SIR

See also:

• WILLIAM
• WILLIAM (1143-1214)
• WILLIAM (1227-1256)
• WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
• WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
• WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
• WILLIAM, 13TH

WILLIAM SCHWENK

See also:

• GILBERT
• GILBERT (KINGSMILL) ISLANDS
• GILBERT (or GYLBERDE), WILLIAM (1544-1603)
• GILBERT, ALFRED (1854– )
• GILBERT, ANN (1821-1904)
• GILBERT, GROVE KARL (1843– )
• GILBERT, J
• GILBERT, JOHN (1810-1889)
• GILBERT, MARIE DOLORES ELIZA ROSANNA [" LOLA MONTEZ "] (1818-1861)
• GILBERT, NICOLAS JOSEPH LAURENT (1751–1780)
• GILBERT, SIR HUMPHREY (c. 1539-1583)
• GILBERT, SIR JOSEPH HENRY (1817-1901)
• SIR WILLIAM SCHWENK GILBERT (1836– )

GILBERT (1836– )  , English playwright and humorist, son of William Gilbert (a descendant of Sir Humphrey Gilbert), was born in London on the 18th of November 1836 . His father was the author of a number of novels, the best-known of which were Shirley Hall Asylum (1863) and Dr Austin's Guests (1866) . Several of these novels—which were characterized by a singular acuteness and lucidity of style, by a dry, subacid humour, by a fund of humanitarian feeling and by a considerable medical knowledge, especially in regard to the psychology of lunatics and monomaniacs—were illustrated by his son, who developed a talent for whimsical draughtsmanship . W . S . Gilbert was educated at Boulogne, at Ealing and at King's College, graduating B.A. from the university of London in 1856 . The termination of the Crimean War was fatal to his project of competing for a commission in the Royal Artillery, but he obtained a post in the education department of the privy council office (1857–1861) . Disliking the routine work, he left the Civil Service, entered the Inner Temple, was called to the bar in November 1864, and joined the northern circuit . His practice was inconsiderable, and his military and legal ambitions were eventually satisfied by a captaincy in the volunteers and appointment as a magistrate for Middlesex (June 1891) . In 1861 the comic journal Fun was started by H . J . Byron, and Gilbert became from the first a valued contributor .

Failing to obtain an entree to

Punch, he continued sending excellent comic verse to Fun, with humorous illustrations, the work of his own pen, over the signature of " Bab." A collection of these lyrics, in which deft craftsmanship unites a titillating satire on the deceptiveness of appearances with the irrepressible nonsense of a Lewis Carroll, was issued separately in 1869 under the title of Bab Ballads, and was followed by More Bab Ballads . The two collections and Songs of a Savoyard were united in a volume issued in 1898, with many new illustrations . The best of the old cuts, such as those depicting the " Bishop of Rum-ti-Foo and the "Discontented Sugar Broker," were preserved intact . While remaining a staunch supporter of Fun, Gilbert was soon immersed in other journalistic work, and his position as dramatic critic to the Illustrated Times turned his attention to the stage . He had not to wait long for an opportunity . Early in December 1866 T . W . Robertson was asked by Miss Herbert, lessee of the St James's theatre, to find some one who could turn out a bright Christmas piece in a fortnight, and suggested Gilbert; the latter promptly produced Dulcamara, a burlesque of L'Elisire d'amore, written in ten days, rehearsed in a week, and duly performed at Christmas . He sold the piece outright for 3o, a piece of rashness which he had cause to regret, for it turned out a commercial success . In 1870 he was commissioned by Buckstone to write a blank verse fairy comedy, based upon Le Palais de la verite, the novel by Madame de Geniis . The result was The Palace of Truth, a fairy drama, poor in structure but clever in workman-ship, which served the purpose of Mr and Mrs Kendal in 187o at the Haymarket . This was followed in 1871 by Pygmalion and Galatea, another three-act " mythological comedy," a clever and effective but artificial piece .

Another fairy comedy, The Wicked

World, written for Buckstone and the Kendals, was followed in March 1873 by a burlesque version, in collaboration with Gilbert a Beckett, entitled The Happy Land . Gilbert's next dramatic ventures inclined more to the conventional pattern, combining sentiment and a cynical humour in a manner strongly reminiscent of his father's style . Of these pieces, Sweethearts was given at the Prince of Wales's theatre, 7th November 1874; -Tom Cobb at the St James's, 24th April 1875; Broken Hearts at the Court, 9th December 1875; Dan'l Druce (a drama in darker vein, suggested to some extent by Silas Marner) at the Haymarket, 11th September 1876; and Engaged at the Haymarket, 3rd October 1877 . The first and last of these proved decidedly popular . Gretchen, a verse drama in four acts, appeared in 1879 . A one-act piece, called Comedy and Tragedy, was produced at the Lyceum, 26th January, 1884 . Two dramatic trifles of later date were Foggerty's Fairy and Rozenkrantz and Guildenstern, a travesty of Hamlet, performed at the Vaudeville in June 1891 . Several of these dramas were based upon short stories by Gilbert, a number of which had appeared from time to time in the Christmas numbers of various periodicals . The best of them have been collected in the volume entitled Foggerty's Fairy, and other Stories . In the autumn of 1871 Gilbert commenced his memorable collaboration (which lasted over twenty years) with Sir Arthur Sullivan . The first two comic operas, Thespis; or The Gods grown Old (26th September 1871) and Trial by Jury (Royalty, 25th March 1875) were merely essays . Like one or two of their successors, they were, as regards plot, little more than extended " Bab Ballads." Later (especially in the Yeomen of the Guard), much more elaboration was attempted .

The next piece was produced at the

Opera Comique (17th November 1877) as The Sorcerer . At the same theatre were successfully given H.M.S . Pinafore (25th May 1878), The Pirates of Penzance; or The Slave of Duty (3rd April 188o), and Patience; or Bunthorne's Bride (23rd April 1881) . In October 1881 the successful Patience was removed to a new theatre, the Savoy, specially built for the Gilbert and Sullivan operas by Richard D'Oyly Carte . Patience was followed, on 25th November 1882, by lolanthe; or The Peer and the Peri; and then came, on 5th January 1884, Princess Ida; or Castle Adamant, a re-cast of a charming and witty fantasia which Gilbert had written some years previously, and had then described as a " respectful perversion of Mr . Tennyson's exquisite poem." The impulse reached its fullest development in the operas that followed next in order—The Mikado; or The Town of Titipu (14th March 1885); Ruddigore (22nd January 1887); The Yeomen of the Guard (3rd October 1888) ; and The Gondoliers (7th December 1889) . After the appearance of The Gondoliers a coolness occurred between the composer and librettist, owing to Gilbert's considering that Sullivan had not supported him ina business disagreement with D'Oyly Carte . But the estrangement was only temporary . Gilbert wrote several more librettos, and of these Utopia Limited (1893) and the exceptionally witty Grand Duke (1896) were written in conjunction with Sullivan . As a master of metre Gilbert had shown himself consummate, as a dealer in quips and paradoxes and ludicrous dilemmas, unrivalled . Even for the music of the operas he deserves some credit, for the rhythms were frequently his own (as in " I have a Song to Sing, 0 "), and the metres were in many cases invented by himself . One or two of his librettos, such as that of Patience, are virtually flawless .

Enthusiasts are divided only as to the

comparative merit of the operas . Princess Ida and Patience are in some respects the daintiest . There is a genuine vein of poetry in The Yeomen of the Guard . Some of the drollest songs are in Pinafore and Ruddigore . The Gondoliers shows the most charming lightness of touch, while with the general public The Mikado proved the favourite . The enduring popularity of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas was abundantly proved by later revivals . Among the birthday honours in June 1907 Gilbert was given a knighthood . In 1909 his Fallen Fairies (music by Edward German) was produced at the Savoy . (T .