Editing Arthur Sullivan (section)

===Method of composition and text setting===
Sullivan told an interviewer, Arthur Lawrence, "I don't use the piano in composition – that would limit me terribly". Sullivan explained that his process was not to wait for inspiration, but "to dig for it.&nbsp;... I decide on [the rhythm] before I come to the question of melody.&nbsp;... I mark out the metre in dots and dashes, and not until I have quite settled on the rhythm do I proceed to actual notation."<ref name=Lawrence2>Lawrence, Arthur H. [http://www.gsarchive.net/sullivan/interviews/lawrence.html "An Illustrated interview with Sir Arthur Sullivan, Part I"], ''The Strand Magazine'', vol. xiv, No. 84, December 1897</ref> Sullivan's text setting, compared with that of his 19th century English predecessors or his European contemporaries, was "vastly more sensitive.&nbsp;... Sullivan's operatic style attempts to create for itself a uniquely English text-music synthesis", and, in addition, by adopting a conservative musical style, he was able to achieve "the clarity to match Gilbert's finely honed wit with musical wit of his own".<ref>Fink, Robert. [http://www.sullivan-forschung.de/html/f1-analysen.html "Rhythm and Text Setting in ''The Mikado''"], ''19th Century Music'', vol. XIV No. 1, Summer 1990</ref>

In composing the Savoy operas, Sullivan wrote the vocal lines of the musical numbers first, and these were given to the actors. He, or an assistant, improvised a piano accompaniment at the early rehearsals; he wrote the orchestrations later, after he had seen what Gilbert's stage business would be.<ref name=Lawrence2/><ref>Ainger, p. 138</ref> He left the overtures until last and sometimes delegated their composition, based on his outlines, to his assistants,<ref>[http://gsarchive.net/sullivan/interviews/gazette.html "Sir Arthur Sullivan"], interviewed by ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', 5 December 1889, reprinted at the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 6 October 2011</ref> often adding his suggestions or corrections.<ref name=Hughes130>Hughes, p. 130</ref> Those Sullivan wrote himself include ''Thespis'',<ref>Rees, p. 79</ref> ''Iolanthe'', ''Princess Ida'', ''The Yeomen of the Guard'', ''The Gondoliers'', ''The Grand Duke'' and probably ''Utopia, Limited''.<ref>Hughes, pp. 130–141</ref> Most of the overtures are structured as a [[potpourri (music)|pot-pourri]] of tunes from the operas in three sections: fast, slow and fast.<ref name=Hughes130/> Those for ''Iolanthe'' and ''The Yeomen of the Guard'' are written in a modified [[sonata form]].<ref>Williams, p. 298</ref>