Books in Brief: The Gilbert and Sullivan Companion

The Gilbert and Sullivan Companion, by Leslie Ayre (Dodd, Mead, 485 pp., $12.50). This is an encyclopedia of Gilbert and Sullivan. The introductory chapter recounts the partnership of poet, composer, and Richard D’Oyly Carte, and the circumstances under which each G&S opera was written and first performed. The bulk of the book, arranged alphabetically, summarizes the plots of the operas and gives the texts of the main solos and ensembles (250 pages), explains most of Gilbert’s allusions (who, after all, is Captain Shaw?), and identifies many prominent G&S artists of past and present. Great! Still there are unfortunate omissions, among them: Sullivan’s frequent and excellent parodies of Western music (from Anglican plainsong to Wagnerian fire music); those artists who in recent years have performed mainly or entirely outside the D’Oyly Carte Company (from Owen Brannigan to Anna Russell); the superb “World of Gilbert and Sullivan” troupe, led by “renegade” principals from D’Oyly Carte. The recording section (nine pages) was compiled for an English market and will be of limited use to Americans. Still, the positive aspects of the book outweigh the lacks. All G&S devotees, longstanding or recent, will be grateful to Mr. Ayre.

WR

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W. E. Ratliff

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The Gilbert and Sullivan Companion, by Leslie Ayre (Dodd, Mead, 485 pp., $12.50). This is an encyclopedia of Gilbert and Sullivan. The introductory chapter recounts the partnership of poet, composer, and Richard D’Oyly Carte, and the circumstances under which each G&S opera was written and first performed. The bulk of the book, arranged alphabetically, summarizes the plots of the operas and gives the texts of the main solos and ensembles (250 pages), explains most of Gilbert’s allusions (who, after all, is Captain Shaw?), and identifies many prominent G&S artists of past and present. Great! Still there are unfortunate omissions, among them: Sullivan’s frequent and excellent parodies of Western music (from Anglican plainsong to Wagnerian fire music); those artists who in recent years have performed mainly or entirely outside the D’Oyly Carte Company (from Owen Brannigan to Anna Russell); the superb “World of Gilbert and Sullivan” troupe, led by “renegade” principals from D’Oyly Carte. The recording section (nine pages) was compiled for an English market and will be of limited use to Americans. Still, the positive aspects of the book outweigh the lacks. All G&S devotees, longstanding or recent, will be grateful to Mr. Ayre.