Ruddigore: or The Witch's Curse
By W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan
()
About this ebook
The partnership between William Schwenck Gilbert and Arthur Seymour Sullivan and their canon of Savoy Operas is rightly lauded by all lovers of comic opera the world over. Gilbert’s sharp, funny words and Sullivan’s deliciously lively and hummable tunes create a world that is distinctly British in view but has the world as its audience. Both men were exceptionally talented and gifted in their own right and wrote much, often with other partners, that still stands the test of time. However, together as a team they created Light or Comic Operas of a standard that have had no rivals equal to their standard, before or since. That’s quite an achievement. To be recognised by the critics is one thing but their commercial success was incredible. The profits were astronomical, allowing for the building of their own purpose built theatre – The Savoy Theatre. Beginning with the first of their fourteen collaborations, Thespis in 1871 and travelling through many classics including The Sorcerer (1877), H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879), The Mikado (1885), The Gondoliers (1889) to their finale in 1896 with The Grand Duke, Gilbert & Sullivan created a legacy that is constantly revived and admired in theatres and other media to this very day.
W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) was an English librettist, dramatist, and poet. Born in London, Gilbert was raised by William, a surgeon and novelist, and Anne Mary, an apothecary’s daughter. As a child he lived with his parents in Italy and France before finally returning to London in 1847. Gilbert graduated from Kind’s College London in 1856 before joining the Civil Service and briefly working as a barrister. In 1861, he began publishing poems, stories, and theatre reviews in Fun, The Cornhill Magazine, and Temple Bar. His first play was Uncle Baby, which ran to moderate acclaim for seven weeks in 1863. He soon became one of London’s most popular writers of opera burlesques, but turned away from the form in 1869 to focus on prose comedies. In 1871, he began working with composer Arthur Sullivan, whose music provided the perfect melody to some of the most popular comic operas of all time, including H. M. S. Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879), and The Mikado (1885). At London’s Savoy Theatre and around the world, The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company would perform Gilbert and Sullivan’s works for the next century. Gilbert, the author of more than 75 plays and countless more poems, stories, and articles, influenced such writers as Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, as well as laid the foundation for the success of American musical theatre on Broadway and beyond.
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Ruddigore - W. S. Gilbert
Ruddigore by Gilbert & Sullivan
or The Witch's Curse
Libretto by William S. Gilbert
Music by Arthur Sullivan
The partnership between William Schwenck Gilbert and Arthur Seymour Sullivan and their canon of Savoy Operas is rightly lauded by all lovers of comic opera the world over.
Gilbert’s sharp, funny words and Sullivan’s deliciously lively and hummable tunes create a world that is distinctly British in view but has the world as its audience.
Both men were exceptionally talented and gifted in their own right and wrote much, often with other partners, that still stands the test of time. However, together as a team they created Light or Comic Operas of a standard that have had no rivals equal to their standard, before or since. That’s quite an achievement.
To be recognised by the critics is one thing but their commercial success was incredible. The profits were astronomical, allowing for the building of their own purpose built theatre – The Savoy Theatre.
Beginning with the first of their fourteen collaborations, Thespis in 1871 and travelling through many classics including The Sorcerer (1877), H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879), The Mikado (1885), The Gondoliers (1889) to their finale in 1896 with The Grand Duke, Gilbert & Sullivan created a legacy that is constantly revived and admired in theatres and other media to this very day.
Index of Contents
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
SCENES
TIME
MUSICAL NUMBERS
ACT I
ACT II
GILBERT & SULLIVAN – A SHORT BIOGRAPHY
GILBERT & SULLIVAN – A CONCISE BIBLIOGRAPHY
The tenth opera written by Gilbert & Sullivan was Ruddigore, or The Witch's Curse. The supernatural opera
debuted on January 21, 1887 at the Savoy Theatre and ran for 288 performances. It was only with a revival in 1920 that it was substantially cut and provided with a new overture arranged by Geoffrey Toye.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
MORTALS
SIR RUTHVEN MURGATROYD (disguised as Robin Oakapple, a Young Farmer)
RICHARD DAUNTLESS (his Foster-Brother, a Man-o'-war's man)
SIR DESPARD MURGATROYD, OF RUDDIGORE (a Wicked Baronet)
OLD ADAM GOODHEART (Robin's Faithful Servant)
ROSE MAYBUD (a Village Maiden)
MAD MARGARET
DAME HANNAH (Rose's Aunt)
ZORAH and RUTH (Professional Bridesmaids)
GHOSTS
SIR RUPERT MURGATROYD (the First Baronet)
SIR JASPER MURGATROYD (the Third Baronet)
SIR LIONEL MURGATROYD (the Sixth Baronet)
SIR CONRAD MURGATROYD (the Twelfth Baronet)
SIR DESMOND MURGATROYD (the Sixteenth Baronet)
SIR GILBERT MURGATROYD (the Eighteenth Baronet)
SIR MERVYN MURGATROYD (the Twentieth Baronet)
and
SIR RODERIC MURGATROYD (the Twenty-first Baronet)
Chorus of Officers, Ancestors, Professional Bridesmaids, and Villagers
SCENES
ACT I - The Fishing Village of Rederring, in Cornwall
ACT II - The Picture Gallery in Ruddigore Castle
TIME - Early in the 19th Century
MUSICAL NUMBERS
Original Overture (arranged by Hamilton Clarke, includes I once was as meek
, Oh, why am I moody and sad?
, Welcome, gentry
, The battle's roar is over
and When a man has been a naughty Baronet
)
Revised Overture (arranged by Geoffrey Toye, 1920; includes I once was as meek
, When the night wind howls
, I know a youth
, My eyes are fully open
, I shipped, d'ye see
and Hornpipe)
ACT I
1. Fair is Rose (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
2. Sir Rupert Murgatroyd (Hannah and Chorus)
3. If somebody there chanced to be (Rose)
4. I know a youth (Rose and Robin)
5. From the briny sea (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
6. I shipp'd, d'ye see, in a revenue sloop (Richard and Chorus)
6a. Hornpipe
7. My boy, you may take it from me (Robin and Richard)
8. The battle's roar is over (Rose and Richard)
9. If well his suit has sped (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
10. In sailing o'er life's ocean wide (Rose, Richard, and Robin)
11. Cheerily carols the lark (Margaret)
12. Welcome, gentry (Double Chorus)
13. Oh, why am I moody and sad? (Sir Despard and Chorus)
14. You understand? I think I do (Richard and Sir Despard)
15. Finale Act I
Hail the bride of seventeen summers (Ensemble)
Madrigal, When the buds are blossoming (Ensemble)
When I'm a bad Bart, I will tell taradiddles! (Robin and Chorus)
Oh, happy the lily (Ensemble)
ACT II
16. I once was as meek (Sir Ruthven and Adam)
17. Happily coupled are we (Rose and Richard)
18. In bygone days (Rose with Chorus of Bridesmaids)
19. Painted emblems of a race (Sir Ruthven, Sir Roderic, and Chorus of Ancestors)
20. When the night wind howls (Sir Roderic and Chorus)
21. He yields, he yields (Chorus)
22. (original) Away, remorse! ...For thirty-five years I've been sober and wary (Robin)
22. (replaced) Away, remorse! ... Henceforth all the crimes (Robin) (The original song was replaced about a week into the original run.
23. I once was a very abandoned person (Margaret and Despard)
24. My eyes are fully open (Margaret, Sir Ruthven, and Despard)
25. Melodrame
26. There grew a little flower (Hannah with Sir Roderic)
27. Finale Act II (Ensemble)
When a man has been a naughty baronet
For happy the lily (reprise) (Ensemble) (See Versions).
ACT I
SCENE - The fishing village of Rederring (in Cornwall). ROSE MAYBUD’S cottage is seen L.
Enter CHORUS OF BRIDESMAIDS. They range themselves in front of Rose's cottage.
CHORUS OF BRIDESMAIDS
Fair is Rose as bright May-day;
Soft is Rose as the warm west-wind;
Sweet is Rose as the new-mown hay—
Rose is queen of maiden-kind!
Rose, all glowing
With virgin blushes, say—
Is anybody going
To marry you to-day?
SOLO—ZORAH
Every day, as the days roll on,
Bridesmaids' garb we gaily don,
Sure that a maid so fairly famed
Can't long remain unclaimed.
Hour by hour and day by day,
Several months have passed away,
Though she's the fairest flower that blows,
No one has married Rose!
CHORUS
Rose, all glowing
With virgin blushes, say—
Is anybody going
To marry you to-day?
ZORAH
Hour by hour and day by day,
Months have passed away.
CHORUS.
Fair is Rose as bright Mayday, etc.
(Enter DAME HANNAH, from cottage.)
HANNAH
Nay, gentle maidens, you sing well but vainly, for Rose is still heart-free, and looks but coldly upon her many suitors.
ZORAH
It's very disappointing. Every young man in the village is in love with her, but they are appalled by her beauty and modesty, and won't declare themselves; so, until she makes her own choice, there's no chance for anybody else.
RUTH
This is, perhaps, the only village in the world that possesses an endowed corps of professional bridesmaids who are bound to be on duty every day from ten to four—and it is at least six months since our services were required. The pious charity by which we exist is practically wasted!
ZORAH
We shall be disendowed—that will be the end of it! Dame Hannah—you're a nice old person—you could marry if you liked. There's old Adam—Robin's faithful servant—he loves you with all the frenzy of a boy of fourteen.
HANNAH
Nay—that may never be, for I am pledged!
ALL
To whom?
HANNAH
To an eternal maidenhood! Many years ago I was betrothed to a god-like youth who woo'd me under an assumed name. But on the very day upon which our wedding was to have been celebrated, I discovered that he was no other than Sir Roderic Murgatroyd, one of the bad Baronets of Ruddigore, and the uncle of the man who now bears that