Fallen Fairies Gilbert German

G&S: the Lennon/McCartney of the 19th century

Y were a musical and lyric juggernaut brought to its knees by a series of artistic and personal misunderstandings. This disharmony – like John Lenon and Paul McCartney's – was left unresolved following a premature and unforeseen death.

The mighty partnership between wordsmith William Schwenck Gilbert and musical prodigy Arthur Seymour Sullivan, which produced 14 comic operas between 1871 and 1896, was prickly and delicate. These two men fused their creative powers, yet remained deliberately independent from each other. “Each man brought his own star to the partnership,” noted scholar Gayden Wren. “That it lasted so long is little short of miraculous.” So what was it that sparked their eventual estrangement?  

Of Gilbert and Sullivan’s many contretemps, the most damaging concerned expenses charged to their names by manager Richard D’Oyly Carte. Known subsequently as the “carpet quarrel”, Gilbert took high offence that an inordinate number of company items had been purchased using his and Sullivan’s accounts, one being a new carpet for the Savoy Theatre lobby. Gilbert argued with Carte over the matter on base of principle; Sullivan, a much more relaxed character, eventually sided with the manager. In the wake of the dispute, Gilbert wrote to Sullivan: “The time for putting an end to our collaboration has at last arrived”.

Carte managed to squeeze two final works out of the duo, namely Utopia, Limited (1896), neither of which received acclaim. By this time, the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership had run out of steam. Wren describes the separation: “Simply, both men had less zeal for their work. Both were financially secure beyond even Sullivan’s capacity to gamble away his wealth”. 

A final embarrassing wrangle between the two artists occurred at the premiere of Sullivan’s music drama The Beauty Stone on May 28, 1898. Gilbert strolled up to the Savoy Theatre, accompanied by friends, assuming Sullivan to have allocated some seats for his party. He was informed upon arrival, however, that Sullivan objected to his presence; the composer later denied any involvement in such a glaring exclusion.

Gilbert fumed, naturally. While they continued intermittent correspondence, the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership had reached an impasse.