W. S. Gilbert and Arthur
Sullivan were a British author-composer duo of highly popular comic and
satirical operettas in the 19th century, whose influence continues to
resonate today. This seminar, run by Rebecca Lang, Director of Music at
the University, and Emer O'Sullivan, Professor of Literature at the
Institute of English Studies, will take an interdisciplinary approach to
all facets of their joint musical and textual output and its reception.
Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated for over 25 years, starting in 1871,
and together they created a total of fourteen comic operas which
remained popular for more than a century. They changed both the content
and form of musical theatre and showed that social issues and politics
could be addressed in a witty way, poking fun at the establishment and
social rankings. They are rightly seen as the forerunners of our modern
musicals. In this seminar we will briefly look at their predecessors,
but will focus on the duo, the context in which they were working, and
their most important operattas. We will also engage with the many ways
in which they influenced popular culture in the English-speaking world
today from advertisements, through countless parodies, to featuring in
the likes of the Muppet Show, The Simpsons and Star Trek.
- Teacher: Rebecca Anne Lang
- Teacher: Emer O'Sullivan