Iolanthe

 

Iolanthe, or The Peer and the Peri, is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan. It was first produced in London at the Savoy Theatre, on 25 November 1882, three days after Patience closed, and ran for 398 performances.

Background

The opening night of Iolanthe was an occasion for what must have seemed a truly magical event in 1882. The Savoy Theatre was the first theatre in the world to be wired for electricity, and such stunning special effects as sparkling fairy wands were possible. Captain (later Sir) Eyre Massey Shaw, to whom the Fairy Queen refers in the second act ("Oh, Captain Shaw/Type of true love kept under/Could thy brigade with cold cascade/Quench my great love, I wonder"), was head of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. He was present at the first night of Iolanthe, and the words were directed at him by Alice Barnett as the Fairy Queen, to the great delight of the audience.

Gilbert had targeted the aristocracy for satiric treatment before, but in this "fairy opera," the House of Lords is lampooned as a bastion of the ineffective, privileged and dim-witted. The political party system and other institutions also come in for a dose of satire. Among many potshots that Gilbert takes at lawyers in this opera, the Lord Chancellor sings that he will "work on a new and original plan" that the rule (which holds true in other professions, such as the military, the church and even the stage) that diligence, honesty, honour, and merit should lead to promotion "might apply to the bar". Throughout Iolanthe, however, both author and composer managed to couch the criticism among such bouncy, amiable absurdities that it is all received as good humour. In fact, Gilbert later refused to allow quotes from the piece to be used as part of the campaign to diminish the powers of the House of Lords.

Although titled Iolanthe all along in Gilbert's plot book (Tillet et al 1982, p. 5), for a time the piece was advertised as Perola. According to an often-repeated story, Gilbert and Sullivan didn't change the name to Iolanthe until just before the première:

At the final rehearsal of Iolanthe at the Savoy, Sullivan addressed the assembled company: 'Ladies and gentlemen. You have been rehearsing Perola but when the curtain goes up the opera will be called Iolanthe. Will you please change the name Perola to Iolanthe throughout. (Baily 1952, p. 209).

In fact, the title was advertised as Iolanthe as early as November 13, 1882 – eleven days before the opening – so the cast had at least that much time to learn the name. It is also clear that Sullivan's musical setting was written to match the cadence of the word "Iolanthe," and could only accommodate the word "Perola" by preceding it (awkwardly) with "O", "Come" or "Ah". (Tillett et al 1982, pp. 6–7).

Musical and textual analysis

At the time of writing Iolanthe, both Gilbert and Sullivan were in their peak creative years, and Iolanthe, their seventh work together, drew the best from both composer and author. "[Sullivan] had composed a brilliant new score (his most subtle yet) to a scintillating libretto.... Iolanthe is the work in which Sullivan's operetta style takes a definite step forward, and metamorphosis of musical themes is its characteristic new feature.... By recurrence and metamorphosis of themes Sullivan made the score more fluid...." (Jacobs 1984, pp. 176-179). Much of Sullivan's "fairy" music pays deliberate homage to the incidental music written by Felix Mendelssohn for a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The music for the fairies also makes references to the music of other composers, including Richard Wagner. Gilbert, too, was influenced by earlier works, including The Mountain Sylph by John Barnett.

Two characters in Iolanthe, Strephon and Phyllis, are described as Arcadian shepherds. Arcadia was a legendary site of rural perfection, first described by the Ancient Greeks, that was a popular setting for writers of the 19th century. Gilbert himself had written an earlier work called Happy Arcadia. Gilbert had also created several "fairy comedies" at the Haymarket Theatre in the early 1870s. These plays, influenced by the fairy work of James Planché, are founded upon the idea of self-revelation by characters under the influence of some magic or some supernatural interference.^[1] Iolanthe is, however, more than just a fairy tale. Several of Gilbert's themes are continued from Patience, including The war between the sexes and the satire on legal and political themes. Iolanthe is one of several of Gilbert's works, including The Wicked World, Broken Hearts, Fallen Fairies, and Princess Ida, where the introduction of males into a tranquil world of women brings "mortal love" that wreaks havoc with the status quo.^[2]

Roles

• The Lord Chancellor (comic baritone)
• George, Earl of Mountararat (baritone)
• Thomas, Earl Tolloller (tenor)
• Private Willis, of the Grenadier Guards (bass)
• Strephon, an Arcadian Shepherd (baritone)
• Queen of the Fairies (contralto)
• Iolanthe, a Fairy, Strephon's mother (mezzo-soprano)
• Celia, a Fairy (soprano)
• Leila, a Fairy (mezzo-soprano)
• Fleta, a Fairy (speaking role/chorus)
• Phyllis, an Arcadian Shepherdess and Ward in Chancery (soprano)
• Chorus of Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts, Barons and Fairies

Synopsis

Act I

Twenty-five years prior to the beginning of the opera, Iolanthe, the mistress of fairy revels, who arranged all the fairy dances and songs, committed the capital crime (under fairy law) of marrying a mortal human. The Queen of the fairies commuted Iolanthe's sentence of death to banishment for life on the condition that Iolanthe left her husband and never communicated with him again. After the passage of 25 years, the fairies, still missing Iolanthe deeply, plead with the Queen to pardon Iolanthe and to restore her place in fairyland.

Summoned by the Fairy Queen, Iolanthe rises from the frog-infested stream that has been her home in exile. The Queen, unable to bear punishing her any longer, pardons Iolanthe, and she is warmly greeted by the other fairies. Iolanthe tells her sisters that she has a son, a half-fairy, half-human named Strephon ("He's a fairy down to the waist, but his legs are mortal"). The fairies laugh that Iolanthe appears too young to have a grown son, as one of the advantages of a fairy's immortality is that they never grow old. Strephon, a handsome Arcadian shepherd, arrives and meets his aunts. He tells Iolanthe joyously of his love for the Lord Chancellor's ward of court, the beautiful Phyllis. Phyllis does not know of Strephon's mixed origin. Strephon is despondent, however, as the Lord Chancellor has forbidden them to marry – partly because he feels that a shepherd is unsuitable for Phyllis, but partly because he wishes to marry Phyllis himself. In fact, so do half the members of the House of Lords. The Fairy Queen promises her assistance. Soon Phyllis arrives, and she and Strephon share a moment of tenderness as they plan their future and possible elopement.

A cadre of the peers of the realm arrive. They are all smitten with Phyllis, and they have appealed to the Lord Chancellor to decide who will have her hand. The Lord Chancellor also fosters a passion for Phyllis, but is hesitant to act upon said passion due to his position as her guardian. The Lords send for Phyllis to choose one of their number, but she declares that she won't marry any of them, as virtue is found only in a "lowly" cottage. The peers are unhappy at her rejection and beg her not to scorn them simply because their blood is excessively blue. Strephon approaches the Lord Chancellor, pleading that Nature bids him marry Phyllis. But the Lord Chancellor wryly notes that Strephon has not presented sufficient evidence that Nature has interested herself in the matter. He refuses his consent to the marriage between Strephon and Phyllis.

Disappointed, Strephon calls on Iolanthe for help. She appears and promises to support him in every way. Spying on the two, the peers — led by the brainless and stuffy Earls Tolloller and Mountararat — together with Phyllis, see Iolanthe and Strephon in a warm embrace. All three jump to the obvious conclusion, since the centuries-old Iolanthe appears to be a girl of seventeen. The Peers scoff at the seemingly absurd claim that Iolanthe is Strephon's mother ("She is, has been, my mother from my birth"). Phyllis angrily rejects Strephon for his supposed infidelity and declares that she will marry either Lord Tolloller or Lord Mountararat ("...and I don't care which!"). Strephon at last calls for help from the fairies. They appear on cue, but are mistaken by the Peers for a girls' school on an outing. Offended, the Fairy Queen pronounces a magical "sentence" upon the Peers: Strephon shall not only become a Member of Parliament, but will have the power to pass any bill he proposes, including throwing the peerage open to competitive examination. The curtain closes with the fairies threatening the peers.

Act II

The fairies have come to Westminster and tease the unhappy Peers with the success and pronouncements of MP Strephon. As the Fairy Queen threatened in Act I, Strephon is advancing a bill to open the peerage to competitive examination. The peers ask the fairies to stop Strephon's mischief, stating that the House of Peers is not susceptible of any improvement. Although the fairies say that they cannot stop Strephon, they have become very much attracted to the peers, whom they find handsome and delightful. The fairy Queen is dismayed by this. Pointing to Private Willis of the First Grenadier Guards, who is the sentry on duty, the Queen claims that she is able to subdue her response to the effects of manly beauty.

Phyllis cannot decide which of the two selected Peers, Tolloller or Mountararat, she ought to marry, and so she leaves the choice up to them. However, Tolloller tells Mountararat that his family's tradition would require the two Earls to duel to the death if the latter were to claim Phyllis. The two decide that their friendship is more important than love, and renounce their claims to her. Meanwhile, the Lord Chancellor has a nightmare due to his unrequited love for Phyllis. The two Peers try to cheer him up. At their urging, the Lord Chancellor determines to make another effort to convince himself to award Phyllis to himself.

Although Strephon now leads both parties in Parliament, he is miserable at losing Phyllis. Seeing Phyllis, he finally explains to her that his mother is a fairy, which accounts for a good many things! Phyllis and Strephon ask Iolanthe to go to the Lord Chancellor and plead for him to allow their marriage, for "none can resist your fairy eloquence." Impossible, she replies, for the Lord Chancellor is her husband. The Lord Chancellor believes Iolanthe to have died childless, and she is bound not to "undeceive" him, under penalty of death. However, to save Strephon from losing his love, Iolanthe decides to present his case to the Lord Chancellor in disguise.

Although the Lord Chancellor is visibly moved by her appeal, which evokes the memory of his lost wife, he declares that he himself will marry Phyllis. Dismayed, Iolanthe desperately unveils, despite the warnings of the unseen Fairies, revealing that she is his long-lost wife, and that Strephon is his son. The Lord Chancellor is amazed to see her alive, but Iolanthe has again broken fairy law, and the Fairy Queen is now left with no choice but to punish Iolanthe with death. As she prepares to execute Iolanthe, the Queen learns that the rest of the fairies have all now chosen husbands from among the Peers, thus also incurring death sentences – but the Queen blanches at the prospect of slaughtering the whole company of fairies. The Lord Chancellor suggests a solution: change the law by inserting a single word: every fairy who "don't" marry a mortal shall die. The Fairy Queen cheerfully agrees and, to save her life, the dutiful soldier, Private Willis, agrees to marry her. Likewise, seeing no reason to stay in the mortal realm if peers are to be recruited from persons of intelligence, the peers agree to join the fairy ranks. They all sprout wings, and "away [they] go to fairyland."

Musical numbers

• Overture

Act I

• 1. "Tripping hither, tripping thither" (Celia, Leila, and Chorus of Fairies)
• 2. "Iolanthe! From thy dark exile thou art summoned" (Queen, Iolanthe, Celia, Leila, and Chorus of Fairies)
• 3. "Good-morrow, good mother" (Strephon and Chorus of Fairies)
• 4. "Fare thee well, attractive stranger" (Queen and Chorus of Fairies)
• 4a. "Good-morrow, good lover" (Phyllis and Strephon)
• 5. "None shall part us from each other" (Phyllis and Strephon)
• 6. "Loudly let the trumpet bray" (Chorus of Peers)
• 7. "The law is the true embodiment" (Lord Chancellor and Chorus of Peers)
• 8. "My well-loved Lord" and Barcarole, "Of all the young ladies I know" (Phyllis, Lord Tolloller, and Lord Mountararat)
• 9. "Nay, tempt me not" (Phyllis)
• 10. "Spurn not the nobly born" (Lord Tolloller and Chorus of Peers)
• 11. "My lords, it may not be" (Phyllis, Lord Tolloller, Lord Mountararat, Strephon, Lord Chancellor, and Chorus of Peers)
• 12. "When I went to the Bar" (Lord Chancellor)
• 13. Finale Act I (Ensemble)
  • "When darkly looms the day"
  • "The lady of my love has caught me talking to another"
  • "Go away, madam"
  • "Henceforth Strephon, cast away"
  • "With Strephon for your foe, no doubt / Young Strephon is the kind of lout"

Act II

• 14. "When all night long a chap remains" (Private Willis)
• 15. "Strephon's a member of Parliament" (Chorus of Fairies and Peers)
• 16. "When Britain really ruled the waves" (Lord Mountararat and Chorus)
• 17. "In vain to us you plead" (Leila, Celia, Chorus of Fairies, Mountararat, Tolloller, and Chorus of Peers)
• 18. "Oh, foolish fay" (Queen with Chorus of Fairies)
• 19. "Though p'r'aps I may incur thy blame" (Phyllis, Lord Mountararat, Lord Tolloller, and Private Willis)
• 20. "Love, unrequited, robs me of my rest" ... "When you're lying awake" (Lord Chancellor)
• 21. "If you go in you're sure to win" (Lord Tolloller, Lord Mountararat, and Lord Chancellor)
• 21a. "My bill has now been read a second time.... Fold your flapping wings" (Strephon - see #Deleted songs)
• 22. "If we're weak enough to tarry" (Phyllis and Strephon)
• 23. "My lord, a suppliant at your feet" (Iolanthe)
• 24. "It may not be" (Lord Chancellor, Iolanthe, and Chorus of Fairies)
• 25. "Soon as we may, off and away" (Ensemble)

Deleted songs

• 18a. "De Belville was regarded as the Crichton of his age" (Mountararat) appeared soon after Mountararat's Act II entrance (after Phyllis's comment about Strephon going about with a mother considerably younger than himself.) After a short dialogue (which would also be cut) about how people become peers, Mountararat sings a song about De Belville, a polymath whose talents ranged from painting to literature to inventions. Government was at a loss as to how to reward him – until he inherited millions and obtained a seat in Parliament and "a taste for making inconvenient speeches in the House (of Commons)". He was promptly rewarded by being removed from that House by being given a peerage. The song, which is long and must have slowed down the action considerably, was cut soon after the first night. In fact, according to Reginald Allen's The First Night Gilbert and Sullivan, as well as contemporaneous reviews, it was not actually sung on the first night, but rather recited, and the middle stanza omitted. The music does not survive.

• 21a. "Fold your flapping wings" (Strephon) was sung on the first night and cut soon afterwards. The song, preceded by a recitative for Strephon ("My bill has now been read a second time") appeared shortly after #21, following the exit of the two Earls and Phyllis and the entrance of Strephon. It is a dark song, and the lyrics suggest that the only reason for bad behavior by the underclasses is circumstance: "I might be as bad – as unlucky, rather – if I only had Fagin for a father." The music to this song survives, and the song has been used in some modern productions. It also makes an interesting concert piece. However, its angry, dark tone is a departure from the generally genial tone of Iolanthe, and most productions continue to omit it.^[3]

Productions

Iolanthe, the first opera to premiere at the new Savoy Theatre, had a successful initial run in London of 398 performances, spanning the holiday seasons of both 1882 and 1883. In an unprecedented first, the New York premiere was given on the same date — November 25 1882, with the composer's assistant, Alfred Cellier, conducting.^[4] Iolanthe was not revived in London until 1901, making it the first of the operas to be revived after the composer's death the year before. It was also included in two Savoy repertory seasons, in 1906–07 and 1908–09.

In the British provinces, Iolanthe played — either by itself, or in repertory — continuously from February 1882 through 1885, then not again until late 1891. From then on, it was always present in the D'Oyly Carte touring repertory, being included in some part of every season until the company's closure in 1982.

Iolanthe had the distinction of being the first Gilbert and Sullivan opera performed professionally in London by a non-D'Oyly Carte company. It was produced at the Sadler's Wells Theatre on January 24 1962 at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, less than one month after the Gilbert copyrights expired.

The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions in Gilbert's lifetime:

Theatre	Opening Date	Closing Date	Perfs.	Details
Savoy Theatre	November 25 1882	January 1 1884	398
Standard Theatre, New York	November 25 1882	February 24 1883	105	Authorised American production
Savoy Theatre	December 7 1901	March 29 1902	113	First London revival
Savoy Theatre	June 11 1907	August 23 1907	43	First Savoy repertory season; played with three other operas. Closing date shown is of the entire season.
Savoy Theatre	October 19 1908	March 27 1909	38	Second Savoy repertory season; played with five other operas. Closing date shown is of the entire season.

Historical casting

The following tables show the casts of the principal original productions and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring repertory at various times through to the company's 1982 closure:

Role	Savoy Theatre 1882	Standard Theatre 1882	Savoy Theatre 1901	Savoy Theatre 1907	Savoy Theatre 1908
Lord Chancellor	George Grossmith	J. H. Ryley	Walter Passmore	Charles H. Workman	Charles H. Workman
Mountararat	Rutland Barrington	Arthur Wilkinson	Powis Pinder	Frank Wilson	Rutland Barrington
Tolloller	Durward Lely	Lyn Cadwaladr	Robert Evett	Harold Wilde	Henry Herbert
Private Willis	Charles Manners	Lithgow James	Reginald Crompton	Leo Sheffield	Leo Sheffield
Strephon	Richard Temple	William T. Carleton	Henry Lytton	Henry Lytton	Henry Lytton
Fairy Queen	Alice Barnett	Augusta Roche	Rosina Brandram	Louie Rene	Louie Rene
Iolanthe	Jessie Bond	Marie Jansen	Louie Pounds	Bessel Adams	Jessie Rose
Celia	May Fortescue	Agnes Fraser	Agnes Fraser	Violette Londa	Dorothy Court
Leila	Julia Gwynne	Kate Forster	Patience Seymour	Beatrice Meredith	Norah McLeod
Fleta	Sybil Grey	Winifred Hart-Dyke	Isabel Agnew	Ernestine Gauthier	Ethel Lewis
Phyllis	Leonora Braham	Sallie Reber	Isabel Jay	Clara Dow	Elsie Spain

Role	D'Oyly Carte 1915 Tour	D'Oyly Carte 1925 Tour	D'Oyly Carte 1935 Tour	D'Oyly Carte 1945 Tour	D'Oyly Carte 1951 Tour
Lord Chancellor	Henry Lytton	Henry Lytton	Martyn Green	Grahame Clifford	Martyn Green
Mountararat	Frederick Hobbs	Darrell Fancourt	Darrell Fancourt	Darrell Fancourt	Eric Thornton
Tolloller	Walter Glynne	Sidney Pointer	John Dean	Herbert Garry	Leonard Osborn
Private Willis	Leo Sheffield	Leo Sheffield	Sydney Granville	L. Radley Flynn	Richard Watson
Strephon	Leicester Tunks	Henry Millidge	Leslie Rands	Leslie Rands	Alan Styler
Fairy Queen	Bertha Lewis	Bertha Lewis	Dorothy Gill	Ella Halman	Ella Halman
Iolanthe	Nellie Briercliffe	Aileen Davies	Marjorie Eyre	Marjorie Eyre	Joan Gillingham
Celia	Ethel Armit	Hilary Davies	Ann Drummond-Grant	Ana Nicholson	Enid Walsh
Leila	Betty Grylls	Beatrice Elburn	Elizabeth Nickell-Lean	Doreen Binnion	Joyce Wright
Fleta	Kitty Twinn	Blossom Gelsthorpe	Kathleen Naylor	Rosalie Dyer	Henrietta Steytler
Phyllis	Elsie McDermid	Winifred Lawson	Doreen Denny	Helen Roberts	Margaret Mitchell

Role	D'Oyly Carte 1955 Tour	D'Oyly Carte 1965 Tour	D'Oyly Carte 1975 Tour	D'Oyly Carte 1982 Tour
Lord Chancellor	Peter Pratt	John Reed	John Reed	James Conroy-Ward
Mountararat	Donald Adams	Donald Adams	John Ayldon	John Ayldon
Tolloller	Leonard Osborn	David Palmer	Meston Reid	Geoffrey Shovelton
Private Willis	Fisher Morgan	Kenneth Sandford	Kenneth Sandford	Kenneth Sandford
Strephon	Alan Styler	Thomas Lawlor	Michael Rayner	Peter Lyon
Fairy Queen	Ann Drummond-Grant	Christene Palmer	Lyndsie Holland	Patricia Leonard
Iolanthe	Joyce Wright	Peggy Ann Jones	Judi Merri	Lorraine Daniels
Celia	Maureen Melvin	Jennifer Marks	Marjorie Williams	Margaret Lynn-Williams
Leila	Beryl Dixon	Pauline Wales	Patricia Leonard	Helene Witcombe
Fleta	Margaret Dobson	Elizabeth Mynett	Rosalind Griffiths	Alexandra Hann
Phyllis	Cynthia Morey	Valerie Masterson	Pamela Field	Sandra Dugdale

Impact upon Chief Justice Rehnquist

William H. Rehnquist, former Chief Justice of the United States, was a great Gilbert and Sullivan fan. He was inspired to add four golden stripes to the sleeves of his judicial robes after seeing the costume of the Lord Chancellor in a production of Iolanthe. The current Chief Justice, John G. Roberts Jr., has not continued the practice. Rehnquist, while an Associate Justice, quoted the Lord Chancellor ("The Law is the true embodiment/Of everything that's excellent./It has no kind of fault or flaw/And I, My Lords, embody the Law.") in his dissenting opinion in the 1980 case of Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia.^[5] Rehnquist played the silent role of the Solicitor in Patience with the Washington Savoyards in 1986.^[6]

See also

Mount Ararat

Notes

References

• Baily, Leslie (1952). The Gilbert & Sullivan Book. London: Cassell & Company Ltd. 

• Gänzl, Kurt (1986). The British Musical Theatre—Volume I, 1865–1914. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

• Jacobs, Arthur (1984). Arthur Sullivan – A Victorian Musician. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

• Rollins, Cyril; R. John Witts (1962). The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas: A Record of Productions, 1875–1961. London: Michael Joseph.  Also, five supplements, privately printed.

• Tillett, Selwyn; Stephen Turnbull & Michael Walters (1982). Iolanthe – A commemorative booklet for the centenary of the first production at the Savoy Theatre, Saturday 25 November 1882. Saffron Walden, Essex, UK: Sir Arthur Sullivan Society. 

External links

• Iolanthe at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive
• Iolanthe at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography
• Online copy of the libretto
• Transcription of a review of Iolanthe by Clement Scott
• Site containing biographies of the people listed in the historical casting chart
• Gilbert & Sullivan song parodies, including some from Iolanthe

Gilbert and Sullivan
The Triumvirate: W. S. Gilbert | Arthur Sullivan | Richard D'Oyly Carte
The Gilbert and Sullivan Operas: Thespis • Trial by Jury • The Sorcerer • H.M.S. Pinafore • The Pirates of Penzance • Patience • Iolanthe • Princess Ida The Mikado • Ruddigore • The Yeomen of the Guard • The Gondoliers • Utopia, Limited • The Grand Duke
Other Works, People and Related Matters: Other Works by W. S. Gilbert • Other Operas by Arthur Sullivan • Other Music by Arthur Sullivan People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan • Gilbert and Sullivan performers • Cultural influence of Gilbert and Sullivan

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