Arizona silver belt., 1893-11-25
WRITING AN OPERA.
W. S. GILBERT TELLS HOW HE PRO-
 pueES COMIC LIeReTTo.

poser Must Work Hand In Hand-Mr
 GIberts Lab6rious Methods-How H,
 Gets His Ideas For Popular Plots.
 asked W. s. Gilbert what he consid
 cred the chief traits necessary to enable
 one to become a successful playwright
 Well, he replied thoughtfully, .'thai
 opens up very large subject. They diff,
 fer vastly. In my own line should sum
 them up as follows; In the first place,
 the power of catching the public taste
 then thorough knowledge of stagecraft
 and . gift for stage management, the
 capacity to invent q plot, the power to
 create characters, an eys for dramatic
 situation and scenic effect, and finally
 the faculty to write readily dialogue, Tyr.
 les and musical numbers"
 '1 believe, MT. Giibert,"I said, that
 you have little or no ear for music,
 Don't you find this interferes with your
 rhythmical numbersY'
 1t is quite true that have no ear for
 music, but have very sensitive ear
 for rhythmi 1t Is precisely the difference
 between time and tune. lam very fond
 of music, but l don't know discord
 when l hear one. On the other hand, the slightest error in time, which would probably escape a musician, would jar most gratingly on my ear. My fondness for music chiefly lies in hearing pieces which are connected in my mind with associations. l would rather hear an unknown soprano singing song knew than Patti singing one did not know"
 Where do your plots come from, Mir. Gilbert?"
 ''Plots1 Good graciousi where do they come fromI l don't know. A chance remark in conversation, q little acci. dental incident, 0 trifing object, may suggest train of thought which devel- ops into startling plot. Of course am talking of original plots. I don't call adapting play or translating play writing one. Taking my own plots. for instance, the 'Mikado' was suggested by Japanese sword which hangs in my study, The Yeomen of the Guard by even more unlikely incident. I had % minutes one day to wait at Uxbridge station for a train, and saw the advcr- tisement of the Tower Furnishing Com pany, representing number of beef eaters-why, goodness only knows. It gave ne an idea, and I wrote the play originally as one of modern life in the Tower of London. Then it suddenly occurred to me to throw the time of 1t back to that of Queen Elizabeth. Hay ing got ones plot, the next step is to fit In the characters. And the chief point In doing so is to invent original charac- ters.
 'l write out the play as a story, just as carefully as though 1t were to be pub. hshed in that form. then try to divide 1t into acts. think two acts the right number for comic opera. At least my experience-and that is 30 years old teaches me SO. Sometimes, of course, the original story does not fall readily Into two acts, and so requires modifca. ton. We'll, Iput 1t by for fortnight Or more, and then rewrite the whole thing without referring to the first copy. l find that have omitted some good things that were iu the first ., ton and have introduced some other good things that were not in it. compare the two, put them both aside and write it out again. Sometimes l do this a dozen times; indeed the general public has no idea of the trouble it takes to produce a play that seems to run so smoothly and So naturally.
 ''One must work up to good curtain. Ibeheye very strongly in this, although never take up any controversies, but sim ply go my own way on my own lines. The last impression is always the strong est, and the audience will often pardon q feeble, wearisome act for one dramatic climax at it's conclusion. can generally judge now what will have q good effect. | but very rarely, it is spoiled l by the interpreters. They always do l their best, but occasionally they fail to realize my intention. The fact is that | for comic opera many artists, especially ! tenors and sopranos, are necessarily en- 1 gagged who are singers rather than actors, | and 1t IS not to be expected that care fully written comedy dialogue will re- | ceive full justice at their hands.
 Well, to go on with the writing of Inc play. l next sketch out quite roughly ihe dialogue and then fill in the musical numbers IS feel inclined. do not at- tempt to write them in order. but just IS the humor takes me-ono here. one ,here, Q sad one when feel depressed, a bright one when am in happy mood. When at last all those of the first act are lone, it is sent to the composer to be set Q music, with a copy of the rough iketch Of the dialogue to show him how he different songs hang together l like reading it over to the com poser, so as to give him my idea of the 'hythm, which, as a matter of course, he 'aries at his pleasure.
 There must be perfect good fellow. hip between the writer and composer, F there is much give and take to be managed. Meters have to be changed y the writer, or tunes altered by the composer, to fit in with some idea, some intention. of the other partner. For in- tAnce, the writer may have put theme n one meter, and the composer has c une in his head which will just suit the heme, but will not fit the scansion, and O the lyrics must be altered Each must " to make the others part as easy as 'ossible. There must be no jealousy, no ad feeling between the two. They must Q on the best of terms, otherwise there siu be no success. s."-Cor. St. James iazette.