Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) was the most successful English composer
of opera during the later years of the nineteenth century. His name is
of course principally associated with the long series of light operas
written in conjunction with Mr. W.S. Gilbert; but it must not be
forgotten that he also essayed grand opera with no little success.
The experiment made by the Carl Rosa company in 1899 of playing his
early oratorio, 'The Martyr of Antioch,' as an opera had, not
unnaturally, very little success, but 'Ivanhoe' (1891) showed that
Sullivan could adapt his style to the exigencies of grand opera with
singular versatility. 'Ivanhoe' was handicapped by a patchy and unequal
libretto, but it contained a great deal of good music, and we have
probably not heard the last of it yet. For the present generation,
however, Sullivan's fame rests almost entirely upon his comic operas,
which indeed have already attained something like the position of
classics and may prove, it is sincerely to be hoped, the foundation of
that national school of opera which has been so often debated and so
ardently desired, but is still, alas! so far from practical realisation.
Sullivan's first essay in comic opera dates from the year 1867, which
saw the production of his 'Contrabandista' and 'Cox and Box,' both
written to libretti by Sir Frank Burnand, and both showing not merely
admirable musicianship and an original vein of melody, but an
irresistible sense of humour and a rare faculty for expressing it in
music.
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