Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SIR WILLIAM SCHWENK GILBERT (1836– )

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 10 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

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

Failing to obtain an entree to See also:

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

Another fairy comedy, The Wicked See also:

World, written for Buckstone and the Kendals, was followed in See also:March 1873 by a burlesque version, in collaboration with Gilbert a Beckett, entitled The Happy See also:Land . Gilbert's next dramatic ventures inclined more to the conventional See also: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 See also:Prince of See also:Wales's theatre, 7th November 1874; -Tom See also:Cobb at the St James's, 24th See also:April 1875; Broken See also:Hearts at the See also:Court, 9th December 1875; See also:Dan'l Druce (a drama in darker vein, suggested to some extent by See also:Silas Marner) at the Haymarket, 11th See also:September 1876; and Engaged at the Haymarket, 3rd See also: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 See also:Lyceum, 26th See also:January, 1884 . Two dramatic trifles of later date were Foggerty's Fairy and Rozenkrantz and Guildenstern, a See also:travesty of See also:Hamlet, performed at the See also:Vaudeville in June 1891 . Several of these dramas were based upon See also:short stories by Gilbert, a number of which had appeared from See also:time to time in the Christmas See also:numbers of various See also: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 See also:Arthur See also:Sullivan . The first two comic operas, See also:Thespis; or The Gods grown Old (26th September 1871) and Trial by See also:Jury (See also:Royalty, 25th March 1875) were merely essays . Like one or two of their successors, they were, as regards See also: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 See also:

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 See also:Penzance; or The Slave of See also:Duty (3rd April 188o), and See also:Patience; or Bunthorne's See also:Bride (23rd April 1881) . In October 1881 the successful Patience was removed to a new theatre, the See also:Savoy, specially built for the Gilbert and Sullivan operas by See also:Richard D'Oyly See also:Carte . Patience was followed, on 25th November 1882, by lolanthe; or The Peer and the See also:Peri; and then came, on 5th January 1884, Princess See also:Ida; or See also:Castle See also:Adamant, a re-See also:cast of a charming and witty See also:fantasia which Gilbert had written some years previously, and had then described as a " respectful perversion of Mr . See also:Tennyson's exquisite poem." The impulse reached its fullest development in the operas that followed next in See also:order—The See also:Mikado; or The See also: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 See also: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 See also:Utopia Limited (1893) and the exceptionally witty See also:Grand See also:Duke (1896) were written in See also:conjunction with Sullivan . As a See also:master of See also:metre Gilbert had shown himself consummate, as a dealer in quips and paradoxes and ludicrous dilemmas, unrivalled . Even for the See also:music of the operas he deserves some See also:credit, for the rhythms were frequently his own (as in " I have a See also: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 See also:

comparative merit of the operas . Princess Ida and Patience are in some respects the daintiest . There is a genuine vein of See also: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 See also:touch, while with the See also: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 See also:knighthood . In 1909 his Fallen Fairies (music by See also:Edward See also:German) was produced at the Savoy . (T .

End of Article: SIR WILLIAM SCHWENK GILBERT (1836– )
[back]
SIR JOSEPH HENRY GILBERT (1817-1901)
[next]
1ST BART SIR WALTER GILBEY

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.