1887. Because the Murgatroyd family has persecuted witches, an evil

spirit had fated it to commit a crime a day. Ruthven Murgatroyd tries to flee from this curse by assuming the identity of simple Robin Oakapple. He meets and falls in love with Rose who is being sought after by Ruthven’s foster brother, Richard. Since Ruthven as Robin Oakapple has the upper hand with Rose, Richard avenges himself by revealing the fact that his brother is really a member of the Murgatroyd family and like all of them is the victim of the ancient family curse. Back in his ancestral home, Ruthven must fulfil his quota of crimes, a job he bungles so badly that his ancestors suddenly come alive out of the picture frames on the wall, to condemn him. But after numerous convolutions of typically Gilbertian logic and reasoning, the curse is broken and Ruthven can live happily with his beloved Rose. From _Ruddigore_ come the following familiar sections: the opening chorus of the bridesmaids, “Fair Is Rose as the Bright May Day”; Hannah’s legend, “Sir Rupert Murgatroyd”; Rose’s ballad, “If Somebody There Chanced to Be”; the extended duet of Robin and Rose, “I Know a Youth Who Loves a Little Maid”; Richard’s ballad, “I Shipped, D’ye See, in a Revenue Sloop”; Robin’s song, “My Boy You May Take it From Me”; the chorus of the bridesmaids, “Hail the Bride of Seventeen Summers” followed by Rose’s madrigal, “Where the Buds Are Blossoming”; the duet of Robin and Adam, “I Once Was As Meek as a New Born Lamb”; Rose’s ballad, “In Bygone Days”; the chorus of the family portraits, “Painted Emblems of a Race”; Sir Roderic’s patter song, “When the Night Wind Howls”; and Hannah’s ballad, “There Grew a Little Flower.” _The Sorcerer_, the first successful Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera, was introduced in 1877. Alexis, in love with Aline, wishes to spread around the blessings of love. For this purpose he enlists the cooperation of John Wellington Wells, the creator of a love brew. In an effort to perpetuate Aline’s love for him, Alexis has her drink this potion, only to discover that his beloved has fallen for the vicar, Dr. Daly, he being the first man she sees after drinking the draught. Since Alexis is not the only one to suffer from this now-general epidemic of loving, a serious effort must be made to offset the effects of this magic: a human sacrifice. Naturally that sacrifice becomes none other than John Wellington Wells who is driven to self immolation before things can once again be set normal. The music of _The Sorcerer_ is not so well known as that of the other famous comic operas, but it does contain several Gilbert and Sullivan delights. Among them are: the song with which Wells introduces himself and his black art, “Oh! My Name Is John Wellington Wells,” the first of the Gilbert and Sullivan patter songs; the vicar’s haunting ballad, “Time Was When Love and I Were Well Acquainted”; and the romantic duet of Aline and Alexis, “It Is Not Love.” In the _Yeomen of the Guard_, produced on October 3, 1888, the topsy-turvy world of Gilbert and Sullivan is temporarily sidestepped for another of operatic pretensions. Of all the Gilbert and Sullivan plays this one comes closest to resembling an opera. The immediate stimulus for the writing of the text came to Gilbert from an advertisement in a railway station depicting a Beefeater. Out of this acorn grew the oak of Gilbert’s play in which Colonel Charles Fairfax is falsely accused by his kinsman, Poltwhistle, of sorcery. For this he must be condemned to death in the Tower of London. Since Fairfax is not married, his fortune will pass on to his accuser. But Charles thwarts such evil designs by marrying Elsie Maynard, a strolling player—if only for an hour. Then he manages to escape from the Tower disguised as a yeoman of the guard. When the execution is to take place there is no victim. Eventually, a reprieve enables Charles to live permanently with Elsie. The most important selections from the _Yeomen of the Guard_ are: Phoebe’s song with which the opera opens, “When Maiden Loves”; the chorus of the yeomen, “In the Autumn of Our Life”; Fairfax’ ballad, “Is Life a Boon?”; the extended duet of Point and Elsie, “I Have a Song to Sing, O”; Phoebe’s ballad, “Were I Thy Bride”; Point’s patter song, “Oh, a Private Buffoon Is a Light-Hearted Loon”; the quartet of Elsie, Fairfax, Dame Carruthers and Meryll, “Strange Adventure”; the trio of Fairfax, Elsie and Phoebe, “A Man Who Would Woo a Fair Maid”; the quartet of Elsie, Fairfax, Phoebe and Point, “When a Wooer Goes a-Wooing”; and the finale, “Oh, Thoughtless Crew.” Besides his music for the comic operas there exists a vast repertory of serious music by Sullivan. Of this hardly more than two songs have retained their popularity. One is “The Lost Chord,” lyric by Adelaide Proctor, written by Sullivan in December 1876 at the deathbed of his brother, Fred. From Charles Willeby we get an account of how this deeply moving piece of music came into being: “For nearly three weeks he watched by his bedside night and day. One night—the end was not very far off then—while his sick brother had for a time fallen into a peaceful sleep, and he was sitting as usual by the bedside, he chanced to come across some verses by Adelaide Proctor with which he had some five years previously been struck. He had then tried to set them to music, but without satisfaction to himself. Now in the stillness of the night he read them over again, and almost as he did so, he conceived their musical equivalent. A stray sheet of music paper was at hand, and he began to write. Slowly the music took shape, until, becoming quite absorbed in it, he determined to finish the song. Even if in the cold light of day it were to prove worthless, it would at least have helped to while away the hours of watching. So he worked on at it. As he progressed, he felt sure this was what he had sought for, and failed to find on the occasion of his first attempt to set the words. In a short time it was complete and not long after in the publisher’s hands. Thus was written ‘The Lost Chord,’ perhaps the most successful song of modern times.” “Onward Christian Soldiers,” words by Sabine Baring-Gould, is the most celebrated of Sullivan’s more than fifty religious hymns. It is effective not merely for its religious mood but also for its martial spirit. “The music,” says Isaac Goldberg, “has the tread of armies in it, and a broad diatonic stride.” Sullivan wrote it in 1873 upon being appointed editor of the _Hymnal_, a collection of hymns published by Novello for the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge and the Hymnary. Franz von Suppé Franz von Suppé was born Francesco Suppé-Demelli in Spalato, Yugoslavia, on April 18, 1819. He played the flute at eleven, at thirteen started the study of harmony, and at fifteen completed a Mass. Nevertheless, for a while he entertained the idea of becoming either a physician or a teacher of Italian. When he finally decided upon music as a profession he attended the Vienna Conservatory. After serving an apprenticeship as conductor of operettas in Pressburg and Baden, he was appointed principal conductor at Theater-an-der-Wien in Vienna. In 1862 he assumed a similar post with the Karlstheater, and from 1865 until his death at the Leopoldstadttheater. While absorbing the influence and traditions of the opéra-bouffe of Offenbach, he began writing operettas of his own in a style uniquely his, setting and establishing many of the traditions and clichés which would henceforth identify the Viennese operetta. He had an unusual gift for light, caressing tunes, a gay and infectious spirit, and a direct emotional appeal. His first operetta was _Jung lustig in alter traurig_ in 1841. Success came with his incidental music to _Poet and Peasant_ (_Dichter und Bauer_), introduced on August 24, 1846; its overture is still his best known composition and a classic in the musical literature in a lighter vein. A succession of popular operettas, over twenty-five in number, made him one of Europe’s most celebrated composers for the stage. His most famous operettas were: _Das Maedchen vom Lande_ (1847), _Die schoene Galatea_, or _Beautiful Galathea_ (1865), _Leichte Cavallerie_, or _Light Cavalry_ (1866), _Fatinitza_ (1876), _Boccaccio_ (1879), and _Donna Juanita_ (1880). Suppé died in Vienna on May 21, 1895. The overture to _The Beautiful Galathea_ (_Die schoene Galatea_) opens with brisk music. Horns and woodwind lead into an extended portrayal of exaltated character by strings. Once again horns and woodwind appear, this time providing a transition to a caressing melody that soon develops into a fulsome song. After a theatrical passage, the overture’s main melody is heard in the strings, with harmonies filled in by the woodwind; this is a graceful dance tune which, towards the end of the overture, is repeated with harmonic and tonal amplitude by the full orchestra. The _Light Cavalry_ Overture (_Leichte Cavallerie_) is, as its name indicates, stirring music of martial character. Horn calls and forceful chords in full orchestra provide at once the military character of this music. A vivacious tune for the violins follows this forceful