SNICKERSNEE - eFanzinesefanzines.com/Taciturn/Snickersnee-01.pdfEAGLE TRIP 200/ SNICKERSNEE 1 PublIshed by Kurt Erichsen, currently of'>155 NW-Kings #N-209/Corvallis, Or 97~30 •.

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EAGLE TRIP 200/ SNICKERSNEE 1 PublIshed by Kurt Erichsen, currently of'>155 NW-Kings #N-209/Corvallis, Or 97~30 •.

as Appe]ation Mountain Publication #200 and Posthumous Press Publication #55, be~un, about 10 months overdue, on June 3, 1 977. ';

This fanzine is my 200th, although at this wr~ting my most recent is my 241 st, which just goes tb show

you what a little bito,f procrastination and a lot of homework and exams can do.:', I intended to do something special for my 200th zine, originally planning a fannisi1 man­ual for Thermofaxing, but I fi,.,ally decic!l3d that was ali ttle too esoteric. F inEjlly I decid~d to do a G&S appreciation zine as' my 20oth, with a few other bits and pieces thrown in. Like what? Well, I'Ve noticed people in the letterapa ~grammBton .Frag­ments' :assigning press publication numbers to thAir TF letters, even though I, I;S

DE, do all the printing and publishing."No fair'" shouts my sense ·of bibliograp~y' "I've been in Taps for four years without counting any of ~ letters tiS Pres~ PUblication Numbers'" WeH, about six months ago I started im;luding my :Tapsletters. At this point, I'm abouf~ten zines behind Gary Brown and.;heckand neck with /Ylik~ Raub. Retroactively numb'ering all my previous-unnumbered zineswill put me a sUm

NEVER MIND THE WHY AND WHEREFORE

six months ahead of both of them. So included here is my Official Numbering of Old Tapsletters Chart, for those of. you with connections in the Galactic ScorekeepeFs' League. .

And what of Gilbert & Sullivan? What shall I write about them? I think perhaps the most' worthy.proJect.,:1 might undertake here· is to publish what might be considered an addendum to .!.!J.!l.Complete Works of Gilbert and Sullivan. You .see, after the. open­ing night of many G&S operettas, one or more songs were deleted,or in some cases, parts of songs • .'!n the case of "Is Life a Boon?" the song was reset by Sullivan'from 6/8 time to its current 2/4 time version. '(I have never heard the. former, but a··re­cording of it .exists in the Pearl labe~.) The First Night Gilbert'and Sullivan, edited by Reginald: Allen, Heritage Press, New York, 195B, prints all 14 first-n~ght libretti, and is the source of most of songs printed here; there are.a few exceptions, which will 08 noted. What I intend to print here are the ly rics to G&S songs no~ . t'aleted From the libretti,'Henoe, this becomes an addendum to the C"mpleteWork~. I haven't included all the defllHons from the libretti. There are BlotOr smaH changes', .. which may beof idle interest, but for the sake of keeping my sanity, I'm stickin!J'with the larger changes. There have been additions of songs after the ppen-ing nights as well, 9!-'t I'll stick with what's been omitted., \

WHO ARE.G&S? Naturally, that sounds like blakphemy, but afte~ going into a record I store, asking for Gilbert and Sullivan, and being shown to the

Gilberti 0' Sullivan .secti..on, I realize that some explanation is necessary. Gilbart was a l~brettist and playwright, and Arthur Sullivan was England's .unofficial compos­er laur~ate. Gilbert wrote some '1:0 plays (the serious ones being quite, forgotte)1), . including musical farces with music by people other than Sullivan; Suillvan was: highly regarded ae a serious comP9ser by contemporary Englishmen, but todily most of his serious compositions are for-gotten. He wrote music for comic operas because they paid we,11 and he had rich tastes (rOUlette at Monte Carlo, for starters,. and he was not noted for winning). He wrot.e music for operas that had nllJln­G~lber~~an Ubrett'i; be.'sides his collaboratio[1s ' w1th G1)'bert. Toger9;~'~(·:G~S:collaborated on 14j comic operas between 187L,and 1896. The works!' they did witt), other. collaborators or alone are ,mostly obscure now, but recordings 0: all 14 .(\we11.,. nt, sort of, but I'll get to\that late~)"'aTe, '. (

~ --~ -. • • ~.,I

;~~-~~~~~:-;~~-~~~;~~~~:-:;~~-~~~;~~-~~J;;~~;~~~ of Trial ~y Jury, which Gilbert expand­

ed 7 years later and was set to music by Sullivan and became their first hit. All ertwork in this zine, unless otherwise noted. is by 5ir William S. Gilbert, and along with the songs, is property of the public domain.

SNICKERSNEE 1 page 2

availablo., on record, and 12 are commonly performed. Twenty years ago, the number of G&S oper~ttas iJV2'll,.,,,le on r~cord "JaS 11 (And Princess Ida, except for the 1920's recording, 'nas' not maclo. availabh until 19551), and 1'1' were commonly performed. Th.ey were partners in the operotta businpss"l'Jith their producer, Richard D'Oyly Carte, lVho9P, qr8nddaught"r run,s tho. ,)' Oy ly CEI rte Opera Company, foremost of 'the GlkS theater groups. ' ,.;

with the exception of The Yeoman of the Guard·, the GlkS operettas are primarily humorous. Gilbert was noted both for his wit and his ability to write lyrics. Tha,t - J

abili ty came in the form of a gi ft' for words, meters, and rhyme schemes. ProbablY two. of his best works are "I" Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General", and "The Lorq ','" Chancellor's Nightmare Song," which are well known and I won~.t reprint tb.emhere,.' ,­These are both "patter songs," and can be very tongue twisting., Imagine this ,at . .I) brisk tempo with one sixteenth note per syllable ("general" is three syllaple's) :

I am the very model of a modern major-gensral I've information veg-e-table animal and mineral I know the kings of England and I quote the fights historical From Marathon to Waterloo in order catagorical I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical I understand equations both the simple and quadratical About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot of news With many cheerful facts about the square of the

hypotenusel

This verse shows Gilbert's use of trisyllabic rhymes, his pattering meters, and a favorite trick of his: twisting the pronunciations of words to make them rhyme almost to the point pf making them puns (lot 0' news and hypote~.) Gilbert usually restricted himself to two or three patter songs per opera, but the rest of his songs were usually humorous and/or ironic. Further, he used his songs to help tell the story, something that hasn't really' been done much in light opera before or since.

As for Sullivan's music, I can hardly describe it in words. To a 1970's American ear it sounds baSically classical in form, though a classical music buff would staunchly deny that. Sullivan, too, would probably protest that classification of his light opera music ; I get the impression that at least by the late 1 B80s he considered 1l!Jl., the operettas unworthy of his music and that grand opera and "serious compositionsU deserved mQre at-tentions. But as I mentioned before, he had expensive tastes, and operettas seemed to supply most of, his iircbfTIs. At times, Sullivan's music tended toward humor as much as Gilbert's libretti, though you have to be well-versed in opera lore to really get th~ joke (I am not well versed). For example, in ~~ ~y ~y, Sullivan paradies'the music' of several oper-atic composers' B d th t th 'h" r th "'" t " eyon a ere's not 1ng I can sl'ly.fis zlne'ge s you curlOUS, I recommend a trip down to your local library. You w~ll almost certainly find there a collection of the 14 libretti of their operas and'~, record'ing of the'fTlusic to at least one of the operas •. Trial By Jury' is especi~lly an excelrt!lnt introduction to G&S. It is not their best work,-but1t is certaih'iy creditable. 'Further, it's about a third as long as thei r next shortest work, runhing only: 35 minutes. In: that space of 35 minutes, it repres'ents nearly all the reasons' why: tbe G&S operaS are still be­ing perf;ormed 'after 100 years' (LB.J.: opened in 1,875), and"ev'en includes one of Gilbert's best patter ,songs. , ..

And now an addendum to Ihe Complete Works or:§ilbert' f Sul.livan

lRIAL BY' ,. JUl?'r" There ,is one 'major de'l'etion from the orig­

inal version of' Tr'ia.!..£y Jury, which is the dropping of one verse of one song. I per­sonally am indifferent about it. On the one hand, you 'coLildn' t say that the operetta is too long with it (i fyou stepped up the tem­poes a bit, yoll could fit the opera into a prime time teleVision al~t and still have time for commercials), but 'th at third verse is perhaps a bit re'dundant and 'only delays the joke. BLit. nonethele'ss,

SONG - DEFENDANT

O~l, gerY~1(:;:-:13:Jp li~~er:), I pray, Thcu~h I C:'"'JIl .~' .. ': r.il hT'.:...··~ :'~::-::J b8en ranging, Of Nature the laws I obey, For Nature is constantly changing. The moon in her phases is found, The time and the wind and the weather, The months in succession come round, And you don't find two Mondays together.

Consider the moral, I pray, Nor bring a young fellow to sorrow, .,," Who loves this young lady to-day And loves that young lady to-morrow •..

You cannot eat breakfast all day,. Nor is it the act of a s.i.nner, . When b,eakfast· is b'lken away, To turn.ypur attention to d.inner: And.it'spot in the range of belief, . That you could hold him as a glutton, Who, when he is tired of beef, . Determines to tackle the mutton.

Consider the moral, I pray,' &c.

Oh,· beware a dilemn\a so strange, It will soon play 'the deuce with your dollars, It will soon be illegal to change Your money, you mind, or your. collars; A singer must sing the same song From the time of his youth to.his latter days; 'Twill be eight o'clock all day long", And the week will be nothing b~t,Saturdays! ,

, .. But this I am ready to say, '. , If it' will appease their Son'0W, 'j'll marry one lady to-day,"

And I'll marry'the other to-morrow!

to which th~Judge repli~s: ,Th,at seems a'. reasonable proposition, .

'Jo which, .. I thi~k, your client may agree. . ;., t"·, •. '

ALL. Oh, Judge' discerning!

•

COUNSEL. But I submit, my lord,' with all submission, To marry two·at. arice' i's Burglareel [referring to law book]

••• and so forth. The operetta version hits upon the same solution to the problem as the Bab Ballad ver.sion •.

.. TI1£SORC£RER '" .

Most ·of the changes made in The Sorcerer have been in the ,form of· add:itions rather than deletions." However, a

. 'couple of' passages have been' displaced in the process. The first is the opening chorus of Act II.

OPENING CHORUS

Happy are we in our loving frivolity,: Happy and jolly as people of quality; Love is the source of all joy to humanity, Money, position,and rank are a vanity; . Year after year we've been waiting and tarrying, Without ever dreaming of loving' and marrying. Though we've been hitherto deaf, dumb, and

blind to it, It's pleasant enough when you',ve. made up your,.

mind to it.

Constance and the Notary enter here, and she sings "Dear friends, take pity on my lot," For those not familiar with G&S, I. may point out here, that John Wllington Wells, the sorcerer, at the urging .o.f another' character, has spiked the tea drunk by the entire village with'a philtre which makes them fall madly in love with the first person they see. Some of th.e most unlikely matches.imagi;nable ensue. A story of note here is Isaac Asimov's "rh.e Up-To-Date Sorcerery,' a. bake-off on The Sorcerer, in which .Asimov suggests an alternate ending to the operetta which is more Gilbi3rtian

. '_ . . - - " "., ~ .. ,-' I

than the one Gilbert used! Asimov's story is reprinted in Nightfall and Other Stories. " ..

Later in Act II, Lady 5angazure, ul)der: .the influence of· the love philtre, falls in love with John Wellington Wells, but the attraction is' not mutual. After she sings "O~ agony, rage, despair!", and stomps off (presumably to kill herself), Wells cries out after her, more out of pity and guilt than love,

RECITATIVE - .. -.. WELlS.

Oh hideous doom - ·to scatter desolation, And sow the seeds of sorrow far andwidel

To foster m~salliances through the' nation, And drive high-born old dames to suiCide I

Shall I subject myself to'reprobation By leaving her in sol.itudE! to, pine?

Nol come what may, I'li.make her reparation. So, aged lady, take. mel .-. -.... L amth~ne! [exit]

The new opener to Act I I is better than t~e,original; but. I think .'the deletion of this recitative is unfortunate, because it provides foreshaddwingfor what's to come later, and provides Wells with a bit of rJ)otovation which is l·acking in the current version of the operetta.

THE ,PIRATES' OFPENZANCE . '. "

The Pirat~ 2~. ~~~ has unde~gone many changes since its first performance.·f,irstoff, its originel subtitle

'was "l,oveandD,uty" .rat,!1,e,r.thlln "S,li!ve. of Dut.Y." It is also the' only G&S operetta to have two !,opening performances. The New York opening and the London copy right performance ' were held virtually simultaneously (both autbors were in New York, and Sullivan just finished the music in time, so the London copyright performance was based on an incomplete: version.) further, Gilbert was always making major changes

in his libretti right up until the last rnl'.lu~8, adding and deletil1g songs, Hellce, in the Paignton performance, there was no "Poor Wandering One" or "Come, F·riends,

"Who Plough the Sea" [later to be bastardized into "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" . --nobody knows who wrote. those words].,J,he finale follows; Gilbert wrote a number of songs making fun of the Peerag", but·:this is the least.... subtle •. It.'.s so'

.. sarcastic, in fact, thatit'qnot difficult to see why Gilbert dropped it before the NEiw'York' openif)9. . ,

GENERAL.

HYMN TO THE NOBILITY

Let foreigners look down with scorn On legislators heaven-born; We know what limpid wisdom runs From Peers and all their eldest Sons. Enrapt the true~born Briton hears The wisdom from his House of Peers.

,SERGEANT. . And if a noble lord should die And leave no nearer progeny,

RUTH;

His twentieth cousin takes his place And legislates with equal grace •

. But· should' a Son' or Heir sl.Jrvive Or other nearer relative,

Then twentieth cousins"get you hence . '-Y'ou' re persons of no consequenbe.

When issue male their chances bar,

. ", 1

i •

.L: -How paltry twentiAth cousins arel

. " ~

How' q~utiiy blest that. gloriolJs land .. ". ·Where rank and brains go hand in hand,

.",Where wisdom pure and virtue hale . , .• Obey the law of, strict entail.

No harm can· touch a country when It's .. ruledby British Noblemen.

The finale to Pirates performed in New York was.much di·f­ferent, both from the British opening, and the finale in the current version of the operetta, . At this point, the Pirates have ju~t beat, the b"jabbers out of the Policemen, but su):,render when the Major-General calls upon them to yield in Queen Victoria·s .. n~ii1e. . ..

RUTH. One moment; let me tell y.ol,J who they are;' They are no ffiGm bers of the common ,throng; They ere alii 'no~le~F;:l ulho haV8··g0ne ·wrong.

GE~ER.~L, POLICE & GIRLS.' What"all noblemen? KING· & J?lRATES.; Y·ss,.all noblemen! GENERAL" . POLICE; &'GIRLS. What! All? .. ~, KING. Well, nearly all. ALL. They are n"~rly all noblemen who have gone wrong.

Then give thre.e cheers, both 'lDudand strong, For the twenty··noblemen who have gone wrong! Then give three cheers, both loud and strong, For the noblsmen .. who havegone,wrong.l

. 'GENERAL. No Engl:i;shman unmo.l(8d ,·t,hat statement hears, .. Because, with all our f",ults",·w.s love our. House of :~eers! [all kneeL]

".ALL. Hail, eve, hail,. 0 Haldse of Peers;' ,To wisdom that .mankind Teveres We listen with respectful ears, For Oh! we love our HOUS8 of Peers!

[lUI r~se. Each PIRATE takes aGI,RL • .] . -'-'"2.

RUTH.

KING.

iYlABEL.

SERG EANT.

CHORUS.

GENERAL.

ALL.

RECITATIVE -,- GENERAL.

I pray you 'p",rdon me, ex-pirate k.i.ng; Peers will be p8ers, and youth will have its fling. Resume your ranks and legislative duties, And take my daughters, all of whom are beauties.

FINALE.

At length we are :provided, with unusual facility, To ch,ange piratic crime for dignified respectability. Combined, I needn't say, with unparalleled felicity Of :what we have been longing for - unbounded domesticity. To-morrow morning early we will quickly be parsonified­HymeneaUy coupled, conjugany matrimoni fied. And 'this shall be accomplished' by that doctor of divini ty Who happily resides in the immediate vicinity. Who happily resides in the immediate Vicinity.

My military knowledge, though I'm plucky andadventury, Has only been brodght down to the beginning of the century; But still;' ingettTng off my daughters - eight or nine or ten in all­I'Ve shown mysel'f the model' ofa"modern iYlajor-Gen'eral. His military knowledge, &c.'

,C,I,\~T ~JN.' "

"IOLANTHE There have,beeD, ,apouple of major deletions of' songs .f~om ) QLANTHE,both .. from Act II. Phy 11is hasb,!Ie.n,,'l,ng,aged to"two Earls," both of whom she's ,apat~~~jc"}p:. She really wants to marry Strephon, who ,>:J,8,2S"Yl',ars old, but she caught him with a woman; who, 'by 1'11 appearances" is 17. Strephon says ,\,~'i'~,S hiLs' mptner,so naturally, Phyllis told hiiT), t6 jo, take a jUmP~ What Strephon hasn't told her'is, tl;>athis ma,ther is a:fairy, her age being "a c6~pr~ ',;of cEl~tur~_es._,,6r so," and. is' immortal. : Anyway,'Phyl.1is ls, engaged to both Lord Mountara­rat 'a lid Lord TolloHer, and she hasn't decided' yet which she's going to mar'ry.

[Enter Lord iYlountararat.] iYlOUNTARARAT. Phy llis !My ownl [embracing hEir.] PHYLLIS. Don'tl How dar~ youl But perhaps you arEi the"

nobleman I'm 'eng,Jged to? MOUNTARARAT. PHY LLIS. MoUNTARARAT. PHY LLIS. MOUNTARARAT. PHYLLIS.

I am one of t'hem. oh I But ho," come y.Q!d to havEi a pee,rage? It,'s a prize for being born first. A kind of a Derby"Cup. ' Not at alll I Come from a very old and distingUished family. And you're proud of your race? But of course you are -you won it! But why are peopl,e ~ peers?

MoUNTARARAT. The"pririCiple is not ,easy to explain. I'll give you· an example. DeB'eI'ville was regarded as the Crichton .of h!'s age: H is tragedies were reckoned much too thoughtful for the stage, His' poems held 'a noble rank - although it's very true Tnat, being: 'very proper, they were read by very few. He was a famo~s Painter, too, and shone upon the Line, And even Mister Ruskin Came and worshipped at his shrine: But, alas, the school he followed was heroically high The kind of Art men rave about, but very seldom buy.

And everybody said, !'How can he be repaid

This very great - this very good -. this very gi 1" ted man?" But nobody could liit 'upon ,,'practicable plan!

. . .. ;-, -

He was'agre~til")ve~t~r,a';d .discovered, all alone, . A plan for. fll",~ing .,everybody· s fortune I;!ut his own; for in busin~ss an Inventor's little better than a fool. And my highly gifted friend was no exception to 'the rule. His pOems ~people read,' em in ,the. sixpenny Reviews'; His. pi,cturlis>,,-, the,y jengraved 'em in the Ulustrated News; Hi's· imie'1tio,ns - .theY!Tlight haye enr'iched him by' degrees, ~fJt all hi.s littl,e income, went in Patent Office fees!

,.So 'ever,ybody said, , "H alA! can 'he be repaid.---

Th,is, .~y :great - ·.this very good -,. - ,this ~y gifted man?" But 'nobody Gould hi t upon a practicable plan,!' '

. , '

At last thepbin't' was given up' in 'absolLlte des'pair, vJhen ,a distant cousin died, and he became' a milllonaire!

, ,,' with a county .. I3~~t. in Parliament, a moor. or twobf grouse, 'And a, ta'lte fo,~, making ,.iflconvenient speeches ih:the House. Thp.n,Gol{ernment ,.conferred on him the highest' of 'irewards -They took him from thB Commol)s and they put him in the Lords! And who so fit to sit in it, dFmy it if you Can, As this very gr8at -.,- this very good - this v~ry glftod men?

Though I'm more than half afraid That it sometimes may be said

That we never should have revelled in that source of proper pride'--­However great his merits - if his cousin hadn't died!

This omission is an unfortunate one, beCause' it makes the 'satirical. thrl,l~t Gil,.. bert was making so clear. In the current version of the libretto, you seC! Gl,ll:!ert taking a numbe'r of pokes at the Peers, but"unless'you've done .some extr'a:re8Qing,pn Gilbert, you don.' t k now exactly wh"t the [Joint' hs' s trying to'make is.' This. song and the "Hymn to th~'Nobility" make it very clear !"hat Gilbert thought was wrong with the House Of Lords, but 'thisone does it withbot being quite' so sarcastic. '

. Immediately after "If you go in/Vou're 'sut'e to~and the Lord Chancellor and Tolloller and Mountararat have left the stage, Strephon enters • .1'" thec,-!rr,ent lib­retto, he ,starts a. soliloquy which is' interrupted 'oy· Phyllis. In tile original iJe "';,(198 Sorig here, which follows. At thispofnt,StI:ephon has been'made a member, of ,Parliament oythe Queen of the Fairies; who is als'o compellirig alI the 6ther'J\1.P.,s to vote howev",r Strephon wishes them to. . "" '

"SONG.

RECITATIVE --- STREPHoN.

My Bill has nO"ll;!een:read,a second time;' i His, ready'yote.n6.Me~ber now refuses;

I n' verity- r wield a power sublime" ' And one that I can turn to mighty uses'!

What a joy ,tp ,parry.,,: in the very .teeth Of lYIirii'strY. ,cipss~Benoh. and Dpposition,

Some rather urgent 'measur,8s '-' -. -., quite"be[leJl,th, The ,ken of pa~.I~~ota'nd polip~i",nl

. .r '

fold your flapping wings, ,Soaring Legislatu~e" : '

stoop to little thingsL' , stoop to Human Nature( '. '-,

'-;let':~ begi~ akhpme -"­, Crime i~ no exot'ic!, )-' 81 Uer is yOUl' bane

, Terrible yourdrials­",.Qingy Drury Lane! Never need tt> roani, " ,

Members patrioHc, .' .5qapless Seven Dials!

: -, , ~ ..

: ",,-d.' . ; i ~ ....

f'

C' .,

Take a tipsy lout Gathered from the gutter

,Hustle him about ---

Take a wretched thief Through the city sneaking,

Pocket handkerchief EVer, ever seeking'

, "

," ~ Strap him to a shutter, What am I but he, What is he but I ',\

Robbed of all my' chances --;':.'.,. Washed at hours stated fed on filagree --­

Clothed and,sducated? Picking pockets'by

Force of circumstances? He's a mark of scorn

r might be another, If I had been ,born

I might be as bad --- __ \.\ i, As unluckY'i rather

Of a tipsy motherl

PRINCESS IDA PRINCESS IDA is a "'respectful perversion"

of Tennyson's Princess. In PRINCESS IDA, Gilbert lampooned (and much less humorously than usual) women's colleges. In Gilbert's time, his view of educating women was old fashioned, today it would probably be enough to send any self-righteous women's libber into coronary arrest. (Of course, not all women's libbers are self-righteous by any means, but I have known £Qffi§"') But whether you agree with Gilbert or not, the book of PRINCESS IDA is easily the weakest of the 14 he did with Sullivan. Nonetheless, it contains two good patter songs, some other good lyrics and a good score. PRINCESS IDA, due to its rela-

I f I'd only h,\d; Fagin for, a fath'erl '.,'

tively short run (though still a success), was not revived until the 1920s, and was first recorded in 1924. This first:recording includes "Come, Mighty Mustl" which sub­sequent recordings omit. This 1924 recording has been rereleased on two 33 rpm'rec­ords on the Gem label. Further, the Pearl ~ of the Savoyard includes this sohg. FbI' a full 8xplantation of what this song is about, you'd have to read the surrounding text. But let it stand that Gilbert is taking a small poke at Abstract Philosophy, and that Lady Blanche is saying that she wants to be -~ and deserves to be -- head, of this women's college, instead of Princess Ida.

SONG -- LADY BL~NCHE.

Come, mighty Mustl Oh, weak Might Bel Inevitable Shalll Oh, May, Might, Could" Would, ,Shouldl

In thee I trust. How powerless ye Tims weaves my coronal! For evil or for good!

Go, mocking Is! In ev,f'ry sense Go, disappointing Was! Your moods I cheerless call,

That I am this Whats'sr your tense Ys are the cursed causel Ye are Imperfect, all!

Yet humble second shall be first, Ya have deceived the, trust t/;lat I've shown I ween1 In' yel , ' "C",

And dead and buried be the curst Away I The Mighty J1iust a)pne, Has been! Shall be! "

This song immediately precedes the trio Hilarion, Cyril, and Florian sing, "Gently, gently/Evidently/We are safe so far." PRINCESS IDA contain's'o'ne small but interesting change of note. Remember that Gilbert wrote in the Victorihri Ag~, an era we view as being highly concerned with Morality, to the point of'repression. There were many things you couldn't talk about then that we discuss freely now, and there are words you can say in print today that you wouldn" t think'c of printing then. It may seem a little unusual to think, then, that th,ere ,is one word that you could say anytime you wanted in the 1800s without worrying about offending anyone, which you

just,don't say today",at least not in earnest. The word to which I refer is of course "nigger," which didn'·t: have quite the same connotations a hundred years ago aS'it does now. By 1950 audiences started objecting to the Use of the word' in' G&SopeI'ettas -- it occurs

,three,,,times in the 14, once in PRINCESS IDA, and twice in THE MIKADO -- and Rupert 'D'Oyly Carte pro-ceeded to find alternate lines. I PIth '

~ 0 0 ere s a song, "They Intend to Send B Wire to the ,Moon," 'which is a list of impossible things the women of th4;s University intend to do,- or at least they were thougf'lt to be impossible a hundred years ago. Since then we have indeed sent a wire to the moon, we have crossed' the polar ocean, and thanks to oil slicks, it's only too possible to set the Thames on fire. We have still

not, however.9 s·cceeded in extracting sunbeams from cucumbers. The second Verse goes!

CYHJl.

....

As for fashion, they forswear it, So they say- so theY, say-

And the circle - they' will square it Some fine day - some fine day

Then the little pigs they're teaching For' to fly - for to fly 1

And the niggers they'll be bleaching, By and by - by and by!

Each newly joined aspirant ' To the clan - to the clan

Must repudiat'i; the ty rant, Known as Man - known as Man,

They mock at him and flout him, For they do not care about him, And they 're','going to. do without ,him" '

,If they can -,,- if theycanl

: ,.

The 1955 D'Oyly Carte recording (whicf'd,jas"ohly t'h~ secorid recording of IDA ever made I) replaced the'off<'lnding lilie with i'And' they '11 practice wha t they're preaching! By ,and,by-'by and by!" Incredibly enough/'nowever, ,the 1965 'P'Oyly Carte re-, cording reverts to'the o'riginal :Une. Anybody know if they've restored it, to their per fo,rmances as well? '

THE MIKADO Jhere,,,haven't been any really big changes

in THE MIKADO, though it's beer" rearranged a bit I "The Sun Whose Rays" started out in Act!, later to be moved to Act II;,' and "As i tseems to be essential th'at a'victim shOUld be found" has become "As someday it may happen that a victim must be found',> and moved, from just before "1 am so proud'" 't'o' midway in Acf I. Further, this song, probably Gilbert!" best-known work, and certainly most frequently parodied, origin~lly contained this chorus:

" 'As a victim must be found I f you'1-1 only look a round, ,Th'H~ are Qri'l'inals at large (And enough to",fill a' barge), , IAihos", swift decapitation ~ould be hailed with accla~ation r fa!Ocomplishedby the, nation

At a' ~~asonable charge.

'I'" ,.,., .. :. . '/.

That' song starts out,

As it seems to: be essential that a victim should be found, I've got a little list, ~ I've got a little list

Of 'social offenders who might well be underground, And who never would be missed - who never would be missed I

It continues for three verses, pa,tteringout the types of people this wOllld would be better off without. Gilbert's very last work (1911) was to write a children's version of THE MIKADO. For that Gilbert wrote his own little parody of the original. It's interesting to note that it doesn't talk.'down to the reader, but merely states things in terms which are all-tao-familiar to aqhild' slife.

As someday it may happep that a victim must be found, If ve got a little list ~ 'Ii ve got a little list

Of inconvenient people who might we,!l be underground, For they never would be missed - they never would be missed.

The donkey who of nine-times-six and eight-times-sevenprates, And stumps you with inquiries on geography and date,S, ' And asks for your ideas on spelling "parallelogram" -All narrow-minded people who are stingy' with their jam, And the torture-dealing dentist, wi th,the forceps in his fist.,..... They'd none of them be missed - they'd none of them be missed.

There's the 'nursemaid who each evening in curlpapers does your hair, With an aggravating twist -- she never would be missed­

Arid teils you that you mustn't cough or sneeze or yawn or ~tare, She never, would be missed - I'm sure she'd not be missed.

All those who hqld: that children shouldn't have too much to eat, And think cold,suei; pudding a delicious birthday treat, Who say. that little girls to bed at seven should be sent, And Ci,on;,ider pocket-money isn't given to be spent, And the doctors who on9iving yo,u unpleasant draughts insist,­

'They never woufd be' miss'ed -'- they'd none of 'them b'e missed.

T!1ep the teaCher: Wh'ofor hours keeps you' practising your sc'ales IA/Hh('n ever-aching wrist - she never would be, missed.

And children, t09, who out of school are fond of telling fales, They never wou~d be missed - I'm sure they'd not ,b'e missed. '

All people who maintain (in solemn earnest - not in joke)'" ,: :rhat .tluantities,of sugar-pLums are bad ,for 'little folk, And those who hold the principle, unalterably fixed, That instruction with amusement should most carefully be mixed: All these (and many others) I have plaCed upon the list, For they never would be 'missed '-,,- never, never would be missed.

[The source of this verse is W.S. Gilbert, His Life and Lett:.ers, by SidnGlY Dark and Rowland Grey, Methuen & Co., Ltd, London, 1923,;TThiS song is also the source of a number of iriterestingliariations.

There"s, the nigger serenader, and the others of his Tace, And the' piano-organist - I've got him on the list I

As mentioned before, you can' tsay "nigger" any more. IVJarflyn Green preferred "The minstrelserenader," thinking this closest to what Gilbert meant in the first place, but Rupert D' Oyly Carte liked "the banjo serenader" better,' and that seems to pretty muc/;) be the performed standard now. However, I think the, origina,1 persists. in the ~rinted libretto. ' . '

",.; _.'

And that singular anomaly, the lady novelist-:-I don't think she'd be missed- I'm ~ she'd not be missed!

There h,ave been many alternates to this line, "The prohibitionist" (D'Oyly Carte, 1 950)"two of_[;i1be,rt'· s own alternates of the turn-of-the-centwry period, "The red­hot socialist", and "The lady motorist" (recorded that way by C.H. Workman). lYIartyn Green wins the boobie prize for the alternate line he used on his Columbia solo-al­bUm of G&S songs', "Th,,,, girl who's neVer kissed." The 1960s D'Oyly Carte performance

uses Gilbert's original line. D'oyly Carte released a new recording,of THE ~IKADo ca. 1976, and I don't know which line they use in that version.

On the subject of al ternat" ,lines, in .Act- II there is a song called "A ~ore Humane ~ikado," in which the Mikado describes how ):>e intends to let the punishment fit the cr imeo

, ' 'The lady' who dyes' a chemical yellow Or "stains her grey hair puce,

Or pi_nchs8 her -figger _ Is blacked like a nigger

With_ permanent waJr:lut Jul<;e. . '" Sir Alan P. Herbert of'f'ercid five alternatEls tD this

They are: [reprinted from Here' s_.§. How~de-do, by Martyn New York, 1952. ] _ '_ "

1. The lady who dyes a chemical yellow Or stains her grey' hair puce,'

Or pinches her figure Is painted with vigour

And permanent- -walnut juice.

j. '-;-

verse to Rupert D' oyIy Carte. Green, W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.,

2. The la_sly who dyes a chemical yellow Or stain'lher grey hair gre,en

Is taken to Dover

4. The lady who dyes a chemical yellow Or stains her grey hair blue

~Jears nothing bt,lt feathers 'Arid painted allover In all the worst weathers

A ho-rrible ultramarine. And lives in a draughty Zoo.

3. The lady who dyes a chem,ical yellow Or st"ins her_grey hair puce '

5. The lady who dyes a chemical yellow Or stains her grey hair blue

Is made to wear feathers In all the.w6rst weathers

And legibly labelled "Goose."

Is made to wear feathers In all_the worst weathers

And_kElpt in a draughty Zoo.

The author's favorite', as was GreHn's and mine, is the second versi'on. I'd give second placo: to,verse #3. However; C~rte chose the first, possibly with good reason; the second is out of th" context of the play, a pSfjudo-Japanese context, though it is. However, Gilbert, himsel f' snuck remarks into the librEltto about the Japanese exhibi tiO[1 at Knightsbridge' (which gave him the i(;ie1\ for THE MIKADO in the first place) and "Japanese d9n't carry pocket handkerchl!,fs," so perhaps verse #2 wouldn't be so far out of' place. .. ' .'

There has been' o~e omis~I~n, from THE MIKADO: "~Jere I not to KO-.Ko plighted" has been condensed from the ,original version.

YUM-YUM.

BOTH '.

. ";-:

BOTH.

DUET' - YUM-YUM& NANKI ~POO '"

LII~re I ~ot to K,;:-Ko plighted,. ·.YUM·YlJM. I 'would say in tender tone, "Loved one, let Us be united-, -. ,

. :Let us be each' other's own!" I would say, "oh, gentle stranger, Press me closely to thy heart, Sharing. every joy and danger, We ~ill never part!"

We will never jJatt! We will' never part!

But;, as I'm to marry Ko-Ko, To express my love "~ fuocou

Would distinctly be no gioco, And for yam I sti~uld,get toco!

loco" toco, toeD y toeD!

NANKI~POO.

,So I will not-say, "Oh, stran-ger,

Press me closely to'thy heE!rt, Sharing every joy anddang~r, We will never, never pa tt i' f Clearly,-understand, I pray;

'This is what I never say---,: This-oh, this-oh, this;"-. dh, this-. ," . ." , This is what I'll neil.er say.

Were you not to Ko-Ko plighted I should thrill at words like

those. Joy, of joys is love requit"d, Love despised is woe of wOeS. I would, merge all-,rank and-'

statton-VJorldly snp,ers are nought to us­And, to mark my admiration, I would kiss you fondly, thus-

[kisses her] BOTH. I/He would ki~s you/me fondly,'thus -"-' [kiss]

I/He would kiss you/me fondly, thus - Tkiss]. NANKI -POD. But as you're engaged to' Ko-Ko,

To embrace yoq thus 9 £Q.Q' fuoco 9

Would,distinctly beno,gioco; And fdr yam I should get toco-

BIilTH. Toco, t.oco, toco, tocol' NANKI-Poo. So, in spite of all temptation,

Such a theme I'll not discuss, And on no' co'nsid~r'ation Will ('kiss you'fondly thus- [kissing her]. Let mB'm'aRe i'f'clear to you, This, oh this,: oh this, oh this [kissing her] This is what I'11 nevar do! [exeunt in opposite directions. ]

RUDbIGOR~'-THE MII(ADo was withdrawn after a then-incredible 672

performances not because it had ceased to attract audiences, but to make way for RUDDYGORE, OR THE WITCH'S CURSE. This ope,rett,a,;\Ila,,, '9i,l(ena"n8w ,title, 11, days a,fter its opening sub,­stituing thp. "I',:" f,or.,the'·O.'Y~'" because"the,ori,ginal qtle was too much like "Bl---y Gore." Gilbert had a couple of other alternate titles in mind, i KENSINGTON GORE, OR ROBIN AND RICHARD vJERE TWO PRETTY MEN--Sullivan refused to gOr<dong with that one (and it's a good thing! That subtitle doesl)'t mean quite the same thing now as it did then!), or KENSJNGTON

,

GORE, OR NOT SO GOOD ,~S,THE MIKADO ,(which WElS,justwhat the 'b~ critics were saying!). RUDDIGORE. is probably the, mos,t ex-tensively cut of all the G&S operettas', the' major' :incisions being in Act I I. That act opens with Robin, formerly disguised as a virtoous farmer, has been revealed to be the rightful Baronet. of Ruddigorel en h(lldors of that title are under a witch's curse tocommlt a crime very day or perish in agony. Hence, Robin

,must abandon his virtuous ways af,d live Up'-lD his new ti tie of Sir, Ruthven, Mur,getroycl. " At the begi'llning of Act II, Rob;i,,/Ruthvenand Old Adam Goodheart, hi~ mansimiant sing!

, ROBIN.

ADAM.

- . ","

:SOTH.

'DUET - ROBIN AND ADAM.,

I'once was as meek as a n8w~born lamb, 'I'm now sir Murgatroyd - hal hal

With greafer precision (Without the ei.ision) ,

, Sir RGthven Murgatroyd ,,-' - hal hal And I, who was once his valley-de-';,;ham, As steward I'm now employed -' hathal

The dickens may take h'im-' ' I'll neVer 'forsake him! "

As steward I'm now emi:iloyed '-, -,ha "ha! How dreadful when an innocent heart' Becomes, perforce, a bad you':;g'Barf., And still more hard on old Adam His former faithful valley -de-sham!

ROBIN. My face is the index to my mind, All venom and spleen and gall-ha!ha!

Or, properly' speaking, It soon will be reeking

With Venom and spleen and gall-hal hal ADAM. My name from Adam GOOdheart you'll find

I'v" changed -to Gideon Crawle'-ha! ha!'

.j :-

BOTH.

For a bad 8a:t.~s D~eWG~j Whose headls .much too hard.

Is' aiways· Gj,deon Crawle -= hal hal How providential wh~n you find The face an index to the mind. And evil men compnl1nd to call Themselves by nal1l"s like Gideon C'rawlel

The second Verse of "Happily coupled are we\' has also been cut. which is unfoI'-' tunate.if for no other reason. because I like thatsongl

ROSE. My hopes will be blighted. I fear, While you'll be asserting My dear; Your freedom by flirting

In a month you'll be going to sea, With every woman you meet, Quite fres, You eheat---

And all of my wishes Wi th every woman 'you meet! You'll throw to the fishes Though I am such a smart I it tle c ra ft--­

Such a neat little, sweet little craft. As though they were never to be; Poor me!

Such a bright little, tight little, Slight little, light little, Ail though they were never to be,

And I shall be left all alone Trim little, prim little craftl To moans>

And weep at your cruel deceit, Complete;

Soon it became clear that it was open season on second verses, and Gilbert de­leted the second hal f of "In by done days I had thy love---", this amis.sion being a small loss compared to the other two.

ROSE. My heart that once in truth waS thine, . Another claims~

Ah, who can' laws to love assign,· Or rule its flames?' .

Our plight'ed heart':bond gently bless, The se81 of thy Consent impress ' Upon our promised happine8s-

Grant thou our pr,iyet!

A·LCtKneVi~ing.lGrant thou her praye,r , '_ ','. '.' HaBIN.frecit,] Take .her- I yield! .... oUm/. I'should' ve .explalneP abovEl!, in. Act. I, Rob.in& ,Rose were engaged,c,butonce'it

was revealed that Robin 'was really the bad Bart., Sir Ruthven lVlurgatroyd, she dropped him, and decided she'd rather marry his brother, a sailor, lik81y as it is that he won't be faithful (note .the second verse of, "Happily coupled are 'we," printed above. Richard sings the first verse, JMQich talks abo.ut how happy he and Rose will be to­gether. She has quite a different vie."1 of the matter.)

But the biggest changes in the opera are the deletions of two patter songs. In Act I I, Robin tries to do his deily.,c.dme to. keep from dying under the dictates of the curse. His ancestors step,out .oft./!8ir portrait frames, and in ghostly form, warn him that his crimes so far ,have beSlfl too petty. For example, two crimes he's committed are forging his own will aOnd dt<?..i,nheril;ing his hypothetical son. "But you haven't got a son," one ghost protests. "No-.not yet," Robin replies. "I disinherited him in ad­vance, to save time. YOUo.see- by' Ehisarrangement-,.-. he'll be born ready disinheritp.d." They demand that his crime's be ~o.re dastardly, and !'jive him a sample of the agony of death. After they leave, .Robin resolves to do as they.say, and sings!

RECITATIVE AND SONG -' ROBIN.

Away, remorSe I Compunction henc';'

Go, M'ota"l ForcEd· Go, Penintenciil

To Virtue's plea . o A lorig far'ewell-,

p ropr1:sty i· , ,0'""

f I -ring your knell!

Come guiltiness of deadliest hUe, Come desperate deeds of derring-do!

For thirty-five years I've. been sober and wary-.-. My favourite tipple came straight from a dairy­I kept guinea-pigs,and a Belgian canary-"-

A squirrel, white mic,e, and a small black-apd-tan. I played pn the flut~, .and I drank lemon sqiJashes-. I wore chamois leather, thick boots, and macintoshes, And things that will some day be known as galoshes,.

The ty PEl. or a highly resPe,ctable man!

[or the rest of my life I abandon propriety­Visit the haJnts of Bohemian society, Wax-works and other resorts of impiety,

Placed by the moralist under a ban. My ways must be those of,., regular satyr", At car,ryings-on I must be a fhst-rater-. Go night 'after night to a wicked theayter-,

It's hard on a highl\!respect",ble man!

Well, the man' who h",s' spent th"first hal f 8f his tether On all the bad deeds you Can bracket together, Then goes and repents - in his cap it· s a feaJher-. -

Society pets him as much asH can. It's a comfort to think, if I now go a cropper, I sha' n' t, on the whole" 'have done more that· s improper Than he who was once an abandoned tip-topper,

But now is a highly respectable man!

Gilbert wrote to Sullivan, "r can't hr>lp thinking that the second act would be grl3at­ly improved if the recitation [he meant "recitative"] before [George] Grossmith's song were omitted, and the song reset to ari air that would admit of his':singing it

,desperately - almost in a passion - the torrent of' 'which would take him off the stage at the end. After the long and solemn gh'ost scene,' I J fancy a'lachrymose song is out of place, particcllarly as it is 'followed by another slow number-the duet betwee[1 Jessie [Bond] and [Rutland] Barrington ["I'once was a very abandoned pe·rson"] ••• ." [From uJ.S. Gilbert, his. Life and Letters,'} The above sorig was not surig 'in the Savoy Theatre very many times before it was 'replaced with the following song. I've never heard the music to each of these, but the above quote indicates that the first patter­song had a slm" tempo and that the replacement was sung at a brisker 'pace. The sec-ond song, despite Gilbert's recommendation to cut it, retained the recitati~e. RUDDY­GORE opened JBn. 22, 1887, and by Feb. 2, the riew patter':song was in its' place.

Henceforth all the crimes that I find in the Times, I've promised to p~rpet~ate daily;

To-morrow I start,. with a petrified heart, On a regUlar course of Old Baily.,

. \ There's confidence tricking, bad cain, pocket-picking, And several other disgrac8s---

," .. There's postage-stamp pr igging,and then thimble-rigging, The three-card delusion at races!

0/;1'1 a baron",t's· rank is exceedingly nice, ~ut the title's uncommonly dear at the price!

Ye well-to-do squires.. ,,,,,"0 liVe in ,the shires, Where petty distindfons are vlt'\l, .,

Who found Athenaeums and local museums, With vielUs to a baronet's title-

Ve butchers and bakers and candlestick makers Who sneer at' ail things that are tradey'-'

Whose middle-class'lives are embarrassed by'wives Who long to parade as "My Lady,"

Dhl.allow me tt, offer a word oF' advice, The title's uncommonly dear at the price!

Ve supple M.P.'s, who go dewnon your knees, Your precious identity sinking,

And vote black and white as your"leaders indite' (VJhich saves you" the trouble of thinking),

For your country's good ram"e, her repute, or her shame, You don't care the" s[luff of a candle-

But you're paid for your"'game when you'ro told that your name Will be graced by a baronet's handle-

Oh! allow me to give y2.!d a word of advice-The title's uncommonly dear at the price! [exit Robin.]

There's one more major omission: the finale is cut down conSIderably from its original incarnation.

RICHARD.

CHORUS.

Hail the Bridegroom - hail the "bride 1'-[interrupting them] Will you be quiet? [To Robin.] Belay, my lad, belay, you don't understand!

ROSE. ROB HI.

Oh, sir, if it's absolutely necessary. " Belay? Certainly not. [to RiChard] You see, if's like this - as all my ancestors are alive, it follows, as a matter of course, that "the eldest of

RICHARD. ROBIN.

them is the family baronet, and I revert to my former condition. [Going to Zorah] VJell, I think it's exceedingly unfair! [To first ghost] He,e, great uncle, allow me to present you. [to the others] Sir Ruthvnn *fIIurgatroyd, Baronet, of Ruddygore!

ALL. FIRST

Hurrah! GHOST. Fallacy someLYhere!

FINALE.

ROBIN. Having been a wicked baronet a week, Once'again a modest livelihood I seek~

*(I believB that ought to be

"i Agricul tural employment "'; Is to me a koen enjoyment,

sir Supert lYIur!gatroyd.)

FDP I'm naturally diffident and meek! ROSE..; When a 'man, has" been a naughty baronet,

And expresses his repentance ""and, regret, You should help him, if Y0l,l'r:,,";,ble, Like the mousie in the fable,

That's :the teaching of my Book of Etiquette. RICHARD. If you ask me why I do not pipe my eye,

Like an honest British sailor, I reply, That with Zorah for my missis, There'll be bread and cheese and kisses,

Which is just the sort of ration I enjyel SIR DESPARD & MARGARET. Prompted by a keen desire to evoke,

All the blessed calm of matrimony's yoke, We shall toddle off to-morrow From this scene of sin and sorrow,

For to settle in the town of Basingstokel ALL. For happy the lily, &c. [From here on, the Finale is exactly like the cl,lrrent versi'on.]

THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD

Besides HIs Life a Boon?O~ being set to a new tune 9 one song is cut, another altered, and "another cut in hal f. JAck Point and

Elsie are the strolling r,br rymsn and his Maid, LYhe "ro engaged. Fairf3x, mnanl'lhile is a scinntist who's been carndemned to death on trumped-up charges by a cousin who wishes to inherit his money. Fairfax is resigned to death, but 'rather than let his kinsman get. his hands on his fortune, he resolves to get married to someone--

j

anyone--before he goes to be beheaded; his wif<e will be a wi<jowin half an hour, and then she gets the ,hundred crOlVns. fairfax sends th8 Lieutenant out to find a wife for him.

TRIO. ELSIE, POINT, LIEUTENANT.

LIEUTENANT. HolV say you, maiden, will YOLl',~ed A man abo~t to lose his headi " No harm to you can thence arise, In half an hour, poor soul, he dies.

For half an hour You'll be a wife

And then the dow~i­Is yours for life.

This tempting offer lvhy refuse? If truth the poets tell

~10st men, before they marry, l""se Both head and heart as well!

ALL. Temptation, oh temptation, Were we, in truth, intended

To shun y . whateter our station, Or fall, whene'er we vielV you Head oVer heels into you!

ELS I E; A stitange proposal,You reveal, 1t .. :iiXmcist makes my'sense reel. Alas! I'm very poor indeed, And such a sum I sorely need.

Unfortunately, Life 'an:d death·

Have hung ttll lately , Ona breath.

My mother, sir, is like to die This money life may bring

Bear this in mind, I pray, if I Consent to do this thing!

ALL. Temptation, oh temptation, &c. POINT.

Though as a general rule of li fe I don't allow my promised wife, My lovely bride that is to be, To marry anyone but'me,

The circumstances Of this case

May set such fancies Out of place;

So, if the fee is duly paid And he, in well-earned grave, Within the hour is duly laid, Objection I will waive" ,

ALL. Temptation, oh temptation, &c.

Elsie cons'ents' to marry the cohdemned Fairfax, but he is 'not executed. Through thl3 scheming of other charai::ters, he escapes, and hides right under the n'oses of his would-be executione'rs, disguised as Leonard M8ryll, a heroic soldier who is returning from a triumphant battle.

COUPLETS.

FIRST YEOMAN. Didst' tho;!,' not, oh, Leonard Meryll !

Standard lost in last campaign, Rescue it at deadly per il-' -Bear'it bravely back again?

CHORUS. Leonard Meryll, at his peril, Bore it bravely back again!

SECOND YEOMAN. Didst ·thou not, when prisoner taken,

And debarred from all escape, Face,with gallant heart unshaken,

Death in most appalling shape? CHORUS. ,Leonard Mery 11 faced his pe'rH,

Death in most appalling shape!

FAIRFAX [aside] TrUly I was to be 'pitied, HaVing but an hour·.to live1_

I reluctantly submit.ted, I had no alterh~tiy\,,! [then, alOUd ••.• J

Oh, the facts that have been stated Of my deeds of derring-do,

Have been much exaggerated,

Very much exaggered, Monstrously exaggerated!

Scarce a word of them is true! THIRD YEOM~N.

You, when brought to execution, Like' a deinigod of yore,

With heroic resolution Snatched a sword and killed a score!

CHORUS. LeonardMeryll, Le09ard Meryll Snatched a sword and kifldd a scqre!

FOURTH YEOMAN. Then escaping from the foemen,

Boltersd with the blood you shed, You j defiant, fearing no men g. ,

Saved your ,honour and )lOU~ head! CHORUS. Leonard Meryll, Leonarq Meryll:

Saved his honour and .his ,headl /AIRf'AX.

True, my course with judgment shaping, Favoured, too, by lucky star,

I succeeded in esqaping Prison bolt and prison b~r!

Oh! the tales that have 6een stated Of my de'eds of derring-do,.

Have been much exaggerated, &c.

CHORUS. They are not exaggerated, &c.

Leonard's father is a sergeant of the Yeomen. Early in Act I he singsg

SONG _ MERYLL.

,q laughing boy but yesterday, A merry urchin, blithe and gay!

lVhose joyoUs shout Came ringing out

Unchecked by care or sorrow­To-day a warrior, all sun-brown, Whose deeds of soldierly renown Ar8 all the boast of London Town,

A veteran, to-morrowl

THE ,GONDOLIERS

When at my Leonard's deeds sublime A soldier's pulse beats double time,

And brave hearts thrill As brave hearts will,

At tales of martial glory, I burn wi th flush of pr ids and joy, A pride unbittered by alloy, To find my boy - my darling boy

The theme of song and storyl

One song'lias been dropped from THE GON_ DOLIER5~ it immediately followed the recita­tive "0 rapture, ,when alone together" and has been replaced 'by a duet with Luiz and Casilda. In a nutshell, she's the daughter of the Duke of Plaza-Toro, while he'S but his manservant, so because of her dignified station, they can't make their love known.

BALLAD -- LUIZ.

Thy wintry scorn I dearly prize, Thy mocking pride I bless;

Thy scorn is love in deep disguise Thy pride is lowliness

Thy cold disdain It ,gives no pain -'­'Tis mercy, playod I n masquerade. Thine angry frown Is but 'agouJn That serves to dress Thy gentleness!

If angry frown and deep disdain Be love in masked array,

So much the bitterer their arraign, So much the sweeter, theyl

With mocking smile My love beguile; With idle jest Appease my breast; And angry voice My soul rejoice; Beguile with scorn My heart forlorn!

Oh, happy is he who is content to gain Thy scorn, thine angry frown, they deep disdain!

utOPIA,""LIMITED

UTOPIA, LrMIT,ED, perhaps thanks to the fact that it was ~eV8r perform~d under the direction of Rupert D'Oyly Carte, who is l:esponsible for orrritting,,!,18veral of the, songs listed here, not Gilbert, remains pretty much in­tactj only one song is now left out. ~rincess Zara, thanks to a t,rick from Capt. Fitzbattleaxe, has just hoodVJinked Scaphio & Phantis, the Judges of the Supreme Court out of blackmailing her father into letting one of them m",rry her. One of the judges is in his '50s, and the other in his 60s, while Zara would be in her early 20s. The following dialogue and song are now omit ted:

ZARA. [ looking off, in the direction in ",hich Scaphio and Phantis have gone.J Poor trusting, simple-minded, and affectionate old gentlemen! I'm really sorry for

them! How strange it is that when the.flower of a man'.sy'dLJ·th has faded, he seems to lose all charm in a woman's eyes; and how true are the words of my expurgated Juvenal g

"-- Festinat decurrere ,velox Flosc,!lus, angustee, miserrnque vibe Portio'" Ah, if we could only make up our minds to irivest our stock of youth on commercial princi­ples instead of squandering it at the outset, old' age. wowld be as extinct as the Dodo!

SONG -- ZARA. ' 'Ah, dame imprOVident,

youth is a boon avowed-A gift of priceless worth

To rich and poor allowed-

I f'you, in very sooth In'infancy.had ,lent. . ¥ ourCapitaJ.' of youth

With which all men at bit'th--­The lowly and the proud­Are equally endowed.

At four, or five 'per cent­(As Nature doubtless meant),

Resolved, within your breast, To do as othid's do

VJho Capital. invest, But._sorrp~ com~s. ~noq,

_," .•. Forlm~Q'sai~ro~ig~l Who madly lives upon

'His little eBpit"'!. Aha this, aias, goes on T ill every penny's gone,

And live a lifetime through, With modest comfort blest, Upon the interest-

He finds himself, at Life's concluding Stage >,. With, Pili youth left to comfort .. his old agfd.

You might be still in g'irlhood"s mid-career A merry madcap maid of fourscore' year'

THE GRAND DUKE . ~ ; .;."

.. . Three whole songs have been cut from

the lil;)'J;'etto.of,·. HjE;GRAND DUKE, all the casul tiesbp.if1g,from Act I L ... .The first i,s a 8rtndisi'BUf19, by.!3aroness lion Kraken" feldt. This sppg is pretty well self-' explE\'na·tpry).! she! and the chor;.,s of actors-turned-courtiers are enjoying some free wine, the property of the "late" Grand Duke Rudolph, who has just perished in a Statutory Duel. (Two men each draw a card, and the one who draws the lowest "80 thencGforth doad/In fact, a legal 'ghoest"'. The winner takes the lose~' s

::; :'.'

. "j"

place, and the winner, Ludwig, is celebraii!lg .by passing a~ound Rud!"l'P"~ s. wine.

BRINDISI ~ SARONE'55;. ' .- i ~- " t" , ." :

; ~ ,l--- ,-C;'om,8 9 "bu'mper-s, aye il ever':so-many-And then, if you will, many .[T1or'l!

This wine doesn't cost us a penny, . Though it's Pommery, Seventy~r,our'

Old wine is a true panacea .'.' .' ." For every conceivable ill

When you oherish the soothing idel'L . That s.omebody else pays the .bi:U )' ..

Old wine is a pleasure that's I1QPoW, .. · • VJh!,n at your own table you, srit, ", ' ..

For you're thinking each mouthful; you. swo11.ow Has cost you a threepenny, bit!"

CHORUS. So bumpers-aye, ever-so-many-' -And then, if you' will,' many mO're!

ir' •. " Thiswir)e doesn't cost us a pS'l"Y,., Though it's Pomm;;'I'Y, Seventy-F"our'

," .

BARONESS.

. ",'-r

IOMee gave an evening party 1

0A sandwich and cut-"brange ball) But my' guests 'had such appetites hearty,

That· Fbouldn' t"r'1Joy it at alll I made,a!herdic·'endeaUour

.' To'look unconcerned, but in vain, And I vOW,ed that I never-oh, neVer­

Wouid ask anybody againl But' there's adisti[1ction decided-

'''. . A difference truly immense-When the wine that you drink is provided

,,:At somebody else's expense. .. ..• '

CHORUS. So' bumpers-'-aye,'ever-so-many, &c. I might add here that in some later libretti, the order. of these've'rses is're­

versed, and in still'later libretti,"the song has disappea'red altogetner. It' immed­iately follows'''If.''tne' light of love's lingering ember·"Th f 11 . i' . HT' h' R' 1 tt

','_ ' .L _. • 8 0 _ ow~ng l.?_ .,~ aU e 8

Song," as it's. often, celled, for, obvious reasons. It is sung shortly after his entrance, ,lat@ in,Act II, by' the Prince. ofillopte Carlo.

\ ," PRINCe LUDWIG.

PRINCE.

ALL. ~£j6WIG • P'Rl NeE

You' didn' texpect me? ' " c"(

[jumping at it] No, no. I grasp that- thank, you very much. [shaking hands with him.] ~Io, I did not expect you! I thought not. But hal hal at last I have escaped from my enforced re­straint. [General- movement of alarr&J G T.o.cro~d,\'J~q are ',s.tealir1,g';·9tf,' ] No, no-you misunderstand me. I mean I've pa1d my debts! And how eft,you think, I did ,it? Through the medium of Roulette! RoUlette? Now you"ife getti~g obscure again. The lucid interval"has expired.

. I ';U explain. It's an invention of', my own-the simplest, thing in the world-'and what is most remarkable" it comes just in time to supply a distinct and lorg~felt want! I'll'telJiyou all abo~t it. [Nobles bring forluard a double Roule'Ue table, which they unfold.],

SONG --;-"f,)'RINCE.

Take my advice - when deep in debt, Set up a bank and play Roulette! At once distrust you surely lull, And rook the pigeon and the gull. "., The bird will stake his every'franc In wild.<lttempt to br"ak,~he bank-' -But you may stake your life a[ld limb The bank will end by br~aki~'g himr- ((All

Allons, encore-Gargons, fillettes-

Vos louis d'or Vos rOUes d'charette!

Hol!l I Hol!l: llIais faitss vos jeux­Allons, la classe-.· Le temps se passl'!-'

La banque S8 cass.e.-,...;... ~-1

Rien n'va plusl Rien n·;va.plu~1 Rien Le dix-sept noir, impair et· manque: Hole! Hol~! vive la:, banquet, For every time the board Y9u spin Be sure the bank. is &(Jund to winl

; ~:.'l . -, -<

crOwd round and eagerly stake gold on the board.))

n'va plus! . . ,

).-

.-. ,. , .,

CHORUS. For every time, &c.· ((During£h~rtJs,' P'ri>ncBss and Costumier rake in all the stakes • .))'

PRI NCE. A cosmic game is this Roulettei

The little ball's a true coquette~ A maiden coy whom u numbers?9 VJQO-,-' ._.

Whom six-and-thirty suitors'~~8t .' Of 'ell 'c(')mplexi5hs,too,'goDo"1i'lck! For s6me are reo and some iire black; ./I.nd'some must be extremely green,

',For hal f of them are not nineteen! ((All stake again.))

,.

Allons, encore--­G'argons., fillettes-,,-.

Vos louis d'or Vas roues d'charette:

HolM Hole! Mais faites vos jeux­Allons, la, foule! ga roule-.:ga roule

1 -- _. ~'" . L(l t{3:nps S· GCOlHG-

t • Rien n'\/~r plus! 'Rfen ntvc(' phis! ri8-ii--h'v~:--'plu8:\ .- .. :1 ",

PRINCE. The little ball's a flirt inbred­

She riirtswiti;l blaclt--she flirts with redj From,this to that she hops about Then back to this as if in doubt. To caI1 her thoughtless were unkind­The child is iiiaklng up her mind, For all the wo~ld like all the rest, Which predendant will: pay the b~st:

'Anons, encore­Gargons, , fillet tes-

Vas louis, eI' or-. - " V'Os roues d'charettet

Hol~: Hola~ Mais faites vos jeux­

Qui parte fit Au temps jadis Gagne auj ou rtl' hLii!

Rioh ri t V8 plus! Ri~n n'va plus~ t'ien nt'va plus!

Tra,' l~~ 1~~ la: i~ double z~ro~ Le trento-cinq rougo impair at passel T'rl'ls bi en, Btudiants de la classe-

Vaus' pardez tout, meS nobles hsros­Where,'er at last the ball pops in,

The moral's safe-when you, begin Be sure the bank is bound to win!

~e sure the, bank is bound to Win! CHORUS. Tra, la, la, la! le:double z&ro, &c.

((Prince gather~ in the stakes. Nobles : I'

CHORUS. The moral"s safe, &c. ((Prince rakes in all the stakes.)) foJd up ta\ile, a'ri,d take it away.))

No.Idon't know what the fJ:onc;M:part s ' ,of this'song m'ean. I.·havea French lexicon, but I've yet to scrape up a couple of hours to figure out a t,r.anslation(which probably is haul' long·it i dtaka ~e--~;"y French is t'e,rribie-to-hon~xist'e'[lt.}Hot"ever, th8 Prince app~ars, t~ b,e ,anno:-,ncinLthe wirn.ing numbe,r" call ing on the , w~Her,s t!J:dqs?meth~n,l'\,

... , .. (tJnnks for Hverybody?)', an.d exClaiming' Hooray for the, barkl ,'.r" If. ,?'1yonfj: reading this is Illore'versetl' in trench than, r, I'd be mostappr'eCiatrve of' .. '; 'tr'ar\s~,~tion. I've s"en

Sullivan's interest in lYIonte Carlo and roulette, but I've yet to see !a!ny commentar.y' on the relationship of, .this13ong to that. If,Gflbert \'Ia!s taki'1g a jab. at Sulli.,vahf'"

.S\,lj.iv'lnco)Jl.dn't. h'lv:E! bp,en, toco madabou~ it, because he did wpite music for it.;,per-: haps .trlis, sqngwquld, ,pe bet:te,r classFied as, 'an in-joke then. Tho ml1si,c fa this song

was another on8 of Sullivan's musical parodi8s~ he wrote in reply to;;', 'ctitic, 'u,"

"r-' pl1t'poseIy' t,tied to hit the Fr'enE:h da'f'eChantant s'ty'le (,tDUt C'8 gu'iTY,. a de plus can~Hle)~~~d \ fear I have suc,ceeded but too w81l!,!". Imm~sjiatelY ~fter the sti,lh

i,ntact: re,,,l t'lt.ive "forbeap 1 Thi,s. may not be I" came. tt-]e :th ~rd . n9w-cutsong.Jh 8 plot of THE 'GRANC(buKt is~o'mewha\ compiex, anq .t'here' s,. no pClint ,.in hy in,gto ,explain the whole thing here. But suffice it to say that 'the rightful Grand Duke RuqoJph.is somewhat, angry at;L~uctw,ig fO,I;. t"ickill9 him into ~elinqui,shi:ng I)i;s thJ;one (TheStatutO·ry puel t,ney;, fought was' ;fi~gtr::Rud(d'Rh ,waF' tdck;od, {nto agree~ng t.ci lose, Ludwig drew an .ac" ,from his s1,eeve, whil':',a ~:ing ,eame out ofHudcilph's sle8v8.)

ALL.

RUDOPLH.

SONG _.' - RUD OLPH •

You~re .a, pret;,.ty kind of' fellqw, thus my life,to 'shatter" 01 My litU", sto~e of,,9019 and silver recklessly you !,;catter, 01,: You guzzle and you gor'mandize all day with cup 'and platter,OI And ea.t. my /;o<;>d and ,drink, my wine -.- 8sp8cially the latter"OI

:' ',t' _

The latter, O! The latter, 01 Especialiy the 'latt8r, Ot

But when compared with other crim8s, for which your head I'll batter, 01

This fl ibberty gibberty '- Kind'cif a liberty

........• Scarc'elyseems to matter, Ol" ALL·· '·· .. But wherl'comparediAJith other crimes', ·&b.

R~bolPH •

All.

RUDOLPH.

ALL.

RUDOLPH.

RUDOLPH.

MYc,.daintv, t;Jride '-. my bride elect .-. -y'ou wheedle and you flatter, 01 With coarse and clumsy compliment 'h,~r senses you bespatter. 01

.. You 'fascinate her tough old heart with vain and vulgar P,atter, O! . Alth'ough the dPcI;Jce t;:onfound you, ygu're not worthy.to look at hor ':: ?-'!

Look st h~r, 01 Look at hor, 01 Not wo,.thy' to look after, O!

But eventhiil cClmpared with deeds which drive me medas h"tt,Gr, 01 This flibberty gibberty Kind'ofa liberty Scarcely seems to matter, 01

But when compared, &c.

.0, you vulgar vagabond, you fount of idle chatter, 0',- .) You've dOnG a' deed .. on which I vow you won't get 'any f.atter, o!' Yo\, fancy. you've revived the law - mere ,empty brag and clattEJr, O! You can't -, - you shan't - you don't - yow won't -;--.,

you thing of rag and tatter, 01 Of tatt(1r, O! Of tatter, O!

,.

You thing of rag and tatter, 01 for this you'll suffer agonies iik" rat in clutch of ratter', '01

" ,Th is flibberty gibberty . Kind of a liberty

," . 'Squite anothe'r matter, 01 For this y.ou'll suffer agonias, &c •. ·· ALL •.•

LUDWiG;-. ',1_ f-' _,. :. - ,'. ;

iYJy good sir, it·s no Use your saying' that I can't revive the Law, In face • • of the faCt tha t I have revived H.

RUDOLPH •. You didn't revive itl Yqu couldn't rev'tv" itl You-'-' you are an imp';ste~,' a tuppsriny rogue; sir! You-. -you never wer,8, and in all human probab·i1itY. neVer will be-Grand Duke of Pfennig ~nythingl' .

ALL..Whatl!1

sir-.

RUDOLPH." Neverh-nGver. never! [Aside] 'Oh, my internal econoinyl LUDWIG. That's' absurd, you·know. I fought .the Grand Duke. He drew'a King, 'a'nd ·1 drt,w

an aCe. He perished in inconCeivable agonies on the spot. Nqw, as that· s s.etlled,'·we'll go on wi th th.~ wedping.. ...• It-. -i.t. ,i~!l' t set tlfld. YOU~YDU can! t .. .I -I -,-[ to NOtaI'Y] Dh, ten him-.-. tell hiinl I can'tl ' .•

RUDOLPH.

NOTARY .·Well, the'fact is,thti!re's b'een a little mistake .;' 'Act. that regulates StatutorY" Duel's, I find i t·!S

,< : ,-'

here. On reference to the el<pressly 'laid down that th~

Ace Shall' count inVariably as l'owest I "

.ALL. As l'o'west'l '. ,(' ·RUDoLPH.' [breathlessly] As lowest-· -lb'wRst..i..1.l·o'u,is·t I So you're the ghoest-ghoest-

- ghoest'l [asid';,] oh, ·whatis the ·matte:r with me inside here! ., ". ERNEST.

JU LIA.

ERNEST. JULIA. ERNEST:. LUDWIG.

Well, Julia, as it seAms that thR La'w hasr>'t been 'revlved'--'and as',' 'conse­quently, I shall come to life in abowt three minutes [consulting his watch]­My objection falls to the ground. [resignedly.] Very well. But will you :promise to give me some strong 'scenes. otjustifiable. jealousy? Justifiable jealousy!:· My loVe' r couldn't· do '1 t'!' ,. TheM I"won't play." .' Wel1,' well, I'll domY"'bestl' [They re"tite 'up togEithe'r.] And am : to understand th"t, all this timR,' Pye bRen e dead man ,without knowing it? .,

BARONESS. And that I marri~d a dGad ma,n without know\ng ,i,t?,'

. I:

I"~

. '_ ~ , ;.,', .: I·, "__, ,_ . -, _ - .

PRI NCESS. And.thciit I was. on. the point 'o'f mijrry ing a dead mar] w'iJh9Ut: kOO\ll~ng it? ',L £.oRuq6l.Ph"wt)QrjovfV,?Ell Oh,~y Jove, W~'i't ,aqar,oW8SC'lpe hj~ had! ,. "

RUDOLP;I:J.~ .9h..,.;-y qW, a!;f' th:, I?Fiiisa~~() f .fiIQ(1t~S!'f la, ~t1dyou'\leturn8dup)l!"t ~f) t i~~,: ,Well, y"u~rEi a". a~traq.tlv<ll~tt1.", glr~.; yalJ knq""but you'reas .. poar asar"t!

PRIN¢E., P"rqon·. me-'-'~h~re. you mistakp •. AcPept her .. dowery....,-;:\Il.itl:i a. father's blessipg! eGi ves hlma.,srnall. BOl.,ll"t t(lbo~'rd, .then flirts witJi'Satones$.'] . . .

~ubOhPH., ~Jhy., wl;!atdb .Y?lJ,call}his? ....;.. . '." ......••. ;. ". '. ". . ..... ', PRINC<SS •• Iti." m~ little \IlhEiel offprtur:e, Y llteH you all, about it. [They retire,

L, .r,sA. '; ".,' '. i~~t ~~n~1fs~:;y"]~~ii,bJt' what i~ t6b~~,O~eto m~?' [t~ Ll,Jdw,i.9]·.··· If' you',r> a . 'de~d' ~ari.:...:J. [ci~dk 'str'ikes three] .• ' .... . -,- . ' ........ ,. . ..... ".' ..

LIJDIIJIG,' 'But 'P'rn hbt;· Tim'o' sup-the Act: has"'exp;i"ed~I' ve<come' to life-the parson ..... is sM'll in;attendance, ano we' H' all bE! "rnll1'1'i8d direotly.

ALL· ,. 'Hur'rah!' . . , , .

A, bit mor.e expla.n~Uori,lJ)io 'Act refe'n'ed to is. them,s making ttH"Statwtory busi . . the law of the land. In Pfennig Halbpfef]nig, every law:expires .. after a.century., anp whhe GI1and Duke. ( or so he ,thought), Ludwig Tevi veQ thle law fo l' another century, wi-lic~~ had. he really' defeat~d RUclo,lph in the statutory.' dLlBl,. would, ha~8,made hi,!" Grand. Du~EJ' . for life. But he actually lost the duel, and Rudolph, wanting to come bac\<tpi Hfe" .. allolAled,it to expire •. (Cpnveniently, the pI flY opens 99 years, 11 .. months, and s8veral· weeks. a.f~erthfl Act. "\as.lirst put.i.nto effect')The pr . .,c,ding ; 80'ng is not as it was

sungon'i ts open1ing "RigHt; rather, It is the version sung' on the 1974Chearn Ope ratio Sb'Ci·s·tY' recordi'ng. From clues laid in ·the First Night G&S, I woul·d speoulate that this [l.yricwas fou'nd in the Amerioan libretto of' THE GRMID DUKE,whicn' was:l'egiste.red in 'the Library of CongrBsson March 5, 1896; making 'it a draftwhich:proc;eedep .thA:. i

London opening by two or three weeks·, giving Gilb"rt plenty of time to makephang\ls •.. The· opening night versioh 'was condense'd down to two verses: the seoond 'verss' is the same as the third vers'e of'the vers·ion printed·here, and the first:verse.ofthe op'Bnihg night version is' a compbsit" ofUnes 'from the first two Verses $hown' here'. ;. The' Finale in' the"opening night ·ve.rsion is·''the same as that in the'current :j.ibr@tto. c•

D' OYLY CARTE HAS REVIVED THE GRANO DUJ<E! " ',' . -- ---- --

Sp~ak"of the devil, ano all that stMf; In'between these paragraphs I got smaoked .' be,t.weed the eyebfllls by finals,' and 6everal,w.eeks.haOe· passed since writing the al:loVe. One day I was brbwsingtfiroucjh a music' storE'! in Portland and spotted a. recording of" , TAt GRANO DL!J<E~-fjnp' quibkly aid a. double taKe when i notlcedthat it was a D'oyl'y. Cade.recQrding;'No~, it' came as no big sutprise to se~ D'Oyly CarttirsviveUTOPIA, UJVIITED-'~RJp'ert D'Oyly Carte lAiascons~d8ring ~t asearilyas ~h~iate 40s,andtt\e .• company recorded several songs rrorn'th",t operetta in 1963'; Sut rthought th$y' d nHver" recordTHEGRANDDUJ<f:., L:lkeUTOPIA;'UfilITED, how8~er,:r don'·tknow H' it 'wastevlved'" just fcir'tre centenary seaScl"t or if it's been, added" to th~ repertoire per~~nen~'l.y. 1 guess I'll' find out' if I ever get to london (har). It'll f··d ·l'f··.··,::. ·t:t". Y.·

,-, -- ---. '. .' - ":; ~. 1. In ' mys8, .amaz~I.,JJo a . l.me§) , that D'Oyly· Carte actl.!6Uy r"corded TGD ••• ,,1 t~ought it'd never happ8'n .in a .. mUlion . j

years. Jeeze'. VJhat's really' remarkable' about .. the recording is its completen88s.'D'·Oyly Carte, a"·,,ny Savoyard.~nows, [has a way of omitting whole songs or parts' of,'spngs' from their recordings, even if they're officially still in the libretto. For example,.' in RUbbIGClfn;:, "Henceforth all the crimes" is in"'the lat~stednion of thetO.J)lPLETE PLAYS'Of G&$ (W.~. Norton & Co;, New York, 19?tt) , but 'it always s.eems to be ieft' ~Jt. The Pro Arte c~mpahy(cbndui::ted bySirJVIa+c01mh Sargent, with George Baker anc{Owen' Brannigan &c)'. recorded' RUoDIGORE 'also (recen,tly. rereleased), but (don't knOll/ if that indude~ the sting or not. '(The clerk woulcjn"t open tMe albLimto' iet me findout, aitd I didn't feel. like spending $13:~5 for l reoord that might' hatl'i one song I to.ant tohear.) Th~DIOyly t;ai:~G rp,cordlng includ8S all thr.e" "lost'\ songs: which ar" on thn Choam ' .: . rocording, and also has a numbor of bits. anif pid:os.omltted from tho Choam rncording~­plws. on" enti;ro pat,tor song (the' bGst in tho opara), "At the' outset I may mention." The only: cthing left put ,-is the second. verse df "As 0' eraul!" 'penny :roll we si·ng".

Th~ Grand 'Duke' h'ascilwa)'s b~en in an awkward position wh~re crl,tl.cs/biographe.rs are cahc:erned,ii"~erthe y~a.r$. 8ecau'so''it had .a shorter initial' r'unthan any of the' 14 other G&S opkras 'excb'pt'THESPIS (Being their first collaboratibn, the names of .. Gilbert and Sullilfancou'idn' t have been considered a drawing poInt forTHESPIS ; its

failure is usually blamed on the nature of the audiences who attended it--who wore expecti[19 a'purifest ancFburlesquB> and,j,eten't, ready for ,Gilbert & SuHivan.) , "I db'i{~l !< nOV! whYTheCl'ahg DUKe's ru'h was so short: I don't pretend to know what

,makes th8'lhea't~rHck. But'l'iget'the impression) from rllading books oncG&S (which "(1DrmaEy'di'!JmissTGO 'ina' short'" paragra'ph) that the author Sees that it ran 123 per-

i'orinanc8S{ to 11M3 p INArORlC+S"phehbml')nal' '700) and,' proceeds to think, up reasons why ,it has no merit. Hence, The G~'ancl Duke, DVer the yElars. has' been' subjected to much harshor criticism th('\.n any of the other operas of the ser ie8,' some of it 'justified, and some not. TGD UJ\oi;bertainlynot G&S' s' besV work, in' either words or music; but neit'he'r ,is it their poorest; I'd rate its libretto above those of THE SORCERER (take>out "Mynam8 is John W,fllihgtb'h W'B1ls/ 'I'm" dealer in magic and,spel'ls" and what have 'you go't?) and PRINCESS IDA for example. : i" t" . "'. , .,

c, ' ' :_ • When The Gr\lnJi! £t!ke opened in the ~avoy "Bater.}t ,had been 7"y~ar8 since either of th,e, partners had .had .1'1 ,~antastic,?lly successful 'play li,ke so many' earlier members of the C&S series, and Gilbert, at least, has been accused 'of imitating his former, more successful self. That's an interesting point, because Gilbert' s s'lways been 'notedfO~ his' 'patter songs.' and 'TGD contains more than usu~l ••• ("A pattern to pr:ofesso'rs~ lI' 'I1UJheii you find "you' te a -bI;"oko(1":'down .critter," HAt -the. outset I -,may. -rriention, II "You're a 'pretty kind of fellow," end possibly, "By :lhemystic, reglilE)tion ... ·and. "Take my advide when deep in ,debt;" depending on how you defi,ne'a Jpattersang). Another interesting 'thing to note is that 'a 'number of songs sLiggest a .resflmblanceto songs, ftom earlier G&S' operas. "A Patternto"professors" istu\8 inevit'lble autobiogr<lphical PEltter.song, a standard in the G&S opera. In addition" "When you find Yoel're a bJ:'oken, dOll/ncritter"suggests ','The LOJ:d Chan.cellor's Nightmare,Song" (jDLANTHE): "AI? o'er our pennyrQll we, sing" and"There' is,. beauty in the bellow of the blast'" (The MIKADO--:-both bBing·eccentdc lQvo S0[1g9 of'·a.'iGi'j:berti<l'!80rt), and "Strange the viewS some, people' .' hold" and, "Brightly dawns .. our weddiQg' d<'lY" (THE rnIKADO) , .. with the belie and the chorale appr:oach to" voice arranging beingcominpn features.

Imy sel f have some objections to, the libretto, of TGD which I haven't seen btougtJt upbefpre. Namely., the ending is full, of. holes. After '.As'o'er our penny roll;', and the surrpunding dialogue, I can·t help b,ut 1'~.~,p,n9 that. RUdolph and CarolinA are meant for ej'lch, other, and would really be happy. together --despite ,the fact that shB was quite quick to mooch his free wine and throw herself on Ludwig tHe minute Rudolph 'was "d~ad." Yet at the end of the. opera, Rudolph is quite satisfied with the Princess of ~lonte Carlo, even though compared to him, she's likp.ly to. have very extravagant tastes, Se:ciond, .In''You're a pretty kind of f811ow~0' the last song bofore the finale, Rudolph th,reatens LudvJig with all :s'orts of vHe, fates; a,nd 'yet afte), he's finished singing,the sohg, h'~:gdes offstage with ,the Princess, nev'erto be seen "gain, and'makes hO'atterirpt tocart:i out his threat (which he now has the autnority to eMbrcel) This 'leaves us back ~~the -State of things as they wer,e at the beginning of the 'ciperai 'Rudolph is the universally de~8sted Grand Duke of PfehnigHalbpfehning, and tHe're are plots brewing

,9,14 'the' tliT18 to 'dElpose ~nd/ora'ssassinate him~ LudWig' and Ern~stend thelr theatrical company, which' head' onesucli plot, are free til try fo iJi,pose Rudol!ph again. And 'Rudcilph.·who'now kn'ows all about thAir plans, makes no attempt ,t·o st'op thAml lVh"t the situation calls for 'i,s a trick Gilbert used several "other' iXmeswhen he w'rote himself into a corner at the end of, af) opera., a completrlY,absurd .and yet totally

"i1mgica,l.,bit pf arguing by the hero to convince the antagof]ist not ,to .do his worst . (as ,in RUDDICORE, TRIAL BY JU,RY, and THE MIKADO.) But, Gilbert jU,st .i9nor8s this ,in-

stead'Asfor the' 'music, SLJllivah sneaked 'in a grand [)pera' chorus ~heh n6body w,,~ looking ("As before you we defils")'. Hie 'ovsrturefoll'Dwsor'lei 'of hisfavo'rite forin­'ulJae,which servod him well lvith THE SORCERER and RUDDIGORE (open IAtlth a stirring piece, then a 'slow soprano song, arid end with a 'combination of 'twb' ofth" brighter 'tunesfromths Opera). lYiost of th8 music is ehjoyablebUt' not really quite up to par, fhough spa"tteredwith notl'lble songs. A g'oDd' chunk of th'e 'second act'--from "If the l'ight eif love's lingering ember" through the 'end of thti opeFil~-is certainlY a credit to G&S. In'short rCDisa bitpaI8 put neXt' t[j THE f'ilH(ADG,bLitIt d08sn't deserve . to, have beentotal'ly ignoredi'D!' ~liii past"81'y~a'rs, eit!nor. N t" °d ,":,' .• th' '0'0 1

'._ \ .:. :.;"" _ :-:; -',_ ", _ :,' _",' .-:",_, ',' -, ;-:, r:<' ,'_ "i: a 8 as;L B ~ _,S.1[1ce e . y y Carte ,Company saw. fit to inplude,3 "lost" sOf'lgs. ifl.,t.his.~ecording, I wonder iJ th" next edition of COMPLETE PLAYS will also include them? Very odd. It's just not like D' Oyly Carte to adc;! songs to a G&Soperaoncethey' V8 dropped them •. Maybe.th8y '.re finally starting to gain some interest incompletism, and the rest of the operas will be .released in poinplete form in this new ~ei:ies of recordings •• ~

Gas RECORD REV/£WS,

THESPIS ;or THE GODS' GRDl'JN OLD,muslc reconstructed by Dr. TarrfJnce R88S, performed by the Fulham Light Operatic Society on the Rare Recorded Editions label, SRRE 132/3, distributed by Pearl Records.

This is an amateur pprformance and rnco'rding, so it wouldn'l b8 ftair to JudgeJt on professional standards. Qnd professional standards can be ,very strict--to the point where,th" critic make" large compl'i\ints OV8r small flaws. Naturally, of an amateur performance you expect; less I the most I" COl,lld ,ask for is that the singers be <!lood enough for you to bl') a~l" to listen to~thp~ without 'wincing," Ulp' same' cri1OEiH6Fi' applying'to th8 ,orchestra" and that thE' actos speak th" linee;"ell enough tHat you can at least understand "hat they say wi th6ut tbq much hbubir.

Those criteria arB ,,,ot all' that stf ingent, "and th~ c~mpany and orchestra m88t them for 'most of ,the, recording. Generally, the or,ch"stra is adegpat:8; the onR' pla'ce ,,!her8 the trumpet section lets out some painful squawks is where they're most notic8",ble. in the oVGrtur",. EddieL8wis, 'Who plays Thespis is, unfo~tun~tely, one of the weab'r' sirigHrs:inthe company. T,"o significantly botched songs incl\ld" "I once knew a chap who discharged a function'" (one of' Gilbert' s821rly paU8r, songs)' --thanks largely ,to poor diction (you can hardly hear him!), and "Wer8 I a king in very truth," transplant8d from; 'Ehe ~£' D,uke,. In all fai'rness, though, the lattRrwas written for a tenor, and is not an easy song to s11'19. (Lewis is a baritone) ·0'; t '. "f ' "1 t"

. ., ' n8 ac or "18 a _ SPRC18 no fa ~

Jupit8r is played bySlr'Malcolrh Sargent.' He' sa passablyadoquatR baritone, as p8r th", first pap"graph of this review,. But it's c'lear that he "asn'f knl'ghted for his'

Sin,\lJng,,: ,:' ,'., ' , ' , ' However, 'theb,igge,st' 'fault of this reoording is the s'ound q0aHty: unfortUnatGly,

this ,p.p;,cording is of ;,' ~.ive perf(]rmance, not ,,'studio job. I don't mind th'eincIUsion 0,f .. +'lH~0:t'"rand 'applause, but most of 1Oh", actors simply don't spdak loudly enough for YO-lLtco, be ~,blE! to, hear thRm well (this app1iest" their singing al'so) -- ot possibly th,El,way the' microphones werp posl'tioncid had som'~thing to do with .ft. The problem s8emE! 'SOm8~!i,~t alleviated in the second act. ,,' ,. , "

" Th8 musIc ,to all bU,t two songs from THESPIS' is lost I ,'''Little 'Maid of Arcadee'" was' published s8peiratRly as sheet music (ApparentlY'':; hack arrangement wr it 1Oenfor'the' piano at the? advanced-beginn'lr lovRl--not SuUivan'soriginal arrangement; and , "Climbing over rocky mount.ain," "hich waspeu$8d,in THE P.IRATES .DF 'PENZANC[., fF8SUm-ably sung to the same 'tune as ,the l'HESPIS v8rsion, S par,k ,lion, played by onp. Ji.m, ' 8,l(yant,,,,.,ings "Little maid of Area dee," and thankfully is one of the bettersing8rs in the comqany, ,ami dId a, fing j"b 9[; th.lt son~. Dr.: Rems took, music from some of Sullivan's lesser..,kno"riDpriraticwbrks which fit 'Gilb"l't's Rxtant lyrics. This isn't quite as ' , difficult as it might sQund -~ for example, "I'm a celcistial drudge" happens to fit th" tune af"Comebumperq, aye, eVer-so-many" though that tune is not us8d. And in

reaqirig thr~ugh' The'MolJnteb"nks, andi'll" Exc811ency' (T' Va never heard any, music' hom ,8~ttl,~r) 'r foundmy~elf' fittin9~'thk words to song; fr,ori': G&S operp.ttas. lYIos'!: of' th" mUsic i,:V8 never,reardbofore, but" few songs are familiar. "Phoebus am I, "ithgoi~"n 'ray," is sung, to "What these ,may be, ~topians all'" (UTOPIA, LIrnnm) g "Of"all symbiosia," the best by hal f", to the; tUn" of "Tho good grand' duke of Pfennig Halb'pfonnig" '(THE GRAND' DUKE);,"You'r8 Diana, I'm Apollo" tci;lhe chorus of' a song'ft'otii THE 'SORCERER, "She wIll tend him, 'hurse him, men'd him," wlth a brightkr tempCJ\hbwevei'; T'hht'Ff are s8v'(ral outright 'addHions, \Jenusis added to the cast of charactl:irs;, ar'ld~ shii'has a sor1.g b?t~veen u.I :dnco",kn8ltJ a cHap,,-f and l1S0 that 9 s arrangp,d e ll The -IYla-nagk:r""s- Soriti" . (Grand cil.lke) is sungpy Thespi.s a'f'b'r Venus' solo; Nicemis has a ri~w' solo (a'f"ew linCls beTore "Little maid 'of ,~rcadfH'" ((r believ,,"the words to botht'hes(',' neil; 's'ongs "re by Re8.8 in pastiche; of Gilbert)); and the ThRspians "ntar, la't'e'in Act, Jr," to

" re'ceive their JUdgment, sfrtging ",~s befor8 you we d8file"(THE 'GRWND DUKE)',. which is singularly appropriate, because th,8Y' re actors l"ho're prmtond;ing'to be Greek Gods. In TGO, ,the chorus is a c'ompany of actors parading in Gr8ei< drGSs' in 'the interest of reviv:lng the dead old days of Athens' in her glory.

Well, the performance i$ certainly hard to taka after s8vRral years of .list'ening

:~l D~~j!~m~~;t:f a~~~~~:,r~~~:!~,!~~ni~i~'~~~}t~~ n~!'e;~b a b~td!~~~':~~m~~~t ~;~ ~::t~~~ reconstructed version is good enough to deserve better. Unfortunately, that doesn't S8em too likely to occur •. I'd, r(lcomm~Qd. this recording for hardeo re G&S freaks; but

'nb o'ne :('lls8~ "robably available. only by mail from Pearl RecQrds/48 High street! Pembu:r~, TunbridgeWolls, Kent ENGLAND."

UTOPIA, Lrr~ITED. or THE FLOl~ERS OF PROGRESS Ly ric Theater Company ,P8arlRecords, SHEZ 505/7, tbreG racords D'Oyly Cartp,"Op8ra 'Company, LondonRecords, OSA 12105, hJO r"cords

LJ~til'rGC(mtly, only amateur reGor;dings of UTOPIA, L'IMlTED, or THE GRAND DUKE'- " were availablo, but in 1976, the ;0' Oy'ly Carte Opera Company recorded both, after: ignorin,gth8m for three quarters oftl·century. Th" Lyric Theat"r Co'mpa'lY.'s r'lcqrd,ing:, ," lvas one such rGcording, its; primw virtue being 'its scrupulous comple'teness: it ha's all th" dialoguG and all the music ( eX,cept "Youth is a boon avowed," and, the niu:sic·to' that song appears to be lost'). D'(1yly Carte.8xcludes all tt]!3dia\'OjueeXc8pt felr sbm'e ." notable bits and ,Piep'es, and als,), drops th" s8condverse of "A king 'of' autoto'rtltic ..

JpbWRt';', :'uie"." ',"' ,'~ ",: ,"- '":::'", . ': ,.' the Lyri~ rec~rdi,ng is mu~h .~~tter. th~n th,R rflceI,rding of THESPTS', butstil'lhas "

several notable flaws. rir!3~, Pet.er KlifJR (K,ingPa:ramount) ~s only,cabout half bap'abl"; , .", , '... -I' ,_, _. _" •

of carrylng ,'e tUnG. Seco'nd, thD.l'('! s abaokground poise in thi3.recordiiig which yOIJ . c6n't hoa'r across the r,Dom,. gut' you sur;e, hG1}r whan you !)S[O, 8arph6nes •. , . /:,,' ',',

Generally, the O'Oyly Carto recording;is bette!, than even the competently 'performed parts of the Lyric recording •• ; with;' couple of 8xC8ptions~ Lyndsio Holl'end (Lady,! ,., .. i. Sophy, D' OylyCarte) sings the right notes' a'nd' thfl right rythms,' but he.r'voice hail a , "hooty" tone to it" which makes her difficult' to understand, besides sounding basic?lly' unpleasant. The Lyric Lady Sophy, Carroll Mattoon, is b8tt"r. The same criti.cism ' applies to thp. I(ing's youngfJr daughte'rs. (No way do theD i Oyly Carte twins s,q.ynd th",ir supposed fi ftqen years of age-,-they 'sound a 'good thirty years older!)"., '. . .

.. , >The Lyric"rBcording retains some value,8ven'though thi,' D'Oyly Carte perfomance \ - - ',' '. ~.. ,,' - '-

is g~nerally bBtter. Mostly'bBcause it has the dialogue, and a better, LE)dy Sophy;.put als6 of .. note,is !larry r,10rley{Capt. Fitzbattle8xe), who does. tr~dialogJe' in a Idnd, of high brow monotone, and then humorously bre~ks into 8 ~e~y ~x~t~ssive tone of voice un'l~pect<'lrUy at one point.(rn England,whontwo gar'1tlemenare iii lov" .with~thf, same .. laay, and until i tis set tl ed whic'hg"!nt1eman' is to buh~lOljJ out the brains of,the ot.h~r.,.)

THE GRIIND'duKE, or: THE'STm'nORY DUEL., '. '. . Cheamoper'ati'c"Society, Pearl R8c,b'rds, SHE .. 516/7, tw~ rBcords D' Oy ly Carte Op'era Company, London' ReQorci9." OSA 12106, two records .'

. ,_ ' "rn this casp, neither ,recording has any of the dialogu8. The Chaam ~ecord,i~g' omit.s "/\ tth.() outset:I, may mention" plus bits and pieces of other numbers. (Which, .[gather, . from the notes ;in the D' OylyOarto recording, VJih'eomitted :,im~lY.for' lack of, t'he . necessary music,). .' .. " "1". '

I'd .have a "ard time faulting the Choamr'~cording. I·gat;herthat'it, lik". thG .'f'. Lyric recopping of.,1JJop~}'!, Limited, is an amat8ur productioh,.butV,o"y LUGIl dohe.Noithf?r John Gilbert (Rudolph) nor John Sowden (Ludwig) arB particularly' str'ong baritones"but . both muddl" through their songs satfsfacto'rily. In 'the c)' OylyCarte rBcording, Lyndsi8 Holland ,still has hoI' hooty tone, which Jean Caldwell, the other Baroness, lack'!.

John Reed. (The D' Oyly Carte Rudolph) is purpos81y sloppy with rythm in "A pattern to profes'snrsH and HYou 9 re a -pretty kind· of fellow',i! in :ord8r to achie.ve a tonG: of voice tha tmakes him sound lik8 "a miserable prig." How8ver, It· s annoyin'g to hea r the!,,8 ' songs so sloppily sung, and John Gilbert achieVes thesam("effect.whi}e singing, the. songs with the proper rythms. I\lso, Gilbert's clowning: betwe.en ,vBr!"es ·of· "A pattern to professors" is funnier than Reed's. 80th do admirabi'e, if different, r~IJPltions of "When you find you'r8 a brokfln dovJh crittGr;'" ' : .' . '.' .

It's .also inter8sting to SelO ho'; much diff8rent acondub'tor can make. It.' s sj;rictly a matter of interprGtatipn; but 'DavlaHarding. (Chea';') tekGs ia. slow, i"aj8\'t~c tempo'. for the chamberlains' marcH, whilGRoyston Nash' (D'Oyly Carte) takes' a m\.ich b,ighter tempo. qt this point, til8re's no telling which lS'closer to'what Sulliv!"nhad in·,mind.

Th8 C!;Jearn recording is WGll donG, tlut it costs' $L 00 mor~ than 'the D' Oy l'y Carte rRcording, which is mor" complete, much more readily available to the general public, and better done in general--singing, enunciation, and music (not vastly better, but

the difference is cortainly noticeablo.

,WHO'S RECEIVING THIS ZINE ,~NDuJHY PLUS ~ GENERAL PLE~! ~ When l' fir;t pla~~8'd-this zi~;;"T'';;;;;;'going to-S~~d'it through ~pa-riv8, but I'vp.

sinbe come to my senses. The first distribution of this zinB. (If I hurry up and get it done in time) will bp. at I'Jestercon, passed out to G&S fans, and soon 'lfterward mail8d to more of the same. I intend to send it to just about ev"ryone I know who has s,q.~2 fnterest in G&S, and perhAps Aven a coupl'" of latent G&S enthusiasts who, I hope, will find Gilbert· s verse amusing.

BUT I NEED YOUR HELP!!

I hope that'll get your attention. You see, r keRp hearing that there are a lot of fans who are intoG&S, but I know only a handful!. I'd much appr8ciate it if you could' Send me.the,names,& addresses of people who know arA into G&S and might like a 60py of thiszine: I'll send 'em a copy free. If you've r8c~ived this zin8, but you've neV8r heard of me before, it's probably becaus8 one of yoOr frinnds snitched to me about your interest in G&S. In any case, hopn you enjoy.

THE SCOPE or THIS ZmE has bR a bit worried. Problem is" I don't know how,many G&S fen· would already be familial with lvhat I' VB just spent

cbrisiderable length and stencil reprinting •. H the G&S fans I knolv are typical, hardly any fans are familiar with G&S's "lost" work.s. If you happen to have a copy of Ihe rirs! &9b1o,~&S , I hope the zine will still be of some interest to you, if, for no other '~e~so~~ just because it collRcts all the Illostil songs 'in one place. Hbwevsr, I don't think th'lre will be many fans who hav'l a copy (I don't, look as I may--the copy I'm referring to ComAS from a library), since I ga,ther that there weren't that many copies printed. According to '<rthur Jacobs ("Th3 S"CrRt D;'?lri-cs ofSir4rthur Sullivan,'" ~,!gh, Fideli,t.v ~~gazi'l~ i1'ay, 1977, page 47), the book has"recently" been reprinted, after be'ing out of print for n<'larly 20 years. 'However, I haven't been able to find a copy of either edition (at least, 'one that was for sale).

BACK TO IJTIIEl.!l., U~rrED I would like to add, howRver belatedly, that I missed on,,' r(lajor change in Utopi"., Limited, this being a 'Change in

the dialogue ratl:Jn than in a song. This is, near thp end of Act 111 The Flo.wers of Progress have beer, working 12.'1 well, and thanks to the new sanitary laws, th" doctors. are starvingl the Army and the Navy are so irrBsistabln that all the neighboring , . nations have disarmed, and war's impossible, the laws are remodeled so that crime is' extinct and the jails are let, as model lodgings for the working class, and·'·so forth. This has the people of Utopia so angry that.thRy're ab~ut to revolt. Princ~ss Zara suddenly remembers that she h~s forgotten the most important element of all that's responsible for making England the great nation it is.' ZARA. Government, by Party! Introduce that great and, glo.rious element -'~t oncf'.,the.

bulwark and foundation' of England's greatness -,- and all will be LYell! ~10, pol~ itical measures will endure, because one Party will assuredly undo all that the other Party has done; inexperienced civilians will govern your ArmY,and yp0r Navy; nO social reforms will be attempted, because out of vice, squlllor, ,~~'licJ '.' drunkeness· no political capital is .to be made; and lvhilp, grouse is to be, ,shot,.

, \. "

and foxes worried to death, the l8gislative action of t.he country wIll be. at a standstill.. Then there will be sickness in plenty, endless lBlvsuits" crow,~ep jails, interminable confusion in the ,Army and Navy, and in short, gl'lneral a'nd unexampled'prosperity!' ' '

This, of course, satisfies the angry mob comp18tely, and the revolt ends then and there, and all live happily ever after. This (along with the "Hymn to thej" Nobility",), is one of the most bitter things ever to grace a G&S Operetta. The curr8n't version 'of this speech is considerably toned dOLYn, but thR gist is the'same.

'!Jith the recording of such a complete version of THE GR%'fJ DUKE, I'll.have to " admit that printing the words to those lost sonqs fromthaE,operetta is now of dub­ious vJOrth. Hmvever, not eVBrY9ne that's into G&S has a coPy ,of that recording ••• yet. At any rate, ! stencil'eol thos,\ songs before 1 knel!J the album had been releBsed (I got the record less than a month after its releasR). ,

But such is life, and all that philosophical sort of stuff. Now onto the self­indulgent part of the zine •••

o

, . [' ve bBen in TOPS (Terrean 'mateur Press Society, a rortating-publisher apa, with

1-7. m8mbers~--on8 for- each month.) sinc8 mailing u'Q?, or 93 .. pr thqrRaboutsc I\IOl\l~ .... , V8 neve.r given"my monthly. Tapslet.b'lrs press. publication numbers because [ didn't. print the letters--that month's publisher . (usually ) "printed then) insteari. More recently ) 'ye ,be­come DE, of Tetragrammaton ,Fragments!. a comics-oriented. letterapa, and since I publish the mailings myself, I'v" alluays assigned the. mailings presspub numbers. But 1 noticed that some members of the UFO (of which TF! is the official organ) assigned their own press publ'ication 'nu,\,bers to their 18tters. To'makB a long, self-indulgent story euthanasbstic8lly short8r, t said to myself, "If they can do it, why can't 17" ~ 'few months' ago, 1 started assigning my Tapslfittiirs presspub numbers, and nmu 1 'm going to retroactivRly numbRr the rest. So there. ' ',' , " "',

TT letter nt-!mber publisher date/yr TT# press public"tio;" '

number of pages number

1 1 M"tth9w 8, Tepper 9/72 92 245 2 "2 Lonnie Whitledge 10/n 93 246 3 :3 Tom Digby 11/72 94 247 4 L }~ I<urt Erichsen 12/72, 95 64 5 3 Don' Fitch 1/73 96 248 6 4 I~orm Hochberg 3/73 98 249 7 1 ,Cary 1 Bucklin' 4/73 99 251 8 3 ~1ikii; Gly Br 5/73 100 252 9 4 rneade Frierson 7/73 102 253 10 {I l<urt~richser1 8/73 103 80_,

Da,n Goodman 9/73 104 (n9te 1) 11.- 4 Wadholm/Glyer 10/73 105 254 12 1, Lou £tathis 1,1/72 106 255 13 1 Matthew B. Tepper 12/73 107 256 ,! .

14 2 A Well-Known GafiatB 2/74 109 257, (Note 2) 15 1 Norm Hochberg 3/74 110 258 16 ( 17)3 1f Caryl' Bucklin 4/74' 111 259 17 ( 18) 1 iYiikeGlye'r- 5/74 112 , 2Eib 18 ( 19) 2 Mike Wood 6/,74 113 261 19 (20) 2 Meade FriBrson 7/74

, 114 262

20 (21) 4 I<urt Erichsen 8/14 , 11,5 111 (Note 4) 21 (22) 2 Hank Davis 10/74

-, '-', '. -' 117 263 (!W6te 5)

22 (24) 2 Hank Davis 10/74 117 264, (Note 6) (23 ) 12/74

' , UicitB'7) 23 3 Ga~y Te$snr • 119 265'

24 ( 24) 1 Gary Farber 2/75 ,121 ' 266 (Not'e8) 25 3 Gary Farber 2/75 121 135' (Notes 9,10) 26 2 Susan Palermo 4/75 123 140 (Note 11) 27 1 Gary c T88ser 5/75 12,4 267 28 1 r.1ark Blackman 6/75 125 268 29 .2 Mark Blackman 6/75 12S 269 ' 30 1 ~rtificial Satellite 7/75 no (Note 12) 31 1 Artificial SatBllite 8/75 154 32 5~ , I<u rt Erichsen 8/75

-I 127 158

33 4 Hank Davis 10/75 ' , 129 271 34 2 Morris Keesan 17/75 . ' 132 (130/131 i72 (Note 13) 35 1 ~')o rris K88ssn 12/75 1.30/131 273 ' (Note 13)

TT letter number publisher month/year TT# Press Publication

number 'of pages Number

36 4 B rucD, 0 ',. ~ rthurs 1/76 133 274 37 2 Gary rar'bRr 2/76 134 275 38 2 JRffKlfinbard 3/76 135 276 39 2 Susan Palermo 4/76 136 277 40 4 Mark,Hla,ckmari 5/76 137 278 41 1 Gary l1 "\es,98r 6/76 138 279 42 2 Meade ,Ftii:dson 7/7.6 139 280 43 7! Kurt E.richsen 8/76 140 202 44 3 Moshe F,flder 9/76 141 281 45 2 Hank Davis 10/76 142 282 46 3 Ben Miller 11/76 143

, 283

47 2 Morris I( eesan 12/76 144 284 48 2 Bruce D. Arthurs 1/77 145 218 49 2 Mark Blackman 2/77 146 223 50 2 Gary c Tesser 3/77 147 231 51 2 rnorris Keesan 4/77 148 235 52 2 Robert Bryan Lipton 5/77 149 239 53 4 John Pronis 6/77 150 243

NOTES (He said pretentiously)

1. I was credited on the business page of TT #104 as having a ietter that month, but I didn't. Norm Hochberg later constructed a set of boX' scores, of sorts, for Taps,

and credited me with a letter in 104. I later started number my TT letters based on those boxscores p and hAnce tho error in numbRring which nnsuddn Fascinating, ah?

2. #14 was my first titled TT letterl as yet un-numbered. I called #14 through 19 inclusive, 12Foolish, Futi18, NAoish, and Naive.'9

3. ,j/16 (numbered on thR lettc,r as ~117) was my first numbered TT letter; the numb8rs in parenthes8s that follow ar8 the numbers that appear on thR lett8r itseJ:f--the other

number is th~ correct one.

4. #20 was call,"d "Foolish, Futile, ~180ish, Naive, and Goddamn Illegible." 5. #21 was called "TriVially True Taps TRrraan Terror Tal8s." 6. Thera is no footnote 116. Are you willing to forgive me this time? 7.#23 was callod simply "Untitled Tapsletter." Nato that hnrn I made an error in

number which compensated for the earlier error. Who says Murphy's Law rules tho Unive,se? 8 0 _#24 was titled llTaps Terrean Tnrror TalesG II

9. ~25 was called "This particularly rapid, unint"lligibln pattor isn't generally heard, and if it is, it doesn't matter." Obviously I'd just gotten a rncording of Ruddig~r:"-.

10. Gee.s, I don't r8m8mbnr what footnote 110 was supposed to be. Who d'ya think I am, Einstein? How do you expoct me to remnmber something like this as long as 15 minutes, anyway, huh? [<Jell, huh? ,~nswer me, bwah!

11. #26 was the first to be titled "Sine ¢" (Sine Phi)--obviously a pun on "Sci-Fi" if you pronounce "Phi" incorrectly. ("fee" is tho right way to say it,) The titl"

occurred to mF ono day in ~pplied Difforential Equations -- and Frowned Upon as the term "Sci-Fi" may be, anything that can mAke calculus a little more fannish can't bo all bad.

12. An artificial satollite is the Taps term for a postmailing. Sine ¢ 130 missed Meado's d8adline, and #31 included additional nxplanations about the publishing

requirements for my next TT.

13. Way Back Wh'ln, lI'iikn Raub was a membrH of Taps -- and Didn't Publish when his turn ".1 came. The next publisher numberyhis TT with the number Miko's should have had,

whereas according to the, Tapstitution, he should havre skipped that number. Jim Carleton was .§1Lp.f!oSBd to publish TT 130, but didn't, and rnorris published a double issu8 in­stead. He also corroct2d the old numbnring error by calling his double mailing TT #132. So give threB choers and one cheer more / For the fanod who corrects the old erROR. (ack. Even Gilbert nev"r used rhymes like .J;hat!)

,~ last-minutrJ, acknmuledgment ,the COVer is reprinted from the Fi rst Nig.bl Gilbert' and . . §.ullivan, which' reprintod it from FUN magazino. Gratias, &c. .

Thero; I'm finally don~ with my ogozine--mor~ than a tad larger than I'd expected. This leavos me evith the qUBstio'n of what I do for my next ogozino. After all, the next fanzine I do will be my 285tli; 'which means T'll probably 'publish my 300th by the end of the year. vb 11 , I'm not going to do an E!\GLE TRIP #300. There mayor may not be an E.r. #400, that's somothing I'll decide when I get there. But EAGLE TRIP f500 will be the long-overdue listing of all' my fanzines-~the first 5001 But'that's gotting a little bit previous; I'm barely half wax to that point. (Those 'of you who notice things may have spotted the lack of a zine'.f250 in my Taps index. Well,' I'm saving tha't number for ENDEAVOR #12. Which is ch8atihg, but •••• ) J: Since I decided not to send this' through Apa-Five, my explanatl'ons of the operettas' plots and who G&S are may turn out to be unnecessary. But hopefully they'll make tho zine a little more understandable in case someone ignorant ofG&S happens'to pick it up.

I/June 30, ,1 ffJl77/ /

1 -.

THIRD CLHSS MAIL *** RETURN A NO/o'R F.ORWAROING POSTAG E GUIl,R.~NT-F;;ED I *,-1:.+:-