The times., 1897-05-23

solved, and with the separation the po-
tency OF each seems to have vanished
But they were Incompatible in their day,
and the heritage of their day Is enjoyable
now; witness the favor always bestowed
on a Gilbert and Sullivan revival.
The list of their joint work comprises
twelve operas The first Of them was
Trial BY jury" produced March 20.
1875, at the Royalty Theater. OF all
these authors joint work, their first really
successful experiment was the most brill
liant, owing 10 the ease. sponteneousness
and unfettered natural humor that per
vailed It, 1t was a trifle, but an ad-
nrable trifle, thrown off by both in
moment of exuberant fun, and with little
thought of responsibility. It lasted but
ali hour, but it was merry, joyous hour
1t was two years afterwards, in No
vember, 1877, that "The sorcerer" was
given out There was no hiatus of equal
length between any others OF the striking
list of successes which followed. The fol-
lowing May, ,'H NJ. S. Pinafore" was pro-
duced and has remained today, with The
Mikado, atthe head of the list offavorites
In a cast of this production at hand.only
one name is familiar, that of George Gros-
smith known tous as a aLyceum entertainer
Mr.. Gilbert and Sulivans pieces were
thencerorth produced at the Savoy, which
became the home of comic opera, as the
Casino i s in New York, and Grossmiti he
c1me the presiding genius. He was the
original Of all the comedy parts. In the
Sorcerer" he played the commercial tray-
eler in penny curses. In PInafore lie
was Sir Joseph, and his other roles were
Gen. Stanley tTbe Pirates'), Bunthorne,
the Lord Chancellor t''Iolanthe"), King
CANA Princess Ida }. Ko-Ko, Robin Oak
apple eRuddigore'') and Jack Point C'Yoe-
man of the Guard'D
''Piuafore" furnished more pleasure
and quotations to conversation tldn any
other of their works. What, never
the big, big D." When l was Il lad
served 4 term" and I'm never, never sick
at sea" Were on every tongue The next
opera was given early in 1880. II was
THE Pirates OF Penxance," and though
ii was never revived, it was a conspicuous
favorite, and today its music is as fresh
ana its lilies are a s iin,.llng rs OF yore- The
music 60 Ruths waltz song, the policeInnn's
chorus, the march and several choruses are
as good AZ G. and s. IS best 1t was satire
Oil pirates and police, as the next was
satire on the aestheticsm then growing
UP under tire tutelege OF Oscar wilde
Patience" was produced in May, 1881.
The ballads and jingies were still fresh as
ever i'm this opera and there WAS what the
authors had by this time led their friends
always to expect, ''tiIe patter song. This
is distinctly Gilbert and Sullivan institu-
ton In 1.-The Mikado" the Little list" is
the patter song Note his jingle:
As some day it may happen that victim
must Ire found,
I've got little list. I've got little list,
OF social offenders who might wei be under
ground,
And who never would be missed. never
would be missed
There's the pestilential nuisance swrite
for autographs,
All people who have nabby hands and irri-
tating laughs,
All children who are up on dates and floor
you with them hat,
All persons who in shaking hands, shake
hands with you like that,
And all third persons who on spelling tete-
a-tetes insist,
They'd none of them be missed, they d none
of them be missed.
In The Pirates the patter song is
plainly the Generals description Of him
self
Il am very pattern OF modern major
general,
I've information vegetable. annual and
mineral;
know the kings Of England, and / quote
the fights historical.
From Marathon 10 Waterloo. in order cat
egor,oal;
I'm very well acquainted, too, with nat
ters mathematical.
l understand equations, both the simple
and quadratical;
About hinoininal iiIeorem l I'm teen,ing with
a lotto news,
With many cheerful facts about the square
OF the hypothenuse.'
Those who saw Patience" will recall
the alInost perpetual motion of the de-
liciousy rsonsensical patter song, running:
A most intense young man.
4 soulful-eyed young man.
An ultra-poeucal, super-aestbeucal,
Out-of the-way young man.
A Japanese young man,
A blue-and- white young man,
Francesca tla RiInini, niminy, piminy,
Je-ne-saisquoi young man.
In November, 1852, was given out 10
iantte,' satire on English peera ge. IL
was not conspicuous success in America,
for we neither understood, nor were we in
terested in the topic Princess Ida,
which was givenin January, 1884, seemed
even less attractive. and confidence in the
firms ability to write up to he Pima fore"
Patience" or Pirates" standard was
OH the point OF toppling. when in March,
1885, THE Mikado" was produced. The
hit was instantaneous The Japanese
theme naturally offered excellent op-
portuniues for scenery and decora-
tions, contrasting in a striking way with
what had hitherto been attempted The
fabric C of the opera is as grotesque as Il. zeal
Japanese fabric. AnacmOnisms, surprises,
incongruities, uEsaaring exposure of hu-
man weaknesses and follies, things grave
and even horrible, invested with Il ridicu-
lous aspect, all the motions prompting
our actions, traced back to inexfaustible
sources OF selfis hness and cowardice,
strange, uncanny frivolity indicated in
ca ch individual Characterization, these
were the recommending points accompany
ing to Percy Fitzgerld, the Secretary of
the Savoy"
Two years ago, January, 1887, was pro-
duced 'Ruddigore;' in October, SSS, The
Yeoman of the Guard;'i in December, $50,
THE Gondoliers,' and utopia, Linn
ited,'' in October of 1893. OF these the
only success was THE Gondoliers,'' and
even it did not approach "Pinafore' Or
sThe Mikado