Sir W. S. Gilbert

Jeremy Tambling (University of Hong Kong)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911) and Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) co-authored the “Savoy operas” – the name given to the operettas which were commissioned by Richard D'Oyly Carte (1844-1901), who built the Savoy theatre in the Strand for them (1881) – as he later built the Royal English Opera House (now the Palace) for Sullivan's

Ivanhoe

in 1891. Carte had intended to become a composer, but began in theatre management in 1874 with

opéra bouffes

by Serpette (1846-1901) and Lecocq (1832-1918). Gilbert was a journalist and barrister and dramatist, writing opera burlesques, while Sullivan, the son of an Irish musician with a career in military music, had studied as a star pupil at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Leipzig Conservatory (1858-1861) and wrote choral settings and…

2062 words

Citation: Tambling, Jeremy. "Sir W. S. Gilbert". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 January 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1740, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1740 Sir W. S. Gilbert 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.