Arthur Seymour Sullivan

Background

Sullivan was born on May 13, 1842 in Lambeth, London. His father, Thomas Sullivan, was a clarinetist and a military bandmaster. His mother, Mary Clementina, was of Irish-Italian descent. He had a brother named Fred.

Education

Arthur Sullivan had a thorough schooling in music, beginning early with instruction from his father, who was then bandmaster at the Royal Military College in London. His studies continued at the Chapel Royal, where he was enrolled as a chorister at the age of 12, then at the Royal Academy of Music, and at the Leipzig Conservatory (1858 - 1861). It was a musical education in the conservative German mode of the time, which was as strongly entrenched in England as in Germany itself.

Career

Sullivan then entered on a career marked by versatility and enormous popular success. At first he earned his way as an organist. Later he turned to conducting and held a variety of posts, notably as conductor of the Philharmonic Society of London (1885 - 1887) and of the Leeds Festival (1880 - 1899). He also taught composition at the Royal Academy of Music and was the first director of the Royal College of Music. All the while Sullivan kept at his primary vocation of composing. His first published piece was an anthem written when he was 13. Thereafter he composed a quantity of church music, including such old-time favorite hymns as "Lead, Kindly Light, " "Rock of Ages, " and "Onward, Christian Soldiers, " many songs, incidental music to plays, a few tidbits for piano, a violoncello concerto (1886), an Irish Symphony (1866), six overtures, two ballets, several large choral works commissioned for festival performance, and one grand opera, Ivanhoe (1891). What keeps Sullivan's name alive are his operettas. The list begins with Cox and Box (1867) and ends with The Rose of Persia (1899). In between are 19 others, 14 with texts by Sir William Gilbert, of which the most successful are Trial by Jury (1875), H. M. S. Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879), Patience (1881), Iolanthe (1882), The Mikado (1885), The Yeoman of the Guard (1888), and The Gondoliers (1889). Similar to the French opéra comique and the German Singspiel in their mixture of song and spoken dialogue, these works offer a brisk, light-handed satire on social customs of the time. Musically, they are memorable not only for earcatching tunes but for the clever variations on poetic meters that Sullivan brought to his settings of the verses. No composer since Henry Purcell had treated the English language so skillfully. Sullivan's orchestrations, too, are models of their kind, disposing a small pit orchestra to support the singers firmly yet lightly and with many subtle touches of instrumental color.

Achievements

• Sullivan was recognized as the most talented young composer of England. His works were noted for their magical music and appealing libretto. He is best known for 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including H. M. S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Sullivan was knighted by Queen Victoria on 22 May 1883.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Gilbert & Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance

    (Owen Branigan almost steals the show with his portrayal o...)

  • SULLIVAN: Victoria and Merrie England

    (SULLIVAN: Victoria and Merrie England by Andrew Penny Th...)

  • The Best of Gilbert & Sullivan: Songs and Choruses from The Mikado; The Gondoliers; The Pirates of Penzance; HMS Pinafore; Iolanthe

    (The Best of Gilbert & Sullivan / Sargent This product is...)

  • SULLIVAN: Macbeth Overture, Cello Concerto, Te Deum

    (Audio CD Macbeth Overture, Cello Concerto, Te Deum)

  • Sullivan: Rose of Persia
  • Sullivan: Cello Concerto in D / Symphony in E- Irish / Romance
  • The Very Best of Gilbert & Sullivan
  • H.M.S. Pinafore: Act 1 - We Sail the Ocean Blue
  • Music for Royal & National Occasions
  • Sullivan, A.: Cox and Box
  • Sullivan: On Shore and Sea & Kenilworth

Views

Quotations: "I have been continually keeping down the music in order that not one should be lost. . .. I should like to set a story of human interest & probability where the humorous words would come in a humorous (not serious) situation, & where, if the situation were a tender or dramatic one the words would be of similar character. "

"The opera of the future is a compromise [among the French, German and Italian schools] – a sort of eclectic school, a selection of the merits of each one. I myself will make an attempt to produce a grand opera of this new school. . .. Yes, it will be an historical work, and it is the dream of my life. "

Connections

Sullivan had serious love affairs with many women but, never got married in his life. His first relationship was with Rachel Scott Russell. This relationship came to an end as Sullivan started a simultaneous relationship with Rachel’s sister, Louise. However, his relationship with Louise also ended in early 1869. Sullivan met Mary Frances (Fanny) Ronalds in Paris in 1867 and this relationship lasted for a long time and was the longest affair of his life. Fanny was three years elder to him and had two children. Sullivan regarded her as the best amateur singer in London. This relationship had ups and downs but it continued until his death, even though they were never married. There are references of some other women in his diary, indicated by their initials and hence, unidentified. Sullivan had proposed to a 20 year-old lady named Violet Beddington but she refused the proposal.

Sullivan’s brother Fred died at an early age of 39, leaving behind his pregnant wife and seven children. Sullivan visited Fred’s family very often and became guardian to his children. Charlotte, Fred’s wife, migrated to Los Angeles leaving their oldest child Bertie with Sullivan. Charlotte died a year after she shifted to Los Angeles, leaving her children to her brother. Sullivan took care of Fred’s children, their education, marriage and other financial needs. Bertie stayed with his uncle for the rest of his life.

Father:

Thomas Sullivan

Mother:

Mary Clementina Sullivan

sibling:

Frederic Sullivan