Editing Gilbert and Sullivan (section)

==Beginnings==
[[Image:Gentle Alice Brown.jpg|thumb|right|One of Gilbert's illustrations for his ''[[Bab Ballads|Bab Ballad]]'' "Gentle Alice Brown"]]
===Gilbert before Sullivan===
{{main|W. S. Gilbert}}
Gilbert was born in London on 18 November 1836. His father, [[William Gilbert (author)|William]], was a naval surgeon who later wrote novels and short stories, some of which included illustrations by his son.<ref name=CrowtherLife>Crowther, Andrew. [http://gsarchive.net/gilbert/life/long_bio.html ''The Life of W. S. Gilbert''], ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', accessed 21 August 2012.</ref> In 1861, to supplement his income, the younger Gilbert began writing illustrated stories, poems and articles of his own, many of which would later be mined as inspiration for his plays and operas, particularly Gilbert's series of illustrated poems, the ''[[Bab Ballads]]''.<ref>Stedman, pp. 26–29, 123–24, and the introduction to Gilbert's ''[[Foggerty's Fairy and Other Tales]]''</ref>

In the ''Bab Ballads'' and his early plays, Gilbert developed a unique "topsy-turvy" style in which humour was derived by setting up a ridiculous premise and working out its logical consequences, however absurd. Director and playwright [[Mike Leigh]] described the "Gilbertian" style as follows:

{{quote|With great fluidity and freedom, [Gilbert] continually challenges our natural expectations. First, within the framework of the story, he makes bizarre things happen, and turns the world on its head. Thus the Learned Judge marries the Plaintiff, the soldiers metamorphose into [[Aesthetics|aesthetes]], and so on, and nearly every opera is resolved by a deft moving of the goalposts... His genius is to fuse opposites with an imperceptible sleight of hand, to blend the surreal with the real, and the caricature with the natural. In other words, to tell a perfectly outrageous story in a completely deadpan way.<ref name=Leigh/>}}

[[File:Poster for Gilbert and Clay's Ages Ago at the Royal Gallery of Illustration.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Poster for ''[[Ages Ago]]'', during a rehearsal for which [[Frederic Clay]] introduced Gilbert to Sullivan]]Gilbert developed his innovative theories on the art of stage direction, following the playwright and theatrical reformer [[Thomas William Robertson|Tom Robertson]].<ref name=CrowtherLife /> At the time Gilbert began writing, theatre in Britain was in disrepute.<ref>Bond, Jessie. [http://gsarchive.net/books/bond/intro.html ''The Reminiscences of Jessie Bond: Introduction''], ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', accessed 21 May 2007.</ref>{{refn|Jessie Bond created the [[mezzo-soprano]] roles in most of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas and is here leading into a description of Gilbert's role in reforming the Victorian theatre.<ref>Bond, Introduction</ref>|group=n}} Gilbert helped to reform and elevate the respectability of the theatre, especially beginning with his six short family-friendly comic operas, or "[[German Reed Entertainments|entertainments]]", for [[Thomas German Reed]].<ref>Stedman, pp. 62–68; Bond, Jessie, [http://gsarchive.net/books/bond/intro.html ''The Reminiscences of Jessie Bond'': Introduction], ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', accessed 21 August 2012</ref>

At a rehearsal for one of these entertainments, ''[[Ages Ago]]'', in 1870, the composer [[Frederic Clay]] introduced Gilbert to his friend, the young composer [[Arthur Sullivan]].<ref name=CrowtherAgesAgo>Crowther, Andrew. [http://gsarchive.net/gilbert/plays/ages_ago/crowther_analysis.html Ages Ago – Early Days], ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', accessed 21 August 2012</ref>{{refn|Gilbert and Sullivan met at a rehearsal for a second run of Gilbert's ''[[Ages Ago]]'' at the [[Gallery of Illustration]], probably in July 1870.<ref>Crowther (2011), p. 84</ref>|group=n}} Over the next year, before the two first collaborated, Gilbert continued to write humorous verse, stories and plays, including the comic operas ''[[Our Island Home]]'' (1870) and ''[[A Sensation Novel]]'' (1871), and the blank verse comedies ''[[The Princess (play)|The Princess]]'' (1870), ''[[The Palace of Truth]]'' (1870) and ''[[Pygmalion and Galatea (play)|Pygmalion and Galatea]]'' (1871).<ref>Stedman, pp. 77–90</ref>

===Sullivan before Gilbert===
{{main|Arthur Sullivan}}
Sullivan was born in London on 13 May 1842. His father was a military bandmaster, and by the time Arthur had reached the age of eight, he was proficient with all the instruments in the band. In school he began to compose [[anthem]]s and songs. In 1856, he received the first [[Mendelssohn Scholarship]] and studied at the [[Royal Academy of Music]] and then at [[Leipzig]], where he also took up conducting. His graduation piece, completed in 1861, was a suite of [[The Tempest (Sullivan)|incidental music]] to [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] ''[[The Tempest]]''. Revised and expanded, it was performed at [[the Crystal Palace]] in 1862 and was an immediate sensation. He began building a reputation as England's most promising young composer, composing a symphony, a concerto, and several overtures, among them the ''[[Overture di Ballo]]'', in 1870.<ref name=Lawrence1>[http://gsarchive.net/sullivan/interviews/lawrence.html "An Illustrated Interview with Sir Arthur Sullivan, by Arthur H Lawrence, Part 1"], ''The Strand Magazine'', Volume xiv, No.84 (December 1897). See also [http://gsarchive.net/sullivan/letters/001.html Sullivan's Letter to ''The Times''], 27 October 1881, Issue 30336, pg. 8 col C</ref>

[[Image:Crystal Palace.PNG|thumb|left|[[The Crystal Palace]], where several early Sullivan works were first performed]]
His early major works for the voice included ''[[The Masque at Kenilworth]]'' (1864); an [[oratorio]], ''[[The Prodigal Son (Sullivan)|The Prodigal Son]]'' (1869); and a dramatic [[cantata]], ''On Shore and Sea'' (1871). He composed a ballet, ''[[L'Île Enchantée]]'' (1864) and incidental music for a number of Shakespeare plays. Other early pieces that were praised were his ''[[Symphony in E, Irish|Symphony in E]]'', ''[[Cello Concerto (Sullivan)|Cello Concerto]]'', and ''[[Overture in C (In Memoriam)]]'' (all three of which premiered in 1866).<ref>Shepherd, Marc, [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/sullorch.htm ''Discography of Sir Arthur Sullivan: Orchestral and Band Music''], ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Discography'', accessed 10 June 2007</ref> These commissions were not sufficient to keep Sullivan afloat. He worked as a church organist and composed numerous [[hymn]]s, popular songs, and [[parlour ballads]].<ref name=Turnbull>[http://gsarchive.net/sullivan/html/sull_biog.html Stephen Turnbull's Biography of Arthur Sullivan], ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', accessed 22 November 2006</ref>

Sullivan's first foray into comic opera was ''[[Cox and Box]]'' (1866), written with the librettist [[Francis Cowley Burnand|F. C. Burnand]] for an informal gathering of friends. Public performance followed, with W. S. Gilbert (then writing dramatic criticism for the magazine ''[[Fun (magazine)|Fun]]'') saying that Sullivan's score "is, in many places, of too high a class for the grotesquely absurd plot to which it is wedded."<ref>Harris, pp. X–XI</ref> Nonetheless, it proved highly successful, and is still regularly performed today. Sullivan and Burnand's second opera, ''[[The Contrabandista]]'' (1867) was not as successful.<ref>Ainger, p. 72</ref>