[Illustration]
BY
HENRY A. LYTTON
JARROLDS
PUBLISHERS (LONDON) LTD
TO
RUPERT D'OYLY CARTE.
THE UPHOLDER
OF
A GREAT TRADITION
"THE GONDOLIERS."
(After assisting at the first night of the new Gilbert-and-Sullivan
revival.)
You may boast of your Georgian birds of song
And say that never was stuff so strong,
That its note of genius simply mocks
At yester-century's feeble crocks,
And floods the Musical Comedy stage
With the dazzling art of a peerless age.
But for delicate grace and dainty wit,
For words and melody closely knit,
Your best purveyors of mirth and joy
Were never in sight of the old Savoy;
They never began to compete, poor dears,
With Gilbert-and-Sullivan's _Gondoliers_.
For me, as an out-of-date Victorian,
Prehistoric and dinosaurian,
I hardly feel that I dare reflect
On the art of the day with disrespect;
But if anyone asks me, "Who'll survive--
The living dead, or the dead alive?
Which of the two will be last to go--
The Gondoliers or the latest show?"
I wouldn't give much for the latter's chance;
That is the view that I advance,
Trusting the public to bear me out
(The good from the bad they're quick to sever);
"Of this I nurse no manner of doubt,
No probable, possible shadow of doubt,
No possible doubt whatever."--O. S.
_(Reprinted by kind permission of the proprietors of "Punch," and of Sir
Owen Seaman._)
Contents.
PAGE.
FOREWORD. BY MR. RUPERT D'OYLY CARTE 8
HENRY A. LYTTON: AN APPRECIATION 9
CHAPTER.
I. YOUTH AND ROMANCE 13
II. VAGABONDAGE OF THE COMMONWEALTH 25
III. CLIMBING THE LADDER 38
IV. LEADERS OF THE SAVOY 53
V. ADVENTURES IN TWO HEMISPHERES 69
VI. PARTS I HAVE PLAYED 81
VII. FRIENDS ON AND OFF THE STAGE 94
VIII. HOBBIES OF A SAVOYARD 110
IX. GILBERT AND SULLIVAN 121
THE STORIES OF THE OPERAS 136
A SAVOYARD BIBLIOGRAPHY 185