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SULLIVAN, SIR ARTHUR SEYMOUR (1842—1900)

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 57 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SULLIVAN, See also:SIR See also:ARTHUR See also:SEYMOUR (1842—1900) , See also:English musical composer, was See also:born in See also:London on the 13th of May 1842, being the younger of the two sons of See also:Thomas Sullivan, a cultivated Irish musician who was bandmaster at the Royal Military See also:College, See also:Sandhurst, from 1845 to 1856, and taught at the Military School of See also:Music at See also:Kneller See also:Hall from 1857 till his See also:death in 1866. His See also:mother, nee See also:Mary See also:Coghlan (1811--1882), had See also:Italian See also:blood in her See also:veins. Arthur Sullivan was brought up to music from boy-See also:hood, and he had learnt to See also:play every See also:wind See also:instrument in his See also:father's See also:band by the See also:age of eight. He was sent to school at Bayswater till he was twelve, and then, through Sir See also:George See also:Smart, he was, at his own persistent See also:request, made a See also:Chapel Royal chorister, and entered Mr Helmore's school for Chapel Royal boys in See also:Cheyne Walk. He had a See also:fine See also:treble See also:voice, and sang with exceptional See also:taste. In 1856 the Mendelssohn See also:Scholar-See also:ship at the Royal See also:Academy of Music was thrown open for the first See also:time for competition, and was won by Sullivan, his nearest See also:rival being See also:Joseph See also:Barnby. At the Academy he studied under Sterndale See also:Bennett, Arthur O'Leary and See also:John See also:Goss, and did so well that he was given an See also:extension of his scholarship for two years in See also:succession. In 1858, his voice having broken, he was enabled by means of his scholarship to go to study at the conservatorium of See also:Leipzig. There he had for teachers See also:Moscheles and Plaidy for See also:pianoforte, See also:Hauptmann for See also:counterpoint, Rietz and See also:Reinecke for See also:composition, and F. See also:David for orchestral playing and conducting. Among his See also:fellow-students were See also:Grieg, Carl See also:Rosa, See also:Walter See also:Bache, J. F.

See also:

Barnett and See also:Edward Dannreuther. Instead of the Mendelssohn cultus which represented orthodoxy in London, See also:German musical See also:interest at this See also:period centred in See also:Schumann, See also:Schubert and the growing reputation of See also:Wagner, whilst See also:Liszt and Von Billow were the celebrities of the See also:day. Sullivan thus became acquainted for the first time with See also:master-pieces which were then practically ignored in See also:England. He entered enthusiastically into the spirit of the See also:place, and after two years' hard study returned to London in See also:April 1861. Before doing so, however, he had composed his incidental music for The See also:Tempest, which he had begun as a sort of diploma See also:work. Sullivan set himself to find converts in London to the enthusiasms he had imbibed at Leipzig. He became acquainted with George See also:Grove, then secretary of the Crystal See also:Palace, and See also:August Manns, the conductor there; and at his instigation Schumann's First See also:Symphony was introduced at one of the See also:winter cohcerts. See also:Early in 1862 Sullivan showed Grove and Manns his Tempest music, and on the 5th of April it was performed at the Crystal Palace. The See also:production was an unmixed See also:triumph, and Sullivan's exceptional gifts as a composer were generally recognized from that moment. He had hitherto been occupying himself with teaching, and he continued for some years to See also:act as organist at St See also:Michael's, See also:Chester Square, but henceforth he devoted most of his time to composition. By 1864 he had produced his " See also:Kenilworth " See also:cantata (remembered chiefly for the lovely See also:duet, " How sweet the Moonlight "), the " See also:Sapphire Necklace " See also:overture, and the five beautiful songs from See also:Shakespeare, which include " See also:Orpheus with his See also:Lute," "Oh See also:Mistress Mine" and "The See also:Willow See also:Song." His attractive See also:personality, combined with his undoubted See also:genius and brilliant promise, brought him many See also:friends. See also:Costa, who was conductor at Covent See also:Garden, gave him the See also:post of organist, and in 1864 he produced there his L'Ile Enchantee See also:ballet.

Some of his spare time was spent in See also:

Ireland, where in 1863 he began the composition of his (" Irish ") Symphony in E, which was produced at the Crystal Palace in 1866. The most important event, however, at this period, as bearing upon his later successes, was his co-operation with F. C. See also:Burnand in the musical extravaganza See also:Cox and See also:Box, which first showed his capacity for musical drollery. This was acted privately in 1866, and was completed for public performance in 1867, in which See also:year Sullivan again co-operated with Burnand in Contrabandista. Meanwhile he was in request as a conductor, and was made, See also:professor of composition at the Academy. His father's sudden death in 1866 inspired him to write the fine " In Memoriam " overture, which was produced at the See also:Norwich Festival. In 1867, besides producing his " Marmion " overture, he and Grove did a See also:great service to their See also:art by bringing to See also:light at See also:Vienna a number of lost Schubert See also:MSS., including the Rosamunde music. About this time Sullivan induced See also:Tennyson to write his song-See also:cycle" The Window," to be illustrated by See also:Millais, with music by himself. But Millais abandoned the task, and Tennyson was not happy about his See also:share; and the See also:series, published in 1871, never became popular, in spite of Sullivan's dainty setting. In 1869 he brought out his See also:oratorio The Prodigal Son at See also:Worcester, and in 187o his overture " Di Ballo " at See also:Birmingham. In 1871 Sullivan had become acquainted with W.

S. See also:

Gilbert (q.v.), and in 1872 they collaborated in a piece for the Gaiety See also:Theatre, called See also:Thespis; or, The Gods Grown Old, which was a great success in spite of the limited vocal resources of the per-formers. In 1875 R. D'Oyly See also:Carte, then acting as manager for Selina Dolaro at the See also:Royalty, approached Gilbert with a view to his collaborating with Sullivan in a piece for that theatre. Gilbert had already suggested to Sullivan an operetta with its See also:scene in a See also:law See also:court, and within three See also:weeks of his completing the libretto of Trial by See also:Jury the music was written. The piece succeeded beyond all expectation; and on the strength of its promise of further successes D'Oyly Carte formed his See also:Comedy See also:Opera See also:Company and took the Opera Comique Theatre. There in 1877 The Sorcerer was produced, George See also:Grossmith and See also:Rutland See also:Barrington being in the See also:cast. In 1878 H.M.S. Pinafore was brought out at the Opera Comique. At first it did not attract large audiences, but eventually it became a popular success, and ran for 700 nights. In See also:America it was enthusiastically received, and the two authors, with D'Oyly Carte, went over to the States in 1879, with a company of their own, in See also:order to produce it in New See also:York. To secure the See also:American rights for their next opera, they brought out The Pirates of See also:Penzance first at New York in 1879.

In 188o, in London, it ran for nearly 400 nights. In 1881 See also:

Patience was produced at the Opera Comique, and was transferred later in the year to the See also:Savoy Theatre. There all the later operas came out: lolanthe (1882), Princess See also:Ida (1884), The See also:Mikado—perhaps the most charming of all-(1885), Ruddigore (1887), The Yeomen of the Guard (1888), The Gondoliers (1889). This succession of pieces by Gilbert and Sullivan had made their See also:united names stand for a new type of light opera. Its See also:vogue owed something to such admirable performers as George Grossmith—famous for his " See also:patter songs "—Rutland Barrington, See also:Miss Jessie See also:Bond, Miss Brandram, and later W. H. Denny and Walter Passmore; but these artistes only took See also:advantage of the opportunities provided by the two authors. In place of the old adaptations of See also:French opera bouffe they had substituted a genuinely English product, humorous and delightful, without a tinge of vulgarity or the See also:commonplace. But disagreements now arose between them which caused a See also:dissolution of partner-ship. Sullivan's next Savoy opera, Haddon Hall (1892), had a libretto by See also:Sydney See also:Grundy; and the resumption of Gilbert's collaboration in 1893 in See also:Utopia, Limited, and again in 1896 in The See also:Grand See also:Duke, was not as successful as before. Sullivan's music, however, still showed its characteristic qualities in The Chieftain (1894)—largely an See also:adaptation of Contrabandista; The Beauty See also:Stone (1898), with a libretto by A. W.

See also:

Pinero and J. Comyns Carr; and particularly in The See also:Rose of See also:Persia (1900), with See also:Captain See also:Basil Hood. In the public mind Sir Arthur Sullivan (who was knighted in 1883) had during these years become principally associated with the enormous success of the Savoy operas; but these by no means exhausted his musical energies. In 1872 his Te Deum for the recovery of the See also:prince of See also:Wales was performed at the Crystal Palace. In 1873 he produced at the Birmingham Musical Festival his oratorio The Light of the See also:World, in 1877 he wrote his incidental music to See also:Henry VIII., in 188o his sacred cantata The See also:Martyr of See also:Antioch, and in 1886 his masterpiece, The See also:Golden See also:Legend, was brought out at the See also:Leeds Festival. The Golden Legend satisfied the most exacting critics that for originality of conception and grandeur of See also:execution English music possessed in Sullivan a composer of the highest calibre. In 1891, for the opening of D'Oyly Carte's new English opera-See also:house in See also:Shaftesbury See also:Avenue he wrote his " grand opera" Ivanhoe to a libretto by See also:Julian See also:Sturgis. The See also:attempt to put an English opera on the See also:stage for a See also:long run was doomed to failure, but Ivanhoe was full of fine things. In 1892 he composed incidental music to Tennyson's Foresters. In 1897 he wrote a ballet for the See also:Alhambra, called See also:Victoria and Merrie England. Among his numerous songs, a conspicuous merit of which is their admirable vocal quality, the best known are " If Doughty Deeds " (1866), " The Sailor's See also:Grave " (1872), " See also:Thou'rt Passing Hence " (1875), " I would I were a See also:King " (1878), " King Henry's Song " (1878) and " The Lost Chord " (1877). This last, hackneyed as it became, was probably the most successful English song of the 19th See also:century.

It was written in 1877, during the fatal illness of Sullivan's See also:

brother See also:Frederic, who, originally an architect, had become an actor, and by means of his fine voice and See also:powers as a comedian (best shown as the See also:Judge in Trial by Jury) had won considerable success. Among Sullivan's many hymn tunes, the stirring " Onward, See also:Christian Soldiers! " (1872) is a permanent addition to See also:Church music. In 1876 he accepted the principalship of the See also:National Training School of Music, which he held for six years; this was the germ of the subsequent Royal College. He received the honorary degree of See also:Mus. Doc. from See also:Cambridge (18761 and See also:Oxford (1879). In 1878 he was a member of the royal See also:commission for the See also:Paris See also:Exhibition. He was conductor of the Leeds Festivals from 1879 to 1898, besides being conductor of the Philharmonic Society in 1885. Apart from his broad sympathy and his See also:practical knowledge of See also:instruments, his work as a conductor must always be associated with his efforts to raise the See also:standard of orchestral playing in England and his unwearying exertions on behalf of See also:British music and British musicians. Sullivan liked to be associated in the public mind with patriotic See also:objects, and his setting of Rudyard See also:Kipling's " Absent-minded See also:Beggar" song, at the opening of the See also:Boer See also:War in 1899, was, with the exception of The Rose of Persia, the last of his compositions brought out in his lifetime. He died somewhat suddenly of See also:heart failure on the 22nd of See also:November 1900, and his See also:burial in St See also:Paul's See also:Cathedral was the occasion of a remarkable demonstration of public sorrow. He See also:left unpublished a Te Deum written for performance at the end of the Boer War, and an unfinished Savoy opera for a libretto by Captain Hood, which, completed by Edward German, was produced in 1901 as The See also:Emerald Isle.

Sullivan was the one really popular English composer of any See also:

artistic See also:standing in his time; and his celebrity as a public See also:man has somewhat interfered with a definite See also:judgment as to his place in the See also:history of English music. In his own time, English musical taste See also:developed in a very remarkable degree; and musical See also:criticism in serious quarters was a little disinclined to do See also:justice to what was " popular." One of the most agreeable companions, broad-minded, and See also:free from all affectation, he was intensely admired and loved in all circles of society; and though his See also:health was not robust, for he suffered during many years at intervals from a painful ailment, he was a man of the world who enjoyed the See also:life which his success opened out to him without being spoilt by it. He was always a devoted and an industrious musician, and from the day he left Leipzig his See also:influence was powerfully exerted in favour of a wider and See also:fuller recognition of musical culture. He was accused in some quarters of being unsympathetic towards Wagner and the post-Wagnerians, yet he had been one of the first to introduce Wagner's music to English audiences. He was keenly appreciative of new See also:talent, but his tastes were too eclectic to satisfy the enthusiasts for any particular school; he certainly had no liking for what he considered uninspired See also:academic See also:writing. Serious critics deplored, with more See also:justification, that he should have devoted so much of his great natural See also:gift not merely to light comic opera, but to the production of a number of songs which, though always musicianly, were really of the nature of " pot-boiling." Sullivan was an extremely rapid worker, and his fertility in See also:melody made it easy for him to produce what would please a large public. Moreover, it must be admitted that his great social success, so early achieved, was not calculated to nourish a rigidly artistic ideal. But when all is said, his genius remains undisputed; and it was a genius essentially English. His church music alone would entitle him to a high place among composers; and The Golden Legend, Ivanhoe, the In Memoriam overture, the " Irish " symphony and the charming " incidental music " to The Tempest and to Henry VIII. See also:form a splendid See also:legacy of creative effort, characterized by the highest scholarly qualities in addition to those beauties which See also:appeal to every See also:ear. Whether his memory will be chiefly associated with these See also:works, or rather with the world-wide popularity of some of his songs and comic operas, time alone can tell. The Savoy operas did not aim at intellectual or emotional grandeur, but at providing See also:innocent and wholesome See also:pleasure; and in giving musical form to Gilbert's witty librettos Sullivan showed once for all what light opera may be when treated by the See also:hand of a master. His scores are as humorous and fanciful qud music as Gilbert's verses are qua dramatic literature.

Bubbling melody, consummate orchestration, lovely songs and concerted pieces (notably the famous vocal quintets) flowed from his See also:

pen in unexhausted and inimitable profusion. If he had written nothing else, his unique success in this See also:field would have been a solid See also:title to fame. As it was, it is Sir Arthur Sullivan's See also:special distinction not only to have been prolific in music which went straight to the See also:hearts of the See also:people, but to have enriched the English repertoire with acknowledged masterpieces, which are no less remarkable for their technical accomplishment. See also Sir Arthur Sullivan: Life-See also:story, Letters, and Reminiscences, by Arthur See also:Lawrence (London: Bowden, 1899). Besides being largely autobiographical, this See also:volume contains a See also:complete See also:list of Sullivan's works, compiled by Mr See also:Wilfrid Bendall, who for many years acted as Sir Arthur's private secretary. (H.

End of Article: SULLIVAN, SIR ARTHUR SEYMOUR (1842—1900)

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