Editing Arthur Sullivan (section)

===Knighthood and later years===
Sullivan's knighthood in 1883 gave the serious music critics further ammunition. ''The Musical Review'' of that year observed:
{{quote|[S]ome things that Mr. Arthur Sullivan may do, Sir Arthur ought not to do. In other words, it will look rather more than odd to see announced in the papers that a new comic opera is in preparation, the book by Mr. W. S. Gilbert and the music by Sir Arthur Sullivan. A musical knight can hardly write shop ballads either; he must not dare to soil his hands with anything less than an anthem or a madrigal; oratorio, in which he has so conspicuously shone, and symphony, must now be his line. Here is not only an opportunity, but a positive obligation for him to return to the sphere from which he has too long descended [and] do battle for the honour of English art&nbsp;... against all foreign rivals, and arouse us thoroughly from our present half-torpid condition.<ref name=MW/>|}}

Even Sullivan's friend George Grove wrote: "Surely the time has come when so able and experienced a master of voice, orchestra, and stage effect – master, too, of so much genuine sentiment – may apply his gifts to a serious opera on some subject of abiding human or natural interest."<ref>Grove, George. "Sullivan, Arthur Seymour" ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', London 1879–89, p. 762, quoted in Sarema, Meinhard. [http://www.sullivan-forschung.de/meinhard/berlinas "In the Purgatory of Tradition: Arthur Sullivan and the English Musical Renaissance"], Deutsche Sullivan Gesellschaft, 2000, accessed 10 December 2017</ref> Sullivan finally redeemed himself in critical eyes with ''The Golden Legend'' in 1886.<ref>Stanford, pp. 161–163</ref> ''[[The Observer]]'' hailed it as a "triumph of English art".<ref>"Leeds Music Festival", ''The Observer'', 17 October 1886, p. 6</ref> ''[[The World (journal)|The World]]'' called it "one of the greatest creations we have had for many years. Original, bold, inspired, grand in conception, in execution, in treatment, it is a composition which will make an 'epoch' and which will carry the name of its composer higher on the wings of fame and glory.&nbsp;... The effect of the public performance was unprecedented."<ref>Quoted in Harris, p. IV</ref>

Hopes for a new departure were expressed in ''The Daily Telegraph's'' review of ''The Yeomen of the Guard'' (1888), Sullivan's most serious opera to that point: "[T]he music follows the book to a higher plane, and we have a genuine English opera, forerunner of many others, let us hope, and possibly significant of an advance towards a national lyric stage."<ref>Quoted in Allen, p. 312</ref> Sullivan's only grand opera, ''Ivanhoe'' (1891), received generally favourable reviews,<ref>Dailey, pp. 129–133</ref> although [[John Alexander Fuller Maitland|J. A. Fuller Maitland]], in ''The Times'', expressed reservations, writing that the opera's "best portions rise so far above anything else that Sir Arthur Sullivan has given to the world, and have such force and dignity, that it is not difficult to forget the drawbacks which may be found in the want of interest in much of the choral writing, and the brevity of the concerted solo parts."<ref>Quoted in Jacobs, p. 331</ref> Sullivan's 1897 ballet ''[[Victoria and Merrie England]]'' was one of several late pieces that won praise from most critics:<ref>"Sir Arthur Sullivan's New Ballet", ''The Daily News'', 26 May 1897, p. 8; "Alhambra Theatre", ''The Morning Post'', 26 May 1897, p. 7; "Sir Arthur Sullivan's New Ballet 'Victoria'", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 26 May 1897, p. 7; "Music", ''The Illustrated London News'', 29 May 1897, p. 730; and "Victoria And Merrie England", ''The Era'', 29 May 1897, p. 8</ref>    
{{quote|Sir Arthur Sullivan's music is music for the people. There is no attempt made to force on the public the dullness of academic experience. The melodies are all as fresh as last year's wine, and as exhilarating as sparkling champagne. There is not one tune which tires the hearing, and in the matter of orchestration our only humorist has let himself run riot, not being handicapped with libretto, and the gain is enormous.&nbsp;... All through we have orchestration of infinite delicacy, tunes of alarming simplicity, but never a tinge of vulgarity.<ref>Quoted in Tillett, p. 26</ref>|}}

Although the more solemn members of the musical establishment could not forgive Sullivan for writing music that was both comic and accessible, he was, nevertheless, "the nation's ''de facto'' composer laureate".<ref>Maine, Basil. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/odnb/9780192683120.001.0001/odnb-9780192683120-e-32988 "Elgar, Sir Edward William"], 1949, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' archive, accessed 20 April 2010 {{ODNBsub}}</ref>{{refn|Gian Andrea Mazzucato wrote this summary of Sullivan's career in ''The Musical Standard'' of 16 December 1899: "[T]he English history of the 19th century could not record the name of a man whose 'life work' is more worthy of honour, study and admiration than the name of Sir Arthur Sullivan&nbsp;... it is a debatable point whether the universal history of music can point to any musical personality since the days of [[Haydn]], Mozart and Beethoven, whose influence is likely to be more lasting than the influence the great Englishman is slowly, but surely, exerting.&nbsp;... I make no doubt that when&nbsp;... Sullivan's life and works have become known on the continent, he will, by unanimous consent, be classed among the epoch-making composers, the select few whose genius and strength of will empowered them to find and found a national school of music, that is, to endow their countrymen with the undefinable, yet positive means of evoking in a man's soul, by the magic of sound, those delicate nuances of feeling which are characteristic of the emotional power of each different race."<ref>Quoted in the ''Sir Arthur Sullivan Society Journal'', No. 34, Spring 1992, pp. 11–12</ref>|group= n}} His obituary in ''The Times'' called him England's "most conspicuous composer ... the musician who had such power to charm all classes. ... The critic and the student found new beauties at every fresh hearing. What ... set Sullivan in popular esteem far above all the other English composers of his day was the tunefulness of his music, that quality in it by which ... [it] was immediately recognized as a joyous contribution to the gaiety of life. ... Sullivan's name stood as a synonym for music in England.{{refn|The obituary also stated: "Many who are able to appreciate classical music regret that Sir Arthur Sullivan did not aim consistently at higher things, that he set himself to rival Offenbach and Lecocq instead of competing on a level of high seriousness with such musicians as Sir Hubert Parry and Professor Stanford. If he had followed this path, he might have enrolled his name among the great composers of all time. ... That Sir Arthur Sullivan could aim high and succeed he proved by ''The Golden Legend'' and by a good deal of ''Ivanhoe''".<ref>Sullivan's Obituary in ''The Times'', 23 November 1900, pp. 7 and 9, [http://www.gsarchive.net/sullivan/html/obit.html reprinted] at the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 12 December 2017</ref>|group= n}}