Brava or Clacton it is a lovely relaxing way of passing the day. A ‘beachcomber’ was traditionally regarded as someone who lived in the South Sea Isles and made their living by pearl fishery and sometimes by less reputable means. However, in later years the word has come to mean anyone looking for something of value at the tides edge. Perhaps the most famous fictional example is Ben Knox, played by Fulton Mackay in the film Local Hero (1983). Nevertheless there was a lot of ‘beachcombing’ going on in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and R.M. Ballantyne’s The Coral Island.  The present tune suggests something a little less industrial.

Clive Richardson is probably best known for his ‘major’ light music works such as the wartime London Fantasia for piano and orchestra (1942) and his railway inspired miniatures such as Melody on the Move and Running off the Rails. Perhaps less well-known is the fact the he provided the score for Will Hay’s film masterpiece Oh Mr. Porter (1937).

Beachcomber opens almost quietly but comically with a catchy bassoon melody – soon this is joined by other woodwinds.  After this material has played out the middle ‘eight’ is given on strings with light percussion. It is a lot more romantic. The brass section adds their commentary on the proceedings. And then there is even a Spanish moment complete with castanets. However, the bassoon melody always seems to be in the background.  The work ends as quietly as it begins.

Ernest Tomlinson has described this work as presenting the image of ‘walking idly along the sea-coast, inspecting the miscellaneous debris brought in by the tides...’ Perhaps it is as he suggests the retired socialite or businessman who has opted for a quiet life by the seaside?  Or maybe it is just two lovers passing the time of day?  Whatever the background, this is a relaxing piece of music that does not ask too much of the listener.

Clive Richardson’s Beachcomber can be heard on Hyperion CDA66968or Marco Polo 8.223522. 

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Gustav Holst Rare Orchestral music in Naxos

Gustav Holst (1874-1934) Orchestral Music

Walt Whitman Overture, Op.7, H42 (1899) Symphony in F major, Op.8, H47, ‘The Cotswolds’ (1899-1900) A Winter Idyll, H31 (1897) Japanese Suite, Op.33, H126 (1915)

Indra – Symphonic Poem, Op.13, H66 (1903)

Ulster Orchestra/JoAnn Falleta

NAXOS 8.572914 [65:55]

Many years ago I recall talking to a lady at the Glasgow Promenade Concerts. We had just heard a fine performance of the ubiquitous The Planets.  She suggested to me that it was unfortunate that there was not more music like this in the composer’s catalogue. And I think at that time that she was right. Over the years, many listeners must have approached some of Holst’s more ‘neo-classical’ works such as the Fugal Overture or the Double Concerto or even Egdon Heath and felt a little disappointment that they seemed to be written in a completely different musical language to the best known work. The present CD to a large extent remedies this deficiency. I am not suggesting that these piece are in way ‘better’ than The Planets – however at least some of them provide  the listener with the ‘romance’ and the ‘Wagnerian’ power of the masterpiece that often seem to be missing in the later works.

I have never liked the ‘Walt Whitman’ Overture since first hearing it on the Classico CD (CLASSCD284) with the Munchener Symphoniker conducted by Douglas Bostock. I cannot really put my finger on the problem…

The Overture was composed in 1899: some seven years after the great American poet had died.  Listeners will know that at that time Whitman had been ‘discovered’ by British composers including R.V.W. whose Towards the Unknown Region, and Sea Symphony used texts derived from the poet’s Leaves of Grass. Holst himself would later compose The Mystic Trumpeter and the Dirge to Two Veterans based on Whitman’s poems.

The Overture is fairly and squarely composed in a Germanic style with a huge hat tip to Wagner. It just seems a little overblown for my taste – I think perhaps because it tends to play down the mystical side of the poet’s work.  Yet it is an exciting piece of music that deserves an occasional airing at orchestral concerts.

The ‘Cotswolds’ Symphony was a work that I always wanted to hear. Yet, I fear that I was a little disappointed when I heard it performed on the above-mentioned Classico CD. I think that I felt that it did not quite paint a musical picture of that fair region of England.

Gustav Holst wrote the work on the cusp of the new century – between 1899 and 1900.The work was completed at Skegness in Lincolnshire. At this time the composer was a trombonist in the Carl Rosa Orchestra as well as the Scottish Orchestra. The work was duly performed in 1902 by the ‘enterprising’ Sir Dan Godfrey and the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra.

The Symphony is written in four stylistically unbalanced movements – and I think that this spoils this work for me.  The opening movement is somewhat rusticated –with lots of allusions (if not direct quotes) to English folk music. It is a ‘march’ that fairly romps along.

The second movement is the deeply moving ‘Elegy’ (In Memoriam William Morris). This is a shadowy, unsmiling work that is funereal in its exposition. It is conceived as a processional march – with a massive climax in the middle section.  I am not a huge fan of Morris’ escapism; however there is nothing of the daydream about this music. I guess that it can be used as a stand-alone piece. Suggestions have been made that this is really the composer’s response to the Boer War, rather than to Morris himself.

The equilibrium of the work is wrenched back to lighter matters with the ‘scherzo’ which balances the ‘will o’ the wisp’ with a little ‘clod-hopping’. It is a good essay in creating all the fun of the ‘fairground’. There are a few moments of a serious nature. Lighter matters this movement may represent, but this is not ‘light music’ in any accepted sense.

The ‘finale’ is a joy to behold. Once again it is a fusion of the world of folk-music and Johannes Brahms. Yet this is a well-written piece of music that Lewis Foreman has suggested has all the trappings of ‘a harvest hymn, a celebration at the end of the country people’s annual cycle.’ All in all it is an interesting work, if somewhat lacking in unity.

A Winter Idyll is a short tone-poem composed in 1897 whilst the composer was studying at the Royal College of Music.  Imogen Holst has noted that her father saw his musical training as running in a trajectory from Mendelssohn, Grieg and Wagner. Certainly there are nods towards ‘Fingal’s Cave’ in this present work. She adds that Stanford’s influence is not too far away from some of the pages in this score.  It is a deliciously romantic work that may or may not suggest the winter scene to the listener. However, it is truly beautiful music that reflects considerable skill and invention on Holst’s behalf. The work was apparently never performed in the composer’s lifetime.

I have always felt that Holst’s Japanese Suite is one of the ‘forgotten gems’ of his opus. In many ways this romantic piece sits well beside The Planets. This work was composed during 1915 when the composer had taken a break from the larger work.

It was composed at the request of a Japanese dancer called Michio Ito who was performing at the Coliseum. He wanted a work based on Japanese melodies.  The story goes that Holst did not know any so, the dancer whistled a selection.

The Japanese Suite has six-movement that consists of four dances preceded by a prelude and an interlude at the suite’s midpoint.  I agree with Michael Kennedy who has suggested that this work does not sound particularly oriental. If I were to characterise the piece I would suggest that it is very definitely a spin-off of The Planets. Both ‘Venus’ and ‘Mercury’ are never too fat away in mood and texture.  Stravinsky is another model – with The Rite of Spring and Petrushka.

It is not known whether the Suite was ever given in its intended form. However, it received its first performance at a Proms Concert on 1 September 1919. 

Holst developed his interest in Indian philosophy at the turn of the twentieth-century. Keith Anderson suggests that is was perhaps through his father’s second wife who was a theosophist. This interest resulted in a number of important works including the well-known songs from the Rig Veda, the operas Savitri and Sita and the present work ‘Indra’, Symphonic Poem, Op 13.

This impressive tone-poem was composed in 1903 and is based on the legend of the Indian god of the heavens, of rain and storm and his conflict with the demon Vritra. Vritra had been brought to life by the Brahman Tvashtri to avenge the death of his son.  The legend relates how the demon was eventually defeated by Indra with the help of Vishnu. The drought that had been caused by Vritra is finally ended –and as the rain falls the people rejoice.

What is most remarkable about this work is the sheer brilliance of the orchestration. Imogen Holst has noted the contrasts between the quieter sections and the more ‘bombastic’ music. It is a score that was certainly ahead of its time – at least in British music. I suggest that it can be listened to without reference to the myth and can be seen as a contrast between cool, impressionistic music and more aggressive passages that are more Wagnerian or perhaps Straussian than the music that Holst would come to write in later years. It is a stunning work that does not deserve its obscurity. On a personal note it is one of my favourite Holst scores.

The sound quality of this disc is excellent- as is expected from Naxos. The Ulster Orchestra under their Principal Conductor JoAnn Falletta give an authoritative account of these scores. I would have liked slightly more detailed liner notes. Lewis Foreman’s for the Classico editions of the ‘Cotswolds’ Symphony are a model of their kind.

All of the works presented here have already been recorded in the past, either on Lyrita under Sir Adrian Boult or David Atherton and on Classico with Douglas Bostock. 

It would be invidious to suggest which recording was ‘better’ than the other. Holst enthusiasts will demand this new CD to sit alongside the earlier releases. It is encouraging that Naxos has chosen to record these relatively rare, but extremely worthy pieces. Furthermore, I can heartily recommend this CD to all those people who long for more of the same of (or at least stylistically analogous to) The Planets.

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

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Bax, Dermot O’Byrne and the First Symphony

I recently found an old copy of the Book and Magazine Collector (September 1996) in a second-hand bookshop. Amongst the discussions and bibliographies of E.H Shepherd, Miss Read, Victor Hugo and F. Scott Fitzgerald there is a superb study by Colin Scott-Sutherland of Arnold Bax’s literary alter ego Dermot O’Byrne.  This is worthy of study. However one section of this review caught my eye in particular – the consideration of a book published in 1913 by Maunsel & Co called Children of the Hills. In this book Bax (O’Byrne) presented a number of savage tales. 

Scott-Sutherland wrote that ‘one of the stories...tells of a strange experience which (he believes) eventually found its musical counterpart in the dark, ‘druidical’ second movement of Bax’s First Symphony. In this particular story called ‘Ancient Dominions’ O’Byrne describes ‘a strange nocturnal excursion in the moonlit incandescence of a May night in Donegal.  Quoting from Scott-Sutherland book Arnold Bax (1973) he writes that ‘with growing apprehension of uncanny doings the teller of the tale stumbles on the entrance to a vast underground cavern in whose awesome bowels the dark tides of the Atlantic provide the backcloth to a strange unearthly ritual to the sea-god of the Ancient Irish.

Bax wrote: - And then suddenly over this threshold of vision a presence passed. For an instant I saw again the wave-crowded mouth of the cavern and the green light in which it was bathed invaded by something vast and dominating, whether breath or light or shadow I could not tell, but I knew that all those men and women below me were again kneeling with veiled heads, their brows almost to the ground, that all were shaken by some obscure ecstasy of terror and joy. Then over myself it swept like a sun-smitten storm and my soul seemed pierced through with shafts of blinding green light and to vibrate and rock in an awful and delirious rapture as though cradled within the soul of the sea.

The ancient sea-god of the Celts was a certain Manannán mac Lir who also had jurisdiction over the Isles of the Blessed and Mag Mell.  Manannán’s wife was Fand, with whom Bax was to engage in later years with a magnificent description of her ‘Garden.’

The second movement, Lento solenne, of Bax’s Symphony No.1 can be heard on YouTube conducted by Bryden Thomson with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

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James Friskin Chamber Music on Nimbus

James Friskin (1886-1967)

Quintet in C minor (1907) Phantasie for String Quartet (c.1905) Elegy for viola and piano (1912) Phantasy (for piano quintet) (1910)

The Rasumovsky Quartet: Frances Mason (violin) Hilary Sturt (violin) Christopher Wellington (viola) Ian Pressland (cello) Catherine Dubois (piano)

Nimbus Alliance NI6182

As a fellow Glaswegian, I feel that I ought to know more about James Friskin.  Apart from the fact that he was born in the same city as myself, wrote a number of works for Cobbett’s chamber music competitions and was married (eventually) to the composer Rebecca Clarke, I know very little. 

Some additional biographical information may be of interest to potential listeners. James Friskin was born in Glasgow on 3 March 1886.  At the early age of fourteen, he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music to study the piano with Edward Dannreuther and composition with Charles Villiers Stanford. He taught at the Royal Normal School for the Blind between 1909 and the outbreak of the Great War. In 1914 he was invited by Frank Damrosch to become a ‘founding teacher’ at the Institute of Musical Art in New York. This was the forerunner of the Julliard School of Music.  He furthered his career as a pianist, specialising is Bach: he gave the first performance of the Goldberg Variations in the United States.

Friskin published two important books – The Principles of Piano Practice(1921) and Music for the Piano: a Handbook of Concert and Teaching Material from 1580 to 1952 (1954). There was also a critical edition of Bach’s music. In his seventies, he made a number of recordings of Bach’s music that has been released on CD in recent years.  Additionally, there is a fine recording of his Phantasie in E minor for piano trio on the British Music Society CD label. From a compositional point of view, the corpus is relatively small: most of the surviving works for piano, singers and chamber groups. However, there is a Piano concerto and a Concert Overture for orchestra. James Friskin died in New York on 16 March 1967.

Stylistically, Friskin’s chamber works fit into the general sweep of Western classical music. I was often reminded of Schubert whilst reviewing this CD. Certainly, there is not a general reliance on ‘pastoral musings’ or ‘heuchter-cheuchter’ Scottisms – in spite of the Scottish character of the main tunes in the ‘scherzo’ and ‘adagio’ of the C minor Quintet

One of the great-unsung heroes of British chamber music is Walter Wilson Cobbett (1847-1937). Fortunately, he is now becoming more appreciated as many of the works inspired by his competitions and commissions are finding their way into the recording studios.  Friskin’s achievement in these competitions was excellent.  In 1905 he was a runner-up with his Phantasie for String Quartet. However, in 1907 he gained second prize with the Phantasie Trio, which is available on CD BMS 418. Frank Bridge won first prize and John Ireland came third.  Interestingly, Cobbett himself in his massive Cyclopaedic Survey of Chamber Music places Friskin third! In 1910, Cobbett commissioned a number of works from leading British composers. This included Walter O’Donnell’s Cello Sonata and Bridge’s Piano Quartet. Friskin produced his Piano Quintet which is heard on this present recording.

The opening work on this CD is the almost ‘symphonic’ Quintet in C minor (1907). This massive work, lasting for more than half an hour has four movements. Thomas Dunhill (and not Cobbett as the notes suggest) described the Quintet as ‘one of the most brilliant Opus Ones in existence.’  The liner notes point out it was composed after just two years study with Stanford. This sweeping, romantic work exploits the full range of possibilities offered by this chamber grouping. This is indeed, big music.

The principal subject of the first movement acts as a kind of motto theme that runs through the entire work. Ideas follow each other in a profusion of melody that eventually leads to the first movement’s quiet ending. As noted above, the ‘scherzo’ makes use of a Scottish popular song (I confess to not knowing which one) – according to the liner notes, this passage scandalised Charles Villiers Stanford.  Yet it is a strong movement that is full of energy and interest.  The following adagio also has a Scottish flavour to it without descending to the mawkish or trite. In fact, this truly gorgeous music paints a picture of Scotland in the listener’s mind seldom achieved by any composer of Scottish or any other nationality. The final movement is a treasure. It is prefaced by a slow introduction before opening out into an expansive movement. I guess it is here that I am most conscious of Schubert’s E flat major Trio.  There is much excitement with contrasting reflective episodes to keep the listener’s attention from the first bar to the last. The optimistic concluding coda is hugely impressive.

The Phantas(y)[ie] for String Quartet was composed in 1905 and not 1909 as the liner notes suggest.  It was an entry for the Cobbett competition of that year. [See Musical News July 1906 p.19] The genre was one especially devised by Cobbett, designed to revive the Elizabethan Fancy, which was deemed a composition of relatively free construction, and lasting between 12 and 20 minutes.  It is a form taken up by many composers in the first three decades of the Twentieth Century. Examples are extant from the pens of composers as diverse as Britten, Holbrooke, Vaughan Williams and Arnold Bax.  Less obvious names include Waldo Warner, Susan Spain-Dunk and Haydn Wood.

The work opens with a ‘jaunty’ theme, which declares ‘youthful high spirits.’ This Presto section is full of humour and wit and reveals superb craftsmanship at every turn.  The main theme of the ‘adagio’ as been described as ‘frankly and freely obvious’ however this does not detract from the quality of the music. There is a will o’ the wisp central section that is full of trills and shakes before the rather charming tune returns played on the viola. The final section is march-like which features strong syncopation and a well marked rhythm. The ‘trio’ of this march surely recalls the music from the adagio. The work closes with a long coda. Of all the pieces on this CD this is the one that attracted me most. A well-crafted, musically interesting work that is at times moving and always enjoyable.

The beautiful Elegy for viola and piano (1912) is a well-wrought work. Christopher Wellington writing in the liner notes suggests that he has ‘a strong impression that this piece embodies [Friskin’s] feeling for the beautiful Rebecca [Clarke]’.  This seems a reasonable guess when one considers that her instrument was the viola and his was the piano. However, the elegy is actually a little more profound than love’s young dream. There is passion; there is violence and a number of tentative explorations that never resolve. If this work had been written a few years later, it could have been seen as a kind of ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth,’ without sinking into abject depression or despair. This Elegy is meditative, reflective and ultimately beautiful: it ought to be in the repertoire of all violists.  As for the playing of this piece, I am not convinced that it it being heard at its best.  Something seems a wee bit amiss with the balance between piano and soloist: the tone of the viola tends to lack the sheer romantic quality required for this work.

The final work on this CD is the above-mentioned commission (not mentioned in the notes) – the Phantasy (1910) for Piano Quintet. It opens with a mournful passage for solo viola, which is interrupted by a sharp chord, before being joined by the other strings. Soon the mood changes and the entire ensemble launches into the impassioned and occasionally aggressive ‘allegro.’ The mood then changes once again for the lively ‘presto.’ Yet, the heart of this work is the central ‘poco adagio which is at times heart-rendingly beautiful. The inverted arch form of this piece then progresses to an ‘allegro con fuoco.’ This big passionate music occasionally reverts to a quieter, more tranquil mood.  However the intensity returns before leading into a gloriously expansive and finally optimistic coda.

Christopher Wellington is correct in noting that ‘although this ‘Phantasy’ is only half the length of his C minor Piano Quintet, Friskin has filled it with incident and contrast.’ It never sags or causes loss of interest. It is a work that will surely move the listener, as the composer marks out his musical journey.

There is a good analysis of each of these pieces alongside placing the work in its context in the liner notes.  The playing by the Rasumovsky Quartet just does not seem to ‘gel’ in my mind although there is a genuine sympathy with the music here.  However, whether they are ultimately the best advocates for this unjustly neglected repertoire I am not too sure.  Nonetheless, I was particularly impressed by the pianist Catherine Dubois’ contribution.

As with so many composers, much of Friskin’s music would appear to be in manuscript – assuming that it is still extant. This no doubt will put off artists resurrecting his music. However, based on the music presented on this CD, I am convinced that the search for other ‘lost’ works will be well worth the effort. James Friskin is no ‘forgotten genius’: his essays are never going to usurp the chamber works of Frank Bridge and John Ireland. However, he is a worthy and often inspired voice that demands to be heard as a part of the re-evaluation of the so-called English (British) Musical Renaissance. 

This review fist appeared on MusicWeb International

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Mendelssohn and the Bagpipes

When Felix Mendelssohn stopped in Edinburgh during the first leg of his Scottish tour, he was attracted by the Highland soldiers apparently returning from church. He described them as ‘victoriously leading their sweethearts in their Sunday attire, and casting magnificent and important looks over the world; with long red beards, tartan plaids, bonnets and feathers, naked knees and their bagpipes in their hands.'

It does not need a qualified historian of Scotland to realise that there may have been a little bit of stereotyping going on here. It seems strange that they all had red beards and carried bagpipes.  And Mendelssohn does not elaborate.

J. Cuthbert Hadden suggests that the Scottish national instrument seems to have taken the composer’s fancy. On the following Monday there was a competition of Highland pipers in the Theatre Royal [1]. The composer was present.  Alas, there is no record of how he enjoyed the event.

However, Hadden continues, Dr. Donald Macleod [2] not long ago [1899] told a story which would seem to indicate that he [Mendelssohn] thought more highly of them than the ill-natured people who refuse to recognise it as an instrument of music.

It appears that a near-relative of Dr. Macleod was a piper. The gentleman chanced to be staying in the same hotel at which our travellers [Karl Klinegemann & Mendelssohn] had put up; and according to the story, it was his custom to take a ‘quiet’ practise in his own room. Mendelssohn hearing the ‘distant strains,’ sent his card to the player, and begged to be allowed to listen at close quarters.  He became, as we are told, greatly interested in both music and instrument, and paid several visits to the piper’s room during his stay.

Hadden concludes his anecdote by suggesting that if the story is true, the composer…'did not suffer from weak nerves'. [!!] Finally, Hadden wonders ‘where is the Edinburgh hotel-keeper who would nowadays allow a piper to practise in his room?  No wonder Mendelssohn exclaimed, when he thought of leaving, ‘How kind the people are in Edinburgh, and how generous is the good God!’

Derived from J. CUTHBERT HADDEN The Scottish Review, 1882-1920; Jan 1899; 33, British Periodicals pg. 94

Notes

[1] 29th July 1929

[2] Possibly, Donald Macleod DD (Glasgow: Park Church) who was Moderator of the Kirk in 1895.

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Edward Elgar: Cockaigne Overture review of first performance

Edward Elgar’s Cockaigne (In London Town) has always been one of my favourite works by the composer. It was composed in 1901 at a time of great industry –although no major oratorios or symphonic or concerted works were written. Works from this year included the Incidental music for Grania and Diarmid, Op.42, the first two Pomp and Circumstance marches and the lovely May song for violin & piano (or orchestra). Other pieces composed at this time are the ‘Concert Allegro’and ‘Skizze’ for piano solo –a medium that was relatively rare for Elgar.

Cockaigne, Op.40 was dedicated ‘To my many friends the members of British Orchestras.’ It was given its first performance at the Queen’s Hall in London on 20 June 1901. The review posted below was duly written for the Musical Times by an anonymous writer. I have included the references to the other works in the concert programme.

DR. ELGAR'S NEW OVERTURE. At the seventh and last concert, on June 20, was produced a new Overture, 'Cockaigne' (In London Town), from the pen of Dr. Edward Elgar, a composer from whom, after his Orchestral Variations and his Dream of Gerontius, great things are naturally expected. One hearing of this 'Cockaigne' Overture is not sufficient for its due appreciation, but throughout one feels it to be the work of a composer of strong feeling and of rare power in expressing his thoughts. There is vigorous, healthy life in the music, though so full of interesting details of workmanship that it cannot be summed up in haste. The overture has not only a title, but also a programme, and we would frankly acknowledge that, however much it may add to the meaning of the score, the attempt to follow it while listening to the music proved somewhat arduous. The story, or' argument,' is so intimately connected with the varying moods of the music, that it seemed unfair to try to judge the latter merely from a purely abstract point of view. For the moment, then, let us record the fact that in 'Cockaigne' we have a work of high purpose and of high merit, and one which ought soon to be heard again. It was brilliantly performed under the composer's direction, and if the audience could have had its own way the overture would have been repeated.

Mr. Leopold Godowsky played the pianoforte part of Brahms's Concerto in D minor (Op. 15) The performance, as regards technique and taste, was admirable, albeit we should have liked a more intense reading of the first and last movements. Miss Maud Powell was heard to advantage in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D. She plays with vigour and with feeling, and her brilliant execution won for her much applause. It was, however, in the expressive Canzonetta that she satisfied us best. Schubert's 'Unfinished' Symphony, with which the programme opened, was thoroughly well rendered; yet we think that the Andante would have gained by being taken one shade faster- it is marked ‘con moto’. Miss Lydia Nervil sang songs by Mozart and Massenet, and was much applauded.

The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular July 1 1901 (with minor edits)

Sir Edward Elgar’s Overture, 'Cockaigne' (In London Town) can be heard on YouTube. It is from a live broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK, 3 September 2011. Jac van Steen conducted the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

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Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance: A Review of the First Performance at Paignton

A few weeks ago I posted a couple of reviews of the premiere of Gilbert & Sullivan classic opera The Pirates of Penzance along with a brief overview of the reasons why the performance took place in Paignton. I did not include this review from The Glasgow Herald. I do not believe that the reviewer actually witnessed the performance. However it is worth quoting for completeness. I include a picture of the vessel which brought the score from New York.

Yesterday afternoon [1] Messrs. Sullivan and Gilbert’s new extravaganza The Pirates of Penzancewas announced to be performed for the first time on any stage at the theatre of the little town of Paignton, in Devonshire. The representation was, of course, a purely formal one, and was in compliance solely with our curious copyright law, which declares that, to secure the various rights attending to it, a work by English subjects must be first performed in England.

Therefore one of Mr. D’Oyley Carte’s [2] travelling companies was ordered to come across from Torquay, and, although the score was only expected by the Bothnia from New York yesterday, the provisions of the law will have been duly complied with. The new piece, which will not succeed H.M.S. Pinafore in this country till Easter, is a burlesque upon the sensational stories and the sensational melodramas of the present day. The bold pirate is represented as a very effeminate individual, who woos the daughter of a Major-General — a part, by the way, destined to be played here by Mr. George Grossmith. A policeman, a former nurse of the pirate, and two or three subordinate buccaneers also figure in the dramatis personae. The piece will be produced next Saturday [3] at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York — Mr. Arthur Sullivan conducting.

Glasgow Herald January 2 1880 From our London Correspondent, London, Wednesday 31 December 2012 (with minor edits)

Notes

[1] Tuesday 30^thDecember 1879

[2] This is a spelt wrongly: it should read Mr.[Richard] D’Oyly Carte.

[3] It was in fact first heard at the Fifth Avenue Theatre on the evening of Wednesday 31 December.

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