There were, unsurprisingly, a great many Sullivan rolls issued in the
UK. In the 1914 Themodist catalogue there were no less than 38 rolls
of Sullivan compositions, although not all were Savoy Operas -- plenty
of hymns to keep the frivolity away. By 1924 just a handful of
additional song rolls had been issued.
Extracting from my typed-in catalogue (I didn't dash this lot off
tonight!), the listed rolls were:
Chorister, The (Accompaniment only, F major) 61673
Distant Shore, The (Accompaniment for medium voice, F major) 60199
Emerald Isle, The (Sullivan and German): Selections 9720
Gondoliers, The: Potpourri 9788 73771 TL 20117
Iolanthe: Selections 60373 T 70523 T 81746
Ivanhoe: Ho! Jolly Jenkin (Accompaniment for low voice, D major) TL 33005
It came upon the midnight clear (Sacred song arranged as a piano solo) 74289
Lead, kindly light (three verses) (Hymn arranged as a piano solo) 7572 88091
Let me dream again (Song arranged as a piano solo) 6069
Light of the world, The "And God shall wipe away all tears"
(Aria arranged as a piano solo) 7574
Lost Chord, The (Song arranged as a piano solo) 7527 64141
TL 21578 (Accompaniment for medium voice, F major) 285 TL 33059
Mikado, The:
Behold the Lord High Executioner 26159 (words)
For he's gone and married Yum-yum; Finale Act II 9784
Fantaisie by Gustav Lange 60343 T 82792
Flowers that bloom in the spring, The 26161 (words)
A more humane Mikado never did in Japan exist 26157 (words)
Potpourri 9780 T 68541 T 80536
Potpourri arranged for four hands by Alfred Oelschlegel 3342 T82984
Selection arranged by W. Winterbottom (Rolls 1 & 2) T 30281 & T 30282
There is beauty in the Bellow of the Blast 26162 (words)
Tit Willow 26160 (words)
A wand'ring Minstrel, I 9783
My dearest heart 26683 (words)
Onward, Christian Soldiers T21746
Overture, C major, "In Memoriam" TL 16012 TL 22332
Patience:
Act I, Sextet, "I hear the soft note of the echoing voice" 9792
Potpourri 9785 T 70803 T 81744
Quadrilles, arranged by Chas. d'Albert. Figures 1, 2, 3 L 3723,
Figures, 4, 5 L 3724
Pinafore, H. M. S.:
Act II, Nightingale's song, "Maiden fair to see" 9794
Potpourri 9779 T 69293 T 89484
Transcription by Ed. Dorn 60339
Pirates of Penzance, The:
Poor wandering one 9781
Potpourri 9777 T 69813 T 89462
Princess Ida
Fantaisie by W. Kuhe TL 15607 TL 21401
Rose of Persia, The
Selection 60495
Ruddigore:
Selection arranged by W. Winterbottom. Rolls 1 & 2, T24169 & T24170
Sailor's Grave, The (Accompaniment for low voice, C major) TL 33054
Savoy Memories Arranged by H. Derry
Roll I TL 15462 TL 20062
Roll II L 2845 TL 20063
Roll III TL 15464 TL 21239
Selection of Sullivan's songs Arranged by G. W. Byng L 1723
L 12157 TL 20127
Selection of songs Arranged by Chas. Godfrey, Jun. 60309
Trial by Jury:
Selection by Harry Derry L 9091 TL 15572 TL 21371
When I, good friends, was called to the bar (Judge's song)
(Arranged as a piano solo) TL 15609
Yeoman of the Guard:
Selections arranged by Chas. Godfrey, Jun. 60455 TL 15735
The 1914 catalogue lists three series: Standard 65-note (mostly 4-digit
numbers), Themodist-Metrostyle 65-note (numbers starting 1, 6 or 7) and
88-note (numbers starting 2 and 8). The later song rolls are all 26xxx.
Most of these would have been issued on Universal labels as well.
The 65-note rolls without an L prefix use American masters, as do the
88-note ones starting with 8. The L-prefix and 88-note rolls starting
with 2 or 3 are from British masters and most probably were never
offered for sale in America.
Answering the earlier question using the above list, you can see that a
cluster of five song rolls (26157 to 26162) were issued of Mikado, and
one hymn. The accompaniment rolls would expect the singer to know the
words or possess the sheet music, and are proper accompaniments which
don't mask the sung line, unlike the later song rolls that tend to
emphasise the melody to help weaker singers. The 'piano solo' rolls are
the fully-figured arrangements that you might find on a song roll, but
don't actually have the words on the roll.
It's interesting to see that the famous "Patter" songs are missing from
this list, as is almost anything humorous. How times change!
Julian Dyer
P.S.: Yesterday's Animatic roll from Mikado is played by Patrick
O'Sullivan, who presumably was not a relative of the composer.
|