The Tempest (Sullivan)
The Tempest incidental music, Op. 1, is a set of movements for Shakespeare's play composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1861 and expanded in 1862. This was Sullivan's first major composition, and its success quickly brought him to the attention of the musical establishment in England.
Background and first performances
Sullivan wrote his incidental music to
After Sullivan's return to England, early in 1862, music critic
Sullivan revised and extended the music to twelve movements, which were given in full at a concert on 5 April 1862 at the Crystal Palace, with a linking narration written by Chorley and spoken by Arthur Matthison. The solo singers were May Banks and Robertina Henderson. The work was an immediate success, with five numbers being encored. The score was favourably reviewed by The Times and even more favourably by The Athenaeum, which was the publication for which Chorley was critic. So great was the success of the concert that it was repeated the following week, and Sullivan's reputation as an extremely promising composer was made overnight.[2]
Musical analysis and subsequent performances
As might be expected in the work of such a young composer, the influence of earlier composers is marked. Gervase Hughes detects the influence of Ludwig van Beethoven in the Introduction, Robert Schumann in the Act IV Overture. Percy Young suggests Franz Liszt (an acquaintance of Sullivan's) and Hector Berlioz as influences. Hughes, Young and Arthur Jacobs agree that the most conspicuous influence is Felix Mendelssohn.
In early 1863,
In his review of the 2008 recording by the Kansas City Symphony, Rob Barnett writes, "This music is smooth, full of lissom invention and generally in the style of Schumann and Mendelssohn ... Truly charming is the skipping flute figuration in 'Banquet Dance'. The orchestra is just as successful in the ... 'Dance of Nymphs and Reapers'. Mendelssohn is certainly engaged in the Act IV overture. The Act V Prelude with its shivering-plodding string pizzicato and epic lassitude is another magnificent effort."[3]
Musical numbers
- Introduction
Act I
- Song: Come unto these yellow sands (Ariel to Ferdinand)
- Song: Full fathom five thy father lies (Ariel to Ferdinand)
Act II
- Ariel's Music
- Melodrama and Song: While you here do snoring lie (Ariel to Gonzalo)
Act III
- Prelude
- Banquet Dance
Act IV
- Overture
- Masque of Iris, Ceres, Juno
- Duet: Honour, riches, marriage blessings (Juno and Ceres to Ferdinand and Miranda)
- Dance of nymphs and reapers
Act V
- Prelude
- Song: Where the bee sucks (Ariel to Prospero)
- Epilogue
Recordings
The full score of The Tempest (except for a few passages surrounding the dialogue) was first recorded in 1955 by the Vienna Orchestral Society conducted by
A complete recording was issued in 2016 on the Dutton Epoch label, together with Sullivan's incidental music for Macbeth and his "Marmion Overture". Soloists are the sopranos Mary Bevan and Fflur Wyn, with Simon Callow speaking some of Shakespeare's dialogue surrounding the music, and the BBC Singers and BBC Concert Orchestra. The conductor is John Andrews.[7][8]
Notes
- ^ a b c Shepherd, Marc. "The Tempest, incidental music (1861)", Archived 2006-10-25 at the Wayback Machine A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography (2005)
- ^ a b See Preface to the score of The Masque at Kenilworth by Robin Gordon-Powell, Archivist & Music Librarian of the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society, published by The Amber Ring in 2002
- ^ a b Barnett, Rob. Review of the 2008 recording, Music Web International (July 2008)
- ^ Shepherd, Marc. "Sir Arthur Sullivan: Music to Shakespeare's Tempest", Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 12 April 2009, accessed March 4, 2016
- ^ Shepherd, Marc. ""The Tempest, incidental music (1861): Recordings". Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 10 July 2010, accessed March 10, 2011
- ^ Shepherd, Marc. "Shakespeare's Tempest", Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 10 July 2010, accessed 30 June 2016
- ^ "Arthur Sullivan: Macbeth (Incidental music) / The Tempest (Incidental music) / Marmion Overture", Dutton Vocalion Records, 2CDLX7331, accessed 30 June 2016
- ^ Hugill, Robert. "Mendelssohnian charm: Sir Arthur Sullivan's Macbeth and The Tempest", PlanetHugill.com, 15 August 2016
References
- Hughes, Gervase: The Music of Arthur Sullivan, Macmillan, London 1960
- Jacobs, Arthur: Arthur Sullivan, OUP, Oxford, 1986 ISBN 0-19-282033-8
- ISBN 0-85613-073-7
- Young, Percy M.: Note to EMI recording CSD 3713 of numbers from The Tempest, 1972
- Young, Percy M.: Sir Arthur Sullivan, J M Dent & Sons, London 1971 ISBN 0-460-03934-2
External links
- The Tempest: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- The Tempest at the G&S Archive, including Midi files and the score
- The Tempest at the G&S Discography
- Review of The Tempest in The Times, 7 April 1862
- Later review of The Tempest in The Times, 21 December 1868