Gilbert and Sullivan: H.M.S. Pinafore: Mixed Choir: Score

Written at the deathbed of Arthur Sullivan’s brother Fred in 1877 and setting words by Adelaide Anne Proctor The Lost Chord was immediately successful and became the biggest sensation of any song in its decade. Of all the drawing room ballads of the Victorian era The Lost Chord has remained alive in the popular imagination. This arrangement for solo Organ is true to the original without overplaying its drama and restores the eponymous 'lost chord’ to the Organ from whence it originally came. Composer Arthur Sullivan is known the world over for his operatic collaborations with W S Gilbert including H M S Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance among many others. ButSullivan was also a composer of a host of other works among them operas Orchestral works ballets and hymns and church pieces.

The text of The Long Day Closes is a contemplation of death and was sung frequently at funerals in the late 1800’s particularly the funerals of members of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. This setting uses the full range of allthe Voice parts.Composer Arthur Sullivan is known the world over for his operatic collaborations with W S Gilbert including H M S Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance among many others. But Sullivan was also a composer of manother works among them operas Orchestral works ballets and hymns and church pieces. He wrote most of his part songs unaccompanied songs for SATB usually before his partnership with Gilbert began.

It was 'H.M.S. Pinafore' or 'The Lass that Loved a Sailor' that established Gilbert and Sullivan as a creative force to be reckoned with in British comic theatre. Gilbert's libretto has everything necessary for their type offarce - Josephine is being courted by two men one a sailor (Ralph Rackstraw) and the other the Admiral of the British Navy (Sir Joseph Porter). To make things more complicated of course a former nurse exchanged the two asbabies many years earlier... Aside from this promising plot Sullivan's music was mainly responsible for the long-term success of 'H.M.S. Pinafore'. From the opening sailors' chorus to Little Buttercup's simple aria theshow abounds with unforgettable tunes. The most popular number from the show is the second-act Trio 'Never Mind the Why and Wherefore.' This is the Schirmer edition of the Libretto with all dialogue.

As you read this somewhere in the English-speaking world a production of a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta is being rehearsed or presented. It may be taking place in an elementary secondary or high school; a university; an amateurmusical theater group; a summer-stock ensemble; a professional light-opera company. The musical accompaniment may consist of a piano or two - perhaps plus a few other instruments - or a full orchestra. Audiences be theyfirst-time listeners or dyed-in-the wool G&S fanatics will be captivated by the scintillating melodies and effervescent lyrics of those highly unlikely collaborators: Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan and Sir William Schwenck GIlbert.Incredibly despite the seemingly endless popularity of these works which have been published staged recorded broadcast televised and cinematized over the years since their first performances by the D’Oyly Carte Opera inLondon in the 1870s and 1880s there has never been an edition which permitted the guitar-playing masses to enjoy these Victorian gems. Until now. Here for the first time are 52 G&S favorites (or if you will favourites) drawnfrom five of their most popular operettas: H.M.S. Pinafore The Pirates of Penzance Patience Iolanthe The Mikado. arranged with guitar chords in guitar-friendly keys! The very model of a modern music manuscript! Allselections include melody lyrics and guitar chords.

Book/CD Pak-Eight classics from H.M.S. Pinafore The Mikado The Pirates Of Penzance Princess Ida Ruddigore and The Yeoman Of The Guard. Companion CD includes full orchestra accompaniment plus performances by professional singers. Includes notes about the operettas.