Gilbert & Sullivan

Playwright/lyricist W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and composer Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) defined operetta or comic operas in Victorian England with a series of their internationally successful and timeless works known as the Savoy

Playwright/lyricist W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and composer Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) defined operetta or comic operas in Victorian England with a series of their internationally successful and timeless works known as the Savoy Operas.

Their first collaboration was Thespis (1871). At the time, W. S. Gilbert was widely known for the Bab Ballads, a popular series of doggerel verse that explored the farthest reaches of topsy-turvydom, such as the ballad of Captain Reece, whose "sisters, cousins, aunts and niece" sailed on the H.M.S. Mantelpiece. He was a successful man of the London theatrical scene, with a string of sketches, comedies, pantomimes, burlesques and musicals which were accounted successful by the standards of the day. Arthur Sullivan was the most popular musician in England and regarded as the bright young hope of serious British music. He was much in demand as a conductor and composer of oratorios, anthems and hymns. He was also earning a considerable income by churning out popular ballads, the Victorian equivalent of Top Forty hits.