By Mark Pim, with suggestions from Emma Rettie and Jonathan Broad

Unfortunately time – and good taste – prevented Gilbert and Sullivan from ever writing a Eurovision song. But if they had done for some of their characters, what might they have sung?

(Get ready for some torturous G&S puns. Although some of these work suprisingly well as is)

Flying the Flag (For You) sung by The Pirate King

Diva sung by Yum-Yum

Puppet on a string sung by Lady Jane

Take me to your heaven sung by Thespis

Save your kisses for me sung by Alexis

Waterloo – sung by Phoebe (to Wilfred)

Rise like a phoenix sung by Sir Roderic Murgatroyd

Making your mind up sung by Edwin (the defendent)

Hold me now sung by Luiz and Casilda

Just hold me now
And I will know
Though we’re apart
We’ll always be together 😢

Tu te reconnaîtras (you’ll recognize yourself) sung by Hilarion, Cyril, Florian, Melissa and Lady Psyche

Better the devil you know sung by Ludwig and Rudolph

Baby, don’t do things that make me blue
You know my love is always true
Baby, don’t do things that take their toll
Like make me eat a sausage roll

Ne partez pas sans moi (don’t leave without me) sung by Leila and Celia

Congratulations sung by Ralph and Josephine

Boom-bang-a-bang sung by Tarara

Bonus entry – My Lovely Horse sung by Major General Stanley

The premiere of Colin Jagger’s restored score for Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Grand Duke will be performed in London at the Bridewell Theatre on the 7th-10th June 2023, and at the International Festival in Buxton on 4th August. Buy tickets from The Grand Duke page

Colin Jagger, for 20 years Director of Music at the University of Portsmouth, hates to let error-ridden published scores detract from some of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s best music. Having previously prepared a new critical performing edition of The Yeomen of The Guard for Oxford University Press, he saw Gilbert and Sullivan’s last collaboration – The Grand Duke – as an obvious candidate for reappraisal:

“There is something about being told repeatedly that one of the last works by a great composer who was only 55 at the time, was actually very substandard – I struggled to believe it. And so, when the British Library acquired the manuscript during the pandemic and it became available to study I decided to have a look. I was immediately taken with it, and far from it being substandard, I am more inclined to think it is at least musically one of their best works.”

In preparing the score, Colin was struck with how Sullivan, “writing with a fairly basic ink pen, could work so unbelievably quickly and with so few errors”. Published scores in the intervening years have been less accurate unfortunately, introducing innumerable mistakes, discrepancies and contradictions, which have plagued amateur and professional groups attempting to produce the work ever since. And so, after nearly two years of painstaking and meticulous work, both to faithfully transcribe Sullivan’s intentions in the manuscript and to collate all the materials – music, lyrics, dialogue, stage directions, we now have what will hopefully become the de facto performing edition of this work.

The proof of any theatrical work is of course a live performance. Grosvenor Light Opera Company (GLOC) were serendipitously planning to present The Grand Duke in 2023. Colin offered them the opportunity to ‘try out’ the new edition in practice and the company leapt at the chance.

Director Vicky Simon and Musical Director Christopher Jacklin both see the piece’s flaws as a product of the fractious working relationship between the authors after personal and financial disagreements. By the time of The Grand Duke their interest in the partnership had waned and neither had interest in refining the work as they had done for previous operas. While the pair meticulously edited, supervised and revised scores and libretti to earlier works such as The Pirates of Penzance or The Mikado (and so we may regard them as definitive and authorial), The Grand Duke (which never benefitted from a revival in Gilbert’s lifetime) had far less editorial oversight or care. Colin’s new edition gives it that care, and in this production Vicky and Christopher have been judicious in cuts to the book to keep it trim and well paced, while keeping true to the setting, costuming and presentation that Gilbert and Sullivan intended.

The company have found in rehearsal that Colin’s new edition has been prepared with care not just for its authors, but for the performer. The vocal score is abundant with careful aids to musical directors and singers: alternative lyrics and underlays, optional cuts and fully cross-referenced parts and chorus books and an abridged version provides an easily accessible performing edition of the work. It’s an edition designed to be performed by companies of all sizes and resources. The vocal score and a reduced chorus score will be released for free with the orchestral parts and full score available commercially.

A new edition such as this can give this overlooked gem of a work the recognition it has lacked and enable many more companies to enjoy what it has to offer. Anyone interested in seeing the results is encouraged to book a ticket to GLOC’s production, either in London at The Bridewell Theatre on Fleet Street (7-10th June only. 7:30pm, matinee at 2:30pm on Saturday) or on the 4th August at the International Gilbert and Sullivan festival in Buxton. More details and tickets at The Grand Duke page

About Colin Jagger

Colin read music at Manchester University, before moving to the USA for a second degree in orchestral conducting. He ended up living there for seven years before moving back to the UK and got a job as Director of Music at the University of Portsmouth, where he remained for 20 years. He now devotes his time to research.

About GLOC

Grosvenor Light Opera Company is London’s leading G&S Society, and one of the only amateur operatic societies both to rehearse and perform in Central London. As a result, they attract a membership largely of young professionals, who work in the centre of town, together with some students attending one of London’s universities and colleges.

They perform at least one fully-staged G&S production, accompanied by a professional orchestra, every season and supplement this with other staged and semi-staged concert performances.

The company was founded in September 1949 by John Wilmshurst, its purpose being to study and perform the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. Over the years it has become the leading amateur company in London for presenting the Savoy Operas.

We had our open rehearsal for The Grand Duke last night and it was lovely to see such a large turnout – especially given the train strikes making it more difficult for people to get into London. Thank you to everyone who managed to make it and for the fantastic sound we all made together!

We heard from our director Vicky and musical director Chris about the show, and how they plan to approach this often overlooked Gilbert and Sullivan show. It’s a show which never got the benefit of revisions and refinement that many of their other shows underwent and so suffers from some flabby dialogue and a few cuttable musical numbers. Rest assured Vicky and Chris will be applying some judicious editoral scissors to cut the show down to its lean best!

If you missed the open rehearsal then fear not – there’s still lots of time to get involved in The Grand Duke. Head to our Join GLOC page to find out more and to sign up to our mailing list to hear details about rehearsals.

Take a look at our welcome pack to learn more, and fill in the form to register your interest in the show, or to book an audition slot

• Welcome pack
• Form to register interest in the show or book an audition

We are delighted to announce GLOC on tour! (Well, certainly one performance a long way outside London at any rate). We have been asked to perform an evening of G&S at in the Great Hall of Stokesay Court, Onibury, near Craven Arms in Shropshire.

A small handful of soloists will perform a selection of highlights from the well-known favourite to the slightly obscure. We are thrilled that the composer and recording artist Luke Faulkner, FRSM, will be our fabulous accompanist.

Stokesay Court is a Grade II* listed mansion set in landscaped grounds. A lived-in family home, it was a principal location for the filming of Atonement. The Great Hall has wonderful acoustics and we’re very much looking forward to G&S in Shropshire.

Tickets cost £20 (together with a £2 booking fee) from https://www.wegottickets.com/event/566017/ and the ticket price includes a welcome glass of wine on arrival.

We are really excited to announce that next year’s main show in June 2023 will be The Grand Duke; or, the Statutory Duel, directed by the wonderful Vicky Simon.
If you’d like to join us, whether on stage or behind the scenes, take a look at our Join GLOC page – we’d love to have you join us!

Vicky has previously directed Ruddigore (2015) and Iolanthe (2017) for GLOC, to great acclaim and with much fun had by all in the process. You can check out some photos from these productions in our Gallery and some film extracts on our YouTube page.

The Grand Duke is the last of Gilbert and Sullivan’s collaborations and one of the least performed. The plot is full of wildly farcical Gilbertian humour with some wonderful, sparkling Sullivan music. We can’t wait to see what Vicky will do with it! We would absolutely love to have as many of you as possible join us on stage or behind the scenes.

Rehearsals will begin late January/early February, with auditions for principals following shortly after. As ever, there will be no auditions for chorus members – the more the merrier! Watch out for further updates, or email [email protected] to register your interest.

Important details for your diary:

Rehearsals: From late January/early February 2023, Wednesday nights, 18:45-21:45, St Gabriels Halls, Pimlico SW1V 3AA

Show week: 4-10 June 2023, Bridewell Theatre, London Ec4Y 8EQ

We’re into the final stretch of preparations for The Sorcerer next week at The Bridewell Theatre. Take a look at our selection of photos from rehearsals below to whet your appetite and then head on over to The Sorcerer page to book your tickets!