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    The Pirates of Penzance Vocal Score
    The Pirates of Penzance Vocal Score
    The Pirates of Penzance Vocal Score
    Ebook281 pages1 hour

    The Pirates of Penzance Vocal Score

    By W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan

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    About this ebook

    This exemplary new edition of the vocal score of an enchanting operetta — which has delighted audiences for over a century with its catchy melodies, its witty lyrics, and its madcap tale of tender-hearted pirates, timid policemen, and the demands of duty — was prepared by musicologists Carl Simpson and Ephraim Hammett Jones, who returned to original manuscripts and early sources to produce handsome, newly engraved plates closest to Gilbert and Sullivan's original intentions. All of the voice parts appear here, in addition to a piano reduction of the full score and the complete libretto. Introduction by the editors. Contents. Instrumentation.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateOct 11, 2012
    ISBN9780486171470
    The Pirates of Penzance Vocal Score
    Author

    W. S. Gilbert

    W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) were theatrical collaborators during the nineteenth century. Prior to their partnership, Gilbert wrote and illustrated stories as a child, eventually developing his signature “topsy-turvy" style. Sullivan was raised in a musical family where he learned to play multiple instruments at an early age. Together, their talents would help produce a successful series of comic operas. Some notable titles include The Pirates of Penzance, The Sorcerer, H.M.S. Pinafore, and The Mikado.

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    • 4/5
      I've never seen The Pirates of Penzance performed so I tried reading the dialogue (listened via the LibriVox David Wales edition). What a strange experience arriving at it this way since the dialogue is often clever turns of phrase and dependent on the music and acting to achieve its effect. Without any context I followed the story but it meant little. Only after finishing did I watch some scenes performed on YouTube and realized there is much more to it. The music is classic and the performances make it come alive. On the other hand the dialogue is difficult to follow live, so I returned to the script to catch all the cleverness. Early on, with the mistake between "Pirate" and "Pilot", the play informs this is a story about language. However I noticed the modern performances on YouTube have changed the 1879 dialogue and developed their own simplified version, emphasizing story and character, which is helpful to understanding what is happening but the original script is different, weirder, perhaps better.

    Book preview

    The Pirates of Penzance Vocal Score - W. S. Gilbert

    Also available in this series edited by Carl Simpson and Ephraim Hammett Jones:

    Gilbert & Sullivan

    The Pirates of Penzance in Full Score

    (Dover: 0-486-41891-X)

    The Mikado Vocal Score

    (Dover: 0-486-41163-X

    The Mikado in Full Score

    (Dover: 0-486-40626-1)

    Complete performance material for this work is available from:

    Serenissima Music, Inc.

    205 S. Charles Street

    Edwardsville, IL 62025 USA

    (618) 656-5143 phone

    e-mail: csimpson@iw.edwpub.com

    Copyright

    Copyright © 2001 by Serenissima Music Inc. All rights reserved.

    Bibliographical Note

    Carl Simpson and Ephraim Hammett Jones’ edition of The Pirates of Penzance Vocal Score is a new work, first published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 2001. Newly engraved plates were prepared by the editors.

    International Standard Book Number

    9780486171470

    Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation 41893605 www.doverpublications.com

    Table of Contents

    Title Page

    Also by

    Copyright Page

    PREFACE

    DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

    ORIGINAL CAST - [December 31st, 1879 – New York]

    SYNOPSIS

    THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE

    Act One

    Act Two

    PREFACE

    The story of The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan’s fifth collaboration, begins with the public acclaim received by its immediate predecessor. H.M.S. Pinafore was successful beyond either of its creators’ wildest expectations following its first performance in May of 1878. The music was soon heard everywhere – even street musicians were grinding out melodies such as I’m Called Little Buttercup. Word spread fast, and a production was mounted in Boston a mere six months (to the day) after the world premiere. H.M.S. Pinafore was subsequently performed to packed houses all over the United States. By 1879, there were several productions going on at the same time in New York alone. The American copyright law of the time offered the authors no protection whatsoever from unauthorized or ‘pirate’ productions. Once a vocal score or libretto was in print, anyone was free to perform a given work without having to pay a royalty to the composer or author. American ‘pirate’ producers commissioned orchestrations from the printed vocal score (Sullivan’s own orchestration existed in manuscript only) and often took considerable license with the text and action.

    When they realized what was happening in the U.S., Gilbert, Sullivan and producer Richard D‘Oyly Carte decided that the only way they would gain any benefit from Pinafore’s enormous American popularity was to mount a competing ‘authorized’ performance. At about the same time, they determined that New York would be a good venue from which to launch their new work-in-progress, The Pirates of Penzance, in order to obtain at least a modicum of copyright protection in the United States.

    Carrying his copy of the libretto, the Pinafore orchestration, and sketches for the new work, Sullivan boarded the Cunard steamship Bothnia on October 25th, 1879 along with Gilbert, the conductor/ musical assistant Alfred Cellier, and Blanche Roosevelt, an American soprano who had been engaged for leading roles in both Pinafore and the new opera. Arriving in New York on November 5th, they had to wait a few days for the arrival of Carte and the rest of the company. With

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