Who was W.S. Gilbert?
Librettist and Poet.
Date and Place of Birth:
18th November 1836, 17 Southampton Street, London,
England. Christened William Schwenck Gilbert.
Family Background:
Son of William Gilbert a retired naval surgeon
and Anne Gilbert. Also had three daughters.
Education:
Great Ealing School, London. Kings College, London.
Chronology/Biography of William Schwenck Gilbert:
1849: Returned to
London after many years traveling Europe with his family.
1863: Production
of his first play "Uncle Baby" at the Royal Lyceum Theatre.
1867: Became a
Clerk in the Privy Council Office in London.
1864: Called to
the bar,but was unsuccessful in landing well paid briefs and supplemented
his income by writing for magazines such as "Punch" and
"Fun". His humorous verse was published under the pseudonym
"Bab".
1866: Writes a Christmas
show called "Dulcemara or the Little Duck and the Great Quack".
1869: Publication
of the "Bab Ballads" as a book. Performance of his last
comic burlesque "The Pretty Druidess". He met Arthur
Sullivan for the first time when he was introduced to him by
his lifelong friend Frederic Clay at a rehearsal for "Ages
Ago", an operetta with music by Clay.
1870: Wrote "The
Palace of Truth" which was his first stage hit.
1871: Wrote "Pygmalion
and Galatea" for the stage.
1873: Collaborated
with Gilbert a Beckett on a political satire called "The Happy
Land". This was briefly banned because of its caricatures of
Gladstone.
1875: First performance
of "Trial by Jury" with music by Arthur Sullivan,
staged at the Opera Comique. Collection of his stage plays published
by Chatto and Windus.
1876: Richard D'Oyly
Carte formed his comic opera company. Split between his parents.
1877: First performance
of "The Sorcerer".
1878: First performance
of HMS Pinafore.
1880: First performance
of "The Pirates of Penzance".
1881: First performance
of "Patience" a satire about Oscar Wilde
and his circle. Opening of the Savoy Theatre on 10th October by
Richard D'Oyly Carte which was to make the joint works of Gilbert
and Sullivan famous.
1882: First performance
of "Iolanthe".
1885: First performance
of "The Mikado".
1887: First performance
of "Ruddigore".
1888: First performance
of "The Yeomen of the Guard".
1889:
First performance of "The Gondoliers".
1890:
Quarreled with Arthur Sullivan, supposedly
about the style of carpet and its cost in the Savoy Theatre.
1893:
The rift between Gilbert and Sullivan
was temporarily halted and a new collaboration "Uptopia Limited"
was produced.
1896:
First performance of "The Grand Duke".
1900: Death of Sir
Arthur Sullivan.
1907: Knighted.
1909: After the
death of Sullivan Gilbert tried to form a partnership with the composer
Edward German who had finished some of his musical pieces but their
work "Fallen Fairies" was not a success.
1911: His last play
"The Hooligan" was a powerful short dramatic sketch which
shocked the audience in its attention to reality.
Major Works:
- 1869: "The
Bab Ballads".
- 1873:
"More Bab Ballads." "The Happy Land" (A satirical
play based on his earlier work "The Wicked World"
- 1871:
"Thespis or the God's Grown Old." (first Collaboration
with Sullivan)
- 1875: "Trial
by Jury". For Richard D'Oyly Carte.
- 1876: "Princess
Toto"
- 1877:
"The Sorcerer". "Engaged".
- 1878:
"HMS Pinafore".
- 1879:
"The Pirates of Penzance."
- 1881: "Patience
or Bunthorne's Bride".
- 1882:
Iolanthe or the Peer and the Peri."
- 1884: Princess
Ida, or Castle Adamant".
- 1885:
"The Mikado or the Town of Titipu".
- 1887: "Ruddigore,
or the Witch's Curse".
- 1888: "The
Yeomen of the Guard".
- 1889: "The
Gondoliers".
- 1892: "The
Mountebanks".
- 1893:
"Utopia Limited".
- 1894: "His
Excellency"
- 1896: "The
Grand Duke".
- 1898:
"Songs of a Savoyard".
- 1909: "Fallen
Fairies, (based on his earlier work "The Wicked World."
(Music by Edward German).
- 1911:
"The Hooligan". (Play).
Marriage:
6th August 1867 to Lucy Agnes Turner.
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
The Savoy Theatre, The Strand. Next to the Savoy
Hotel which was built later.
Monument plaque to him in a wall on the riverside
of the road at the Embankment.
Date and Place of Death:
29th May 1911, Grim's Dyke, Harrow Weald, Middlesex,
England due to a heart attack brought on by rescuing a woman from
drowning in a lake on his country estate.
Age at Death:
74.
Site of Grave:
Ashes at St. John the Evangelist Church,
Great Stanmore, London, England.
