{"id":45939,"date":"2024-08-14T12:21:24","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T10:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2bdb540d-7d0e-4f8e-9a73-1e2e88e732c5"},"modified":"2024-08-14T13:07:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T11:07:14","slug":"they-were-a-phenomenally-successful-musical-duo-then-they-split-up-over-a-carpet","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/they-were-a-phenomenally-successful-musical-duo-then-they-split-up-over-a-carpet\/","title":{"rendered":"They were a phenomenally successful musical duo. Then they split up – over a carpet"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 14 August 2024 at 10:21 AM<\/p>

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Early in 1890, the composer Arthur Sullivan, while taking a much needed holiday in the south of France, received a letter from WS Gilbert, the lyricist and Sullivan’s partner in a hugely successful writing partnership. <\/p>

The top 10 Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, ranked and rated<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>
It read: \u2018I was appalled to learn from [the impresario Richard D\u2019Oyly Carte] that the preliminary expenses of The Gondoliers <\/i>amounted to the stupendous total of \u00a34,500!! This seemed so utterly unaccountable that I asked to see the details, and last night I received a resum\u00e9 of them\u2026 But the most surprising item was \u00a3500 for new carpets for the front of the house!<\/i>\u2019 <\/p>
<\/div><\/figure><p>An indignant Gilbert had protested at this expense. Whereupon, he reported, Carte replied, \u2018\u201cVery well, then; you write no more for the Savoy \u2013 that\u2019s understood\u201d \u2013 or words to that effect. I left him with the remark that it was a mistake to kick down the ladder by which he had risen\u2026\u2019<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-so-began-the-so-called-carpet-quarrel\">So began the so-called ‘carpet quarrel’<\/h2><p>So began the so-called \u2018carpet quarrel\u2019 which placed Sullivan in an embarrassing position. Successful though their past 15 years collaboration had been, with<i> HMS Pinafore<\/i>,<i> Pirates of Penzance <\/i>and<i> The Mikado <\/i>among their 11 acclaimed and lucrative <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/what-operetta\/\"><strong>operettas<\/strong><\/a>, Sullivan had become increasingly frustrated with the genre, even telling Gilbert of his wish to venture into grand opera. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Major-General's Song from The Pirates of Penzance - live and with lyrics!\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Rs3dPaz9nAo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><p>While Gilbert had bridled at Sullivan\u2019s claim that in their operettas he was obliged to subordinate his music to the words, Carte fully supported Sullivan\u2019s ambitions; indeed, Carte was having the Palace Theatre built specifically as a home for English grand opera, to be launched by Sullivan\u2019s first opera in prospect,<i> Ivanhoe<\/i>. Sullivan, in any case in ill health and wanting to avoid strife, turned down Gilbert\u2019s invitation to sift through the Savoy\u2019s accounts.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-final-fateful-meeting\">The final, fateful meeting<\/h2><p>Frustrated by Sullivan\u2019s indifference, on 5 May Gilbert wrote again to his long-standing partner: \u2018The time for putting an end to our collaboration has at last arrived\u2026 I am writing a letter to Carte (of which I enclose a copy) giving him notice that he is not to produce or perform any of my libretti after Christmas 1890. In point of fact, after the withdrawal of <i>The Gondoliers<\/i>, our united work will be heard in public no more.\u2019 <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"I am the Monarch of the Sea\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iZ-gfalEWI0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><p>Carte made several attempts to break the impasse, inviting Gilbert and Sullivan to talk things over face-to-face. During a \u2018peace conference\u2019 at the Savoy Theatre, Gilbert\u2019s temper got the better of him: he roared that Carte was exploiting and robbing both himself and Sullivan, turned on Carte and Sullivan, called them blackguards, then stormed out of the meeting. <\/p><p>On 1 September 1890 the case of<i> WS Gilbert v. Richard D\u2019Oyly Carte <\/i>was heard in the High Court of Justice. Gilbert demanded full accounts for<i> The Gondoliers <\/i>and for his full share of the net profits for the second quarter; furthermore, that a Receiver should be appointed at the Savoy Theatre to protect his future earnings. <\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/best-gilbert-and-sullivan-songs\">The 25 best Gilbert and Sullivan songs<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-legal-squabble-that-split-up-a-musical-phenomenon\">The legal squabble that split up a musical phenomenon <\/h2><p>D\u2019Oyly Carte agreed to pay Gilbert an extra \u00a31,000 for the last quarter, and to render up-to-date accounts within three weeks. However, the judge ruled it was not necessary to appoint a Receiver, Carte having argued that such interference with the theatre\u2019s management would not be in the interest of any party. <\/p><p>To reinforce this, Sullivan swore an affidavit claiming there was outstanding legal expenses. When Gilbert\u2019s solicitors subsequently discovered that those alleged legal expenses had been paid some time earlier, he wrote directly to Sullivan asking for a retraction; this the composer refused to do, so breaking their long-term friendship, if not their professional partnership.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-was-gilbert-and-sullivan-s-last-work\">What was Gilbert and Sullivan’s last work?<\/h2><p>Some years later Gilbert and Sullivan were shakily reunited through the efforts of Tom Chappell, the Savoy operas\u2019 music publisher. Their last two operettas, <i>Utopia Ltd<\/i> (1893) and <i>The Grand Duke<\/i> (1896) failed to match the success of their former triumphs.<\/p><p><strong>Top image by Getty Images<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/six-best-mozart-operas\/\">Six of the best Mozart operas<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/20-greatest-operas-all-time\/\">The 20 Greatest Operas of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Published: Wednesday, 14 August 2024 at 10:21 AM Early in 1890, the composer Arthur Sullivan, while taking a much needed holiday in the south of France, received a letter from WS Gilbert, the lyricist and Sullivan’s partner in a hugely successful writing partnership. The top 10 Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, ranked and rated It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":45940,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/they-were-a-phenomenally-successful-musical-duo-then-they-split-up-over-a-carpet.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/they-were-a-phenomenally-successful-musical-duo-then-they-split-up-over-a-carpet-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/they-were-a-phenomenally-successful-musical-duo-then-they-split-up-over-a-carpet-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/they-were-a-phenomenally-successful-musical-duo-then-they-split-up-over-a-carpet-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/they-were-a-phenomenally-successful-musical-duo-then-they-split-up-over-a-carpet-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/they-were-a-phenomenally-successful-musical-duo-then-they-split-up-over-a-carpet.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/they-were-a-phenomenally-successful-musical-duo-then-they-split-up-over-a-carpet.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Published: Wednesday, 14 August 2024 at 10:21 AM Early in 1890, the composer Arthur Sullivan, while taking a much needed holiday in the south of France, received a letter from WS Gilbert, the lyricist and Sullivan’s partner in a hugely successful writing partnership. The top 10 Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, ranked and rated It…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/45939"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}