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Gilbert and Sullivan operas were well known for the satrical wit and were
excellent at mocking contemporary society of the time. The music written by
Sullivan often parodies and pastiches other styles of music such as Handel,
Schubert and Italian opera composers like Verdi and Rossini. As well as
pastiches Sullivan payed homage to many composers through the use of
woodwind like Mendelssohn and leitmotivs like Wagner.
Sullivan wrote in many styles of music from different eras. It was this great
skill that allowed him to musically parody the seriousness that can be found
in not just operas but any song or piece at the time desired. The Mikado has a
Renaissance like madrigal in the Act II song “Brightly dawns our wedding
day”. Madrigals were written to have a cheery nature to them that sung
about italien poetry. However in the Mikado they are singing this song to
cheer up Yum-Yum for her wedding. The story continues after the song as
Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah enter and announce that if her husband is to flirt with
another man he is to be beheaded and also his wife must be buried alive. A
plot like this would never have been present in a madrigal. The song sticks to
the classic style of madrigals in terms of harmony and even contains a “Fa-la-
la” refrains.
The police feature in “With catlike treads” also have a role in mocking the
whole grand opera style. They always chant “tarantara” which sounds similar
to blaring trumpets. The idea of using onomatopoeia to the effect to give the
policemen a galloping sound is brilliant. Policemen are meant to be keepers
of law and order and normally act sensible but in this they could probably
pass as being a character in a Monty Python sketch.
The First Life Guards singing immediately after Zara finishes at a faster
tempo.
Another example from the same opera are the songs that Scaphio and
Phantis sing. There songs are very light hearted and pleasant. They are
always sung in duets aswell. As one of the characters is singing the other one
interrupts during their line. Here is a musical example from the song “ In
every mental lore”.
“In every mental lore” from Utopia Ltd.
Both Gilbert and Sullivan were educated enough to know that society had
many flaws and they were both excellent at exploiting it. This is the reason
they are so popular additionally to the cheerful are simple sounding music.
Although there are many more styles and different parodies in the music I
feel I have picked the most relevant examples to that are parallel with
today's society and the way people act to each other.
Baily, Leslie (1966). The Gilbert and Sullivan Book, Third Edition,
London: Spring Books.
De Ternant, Andrew. "Debussy and Others on Sullivan" in The
Musical Times, December 1, 1924, pp. 1089-90
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