''Fallen Fairies''; ''or, The Wicked World'', is a two-act
comic opera
Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue.
Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...
, with a
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
by
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...
and music by
Edward German
Sir Edward German (17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of ...
. The story is an operatic adaptation of Gilbert's 1873
blank-verse
Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...
fairy comedy, ''
The Wicked World
''The Wicked World'' is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts. It opened at the Haymarket Theatre on 1873 and ran for a successful 145 performances, closing on 1873. The play is an allegory loosely based on a short illustrated st ...
''. In Fairyland, the fairies are curious about wicked mortals, especially their strange capacity for love. They summon three mortal men from the world below to observe them and to teach the men how to live virtuously. The fairies fall in love with the mortals, become jealous of each other and behave badly. The men return to Earth, and the fairies realize that love is overrated.
The piece premiered at London's
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...
on 15 December 1909. Gilbert directed the opera.
Charles Herbert Workman produced and starred as Lutin. The cast also starred Gilbert protégée
Nancy McIntosh
Nancy Isobel McIntosh (25 October 1866 – February 20, 1954) was an American-born singer and actress who performed mostly on the London stage. Her father was a member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which had been blamed in connec ...
as Selene, the Fairy Queen. McIntosh received negative reviews, and Workman soon replaced her with
Amy Evans
Amy Evans (24 October 1884 – 5 January 1983) was a Welsh soprano and actress known for her performances in oratorio, recitals, and opera. She also made some music recordings beginning in 1906. In 1910, she played the leading role of Selene ...
and made changes in the play that angered Gilbert, who sued Workman. Despite better reviews for Evans, the work did not please the critics, or ultimately the audiences. It failed, closing after just 50 performances. Neither Gilbert nor German would write another opera.
Background
Early in his career, Gilbert wrote a number of successful
blank-verse
Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...
fairy comedies. He was clearly fascinated by this plot, which had been the subject of his 1871 short story of the same name before writing ''
The Wicked World
''The Wicked World'' is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts. It opened at the Haymarket Theatre on 1873 and ran for a successful 145 performances, closing on 1873. The play is an allegory loosely based on a short illustrated st ...
'' in 1873. He also wrote (under a pseudonym) an 1873 play that parodies ''The Wicked World'' called ''
The Happy Land
''The Happy Land'' is a play with music written in 1873 by W. S. Gilbert (under the pseudonym F. Latour Tomline) and Gilbert Arthur à Beckett. The musical play burlesques Gilbert's earlier play, ''The Wicked World''. The blank verse piece op ...
'', and contained much political satire aimed at politicians of the day; this made a sensation at the
Court Theatre after the Lord Chamberlain banned parts of it.
Like a number of Gilbert's blank-verse plays, ''Fallen Fairies'' treats the ensuing consequences when an all-female world is disrupted by men and the romantic complications they bring. His plays ''
The Princess'' (1870) and ''
Broken Hearts
''Broken Hearts'' is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts styled "An entirely original fairy play". It opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 9 December 1875, running for three months, and toured the provinces in 1876. It wa ...
'' (1875), and his earlier operas ''
Iolanthe
''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...
'' (1882) and ''
Princess Ida
''Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant'' is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. ''Princess Ida'' opened at the Savoy Theatre on 5 January 1884, for a ru ...
'' (1884), are all treatments of this basic idea. Stedman calls this a "Gilbertian invasion plot". ''Princess Ida'' and ''Fallen Fairies'', both based on earlier blank-verse plays by Gilbert, unlike Gilbert's other operas, both retain blank verse in the dialogue.
Creation and production
An operatic version of ''
The Wicked World
''The Wicked World'' is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts. It opened at the Haymarket Theatre on 1873 and ran for a successful 145 performances, closing on 1873. The play is an allegory loosely based on a short illustrated st ...
'' had been on Gilbert's mind for some time. As early as 1897, he had suggested the idea to
Helen Carte
Helen Carte Boulter (born Susan Helen Couper Black; 12 May 1852 – 5 May 1913), also known as Helen Lenoir, was a Scottish businesswoman known for her diplomatic skills and grasp of detail. Beginning as his secretary, and later marrying, impre ...
, the wife and partner of
Richard D'Oyly Carte
Richard D'Oyly Carte (; 3 May 1844 – 3 April 1901) was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer, and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. He built two of London's theatres and a hotel empire, while also establi ...
.
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
,
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...
,
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
,
Liza Lehmann
Liza Lehmann (11 July 1862 – 19 September 1918) was an English soprano and composer, known for her vocal compositions.Banfield, Stephen. Grove Music Online'
After vocal studies with Alberto Randegger and Jenny Lind, and composition studies ...
and
Alexander Mackenzie, to whom he offered it in turn, all objected to the absence of a male chorus.
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
also turned it down, but did not say why. Gilbert finally found a willing collaborator in
Edward German
Sir Edward German (17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of ...
.
Charles Herbert Workman, who had made a name playing the comic baritone parts in the
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...
operas, assembled a production syndicate in 1909 to produce comic operas (starring himself) at the Savoy Theatre, beginning with ''
The Mountaineers'', followed by ''Fallen Fairies'', in which he appeared in the comic role of Lutin. The piece opened on 15 December 1909, and the cast also starred
Leo Sheffield
Leo Sheffield (15 November 1873 – 3 September 1951), born Arthur Leo Wilson, was an English singer and actor best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
He made his first stage a ...
as Phyllon,
Percy Anderson designed the costumes.
John D'Auban
Frederick John D'Auban (1842 – 15 April 1922) was an English dancer, choreographer and actor of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Famous during his lifetime as the ballet-master at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, he is best remembered as the c ...
choreographed. Had ''Fallen Fairies'' been a success, it was intended that Gilbert would revive (with revisions) earlier operas of his that were not in the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Th ...
repertoire, and that it would be followed by at least one more new work by Gilbert and German.
[Stedman, pp. 334–35]
With German's agreement, Gilbert cast his protégée
Nancy McIntosh
Nancy Isobel McIntosh (25 October 1866 – February 20, 1954) was an American-born singer and actress who performed mostly on the London stage. Her father was a member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which had been blamed in connec ...
as the Fairy Queen, Selene. McIntosh's vocal powers were not what they had been a decade earlier, and critics found her performance weak, saying that she was "too much a tragedy queen" for the romantic role.
[ On 3 January 1910, Workman's syndicate replaced McIntosh with ]Amy Evans
Amy Evans (24 October 1884 – 5 January 1983) was a Welsh soprano and actress known for her performances in oratorio, recitals, and opera. She also made some music recordings beginning in 1906. In 1910, she played the leading role of Selene ...
and demanded the restoration of a song that Gilbert had cut during rehearsals. Gilbert was outraged and sued Workman and the syndicate, but German declined to join him, dismayed by the dispute. Gilbert angrily banned Workman from ever performing in his operas in the United Kingdom.[Morrison, Robert]
"The Controversy Surrounding Gilbert's Last Opera"
, The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive ''The Musical Times'' wrote:
:"The part of 'Selene', the fairy queen, in the Gilbert-German opera 'Fallen Fairies' is now being played with great success by Miss Amy Evans, a young singer who has made a name on the concert and Eisteddfod platforms in Wales, but who is new to the stage. She sings a new song, the words of which are by Sir William Gilbert and the music by Edward German. This song has been the subject, first of an injunction, and then of a mysterious law suit brought by Sir William against the Savoy management. It is now restored to the performance by mutual consent."
The replacement of the leading lady was not enough to save ''Fallen Fairies'' from an early closing, although Evans earned praise in the role. Indeed, faults in Gilbert's libretto were likely as much to blame as any failings of McIntosh.[ ''The Observer'' wrote, "It is a strange compound of trifling and tragedy, of gossamer and gnashings of teeth ... the effect is a little like that of an act of ''Othello'' pieced into ''The Merry Wives of Windsor''." ]Rutland Barrington
Rutland Barrington (15 January 1853 – 31 May 1922) was an English singer, actor, comedian and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his ...
, in his 1911 memoir, wrote: "I am inclined to attribute much of the failure of the opera to catch on to the fact that, owing to the entire absence of men's voices to balance the mass of soprani and alti, one's ears suffered from an unavoidable weariness, and a longing for the robust report of the male choristers; the humour of the play also seemed to me to have evaporated, to a great extent, with its conversion" to a comic opera.
Fallen Fairies has never been revived professionally, and has hardly ever been revived at all, although it was given a semi-staged concert revival in 2014 at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival
The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival was founded in 1994 by Ian Smith and his son Neil and is held every summer in England. The two- or three-week Festival of Gilbert and Sullivan opera performances and fringe events attracts thousands ...
in Harrogate
Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
, England.[Bond, Ian]
"Fallen Fairies"
, Rarely Performed Shows, St David's Players, Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
, England, accessed 17 October 2014. See also the International G&S Festival's programme for 12 August 2014 Early in 1909, Workman had planned to produce revivals of several Gilbert and Sullivan operas (and two Gilbert operas) at the Savoy after ''Fallen Fairies'', but after his dispute with Gilbert, this idea was out of the question.[
]
Roles and original cast
:Fairies
* The Fairy Ethais (''tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
'') – Claude Flemming
Claude Flemming (1884–1952) was an Australian actor, writer, producer and director of theatre and film whose varied stage career spanned the first half of the 20th century. He performed in Shakespeare and other drama, as well as opera, and bec ...
* The Fairy Phyllon (''bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...
'') – Leo Sheffield
Leo Sheffield (15 November 1873 – 3 September 1951), born Arthur Leo Wilson, was an English singer and actor best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
He made his first stage a ...
* Selene, ''the Fairy Queen'' (''soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
'') – Nancy McIntosh
Nancy Isobel McIntosh (25 October 1866 – February 20, 1954) was an American-born singer and actress who performed mostly on the London stage. Her father was a member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which had been blamed in connec ...
(replaced by Amy Evans
Amy Evans (24 October 1884 – 5 January 1983) was a Welsh soprano and actress known for her performances in oratorio, recitals, and opera. She also made some music recordings beginning in 1906. In 1910, she played the leading role of Selene ...
)
* Darine, (''mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
'') – Madie Hope
* Zayda (''mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
'') – Jessie Rose
* Locrine (''contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...
'') – Ethel Morrison
* Zara (''speaking role'') – Mabel Burnege
* Cora (''mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
'') – Rita Otway
* Leila (''mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
'') – Ruby Gray
* Neodie (''speaking role'') – Alice Cox
* Fleta (''mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
'') – Marjorie Dawes
* Chloris (non-speaking role) – Miriam Lycett
* Maia (non-speaking role) – Gladys Lancaster
* Ina (non-speaking role) – Isabel Agnew
* Lutin, ''a serving fairy'' (''comic baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
'') – C. H. Workman
Charles Herbert Workman (5 May 1872 – 1 May 1923) was a singer and actor best known as a successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. He was variously credited as Charles H. Workman, C. Herbert Wo ...
:Mortals
* Sir Ethais, ''a Hunnish Knight'' (''tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
'') – Claude Flemming
* Sir Phyllon, ''a Hunnish Knight'' (''bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...
'') – Leo Sheffield
* Lutin, ''Sir Ethais's Henchman'' (''comic baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
'') – C. H. Workman
Synopsis
Act I
The scene is laid in Fairyland, outside the Fairy Queen's bower, which for the purposes of the opera, is supposed to be located on the upper side of a cloud which floats over the Earth.
The fairies sing of the "wicked world" below, which they believe is populated by mortals who sin throughout their lives. Selene, their Queen, tells them that Lutin, the only fairy who has ever set foot on solid ground, will soon be returning home after a long absence. Ethais and Phyllon reveal that every fairy has an exact counterpart in the mortal world, the only difference being that the fairies are absolutely free from sin, while the identical-looking mortal is "stained with every kind of infamy."
Lutin arrives, and the eager fairies question him about what he has observed down below, but Lutin says it is too shocking to tell. Lutin tells them that their King has a gift for the fairies, and he has commanded Ethais and Phyllon to journey to mid-earth to receive it. They depart.
The fairies wonder why, if the mortal world is so miserable, its inhabitants do not take their own lives. Selene explains that mortals have one great gift that makes life worth living – the gift of Love. The fairies are in wonder at Selene's description, as they have never experienced Love. Selene explains that Love is unnecessary. Moreover, it is impossible for them to experience it, as only a mortal can inspire love, and mortals cannot set foot in Fairyland.
Zayda points out that there is a "half-forgotten law" that, when a fairy leaves his home to visit earth, those whom he leaves behind may summon his mortal counterpart from below, who may fill the absent fairy's place until he returns. Selene is shocked that the fairies would consider invoking this law, but the other fairies point out a possible benefit. They suggest that once the mortals have observed the fairies' immaculate lives, they would return to Earth and reform mankind's sinful ways. Selene agrees, and they summon Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon, the mortal counterparts to the two recently departed fairies.
On arriving, both Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon immediately suspect the other of some kind of wizardry, and they start fighting. The fairies, who have never seen combat, believe it is a game. Sir Ethais is wounded in the arm. When the fairies step forward, the two knights are immediately taken with their beauty, and agree to stop fighting. The fairies, too, are immediately smitten with the men. Selene explains that the fairies wish to teach them how to live good and pure lives, while commenting in an aside
An aside is a dramatic device in which a character speaks to the audience. By convention, the audience is to realize that the character's speech is unheard by the other characters on stage. It may be addressed to the audience expressly (in charact ...
how attractive they are. The men vow immediately to reform their sinful ways, taking tutelage from the fairies.
Selene wonders if there is a way that mortals show loyalty to a Queen. They explain that it is done with "a very long and tender kiss ... preferably, just below the nose." The fairies have never heard of this procedure, but they are pleased to be kissed on the lips, as they know it carries great weight with the knights.
Sir Ethais is weak from loss of blood, and asks to summon his henchman, Lutin, who is skilled at healing. The fairy Lutin enters, and Sir Ethais mistakes him for his mortal counterpart. Lutin is appalled to find mortals in Fairyland, warning the fairies that Love is the source of all earthly sin. The fairies, now smitten with the men, do not believe him. Selene sends Lutin down below, so that his mortal counterpart can replace him. As he descends, the Fairies kneel at the feet of Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon.
Act II
The fairies stand vigil outside of Selene's bower, where she has been tending Sir Ethais, who is delirious from the effects of his wound. The fairies are outraged at Selene's indecorous behaviour, and wonder if she is still fit to serve as Queen. Selene enters and tells them she has saved Sir Ethais's life, but the jealous fairies are not interested in listening to her. Selene is perplexed at her sisters' changed attitude.
Sir Ethais emerges from the bower, still weak from his wound. The pair acknowledge that they are in love. Selene offers to give up everything – her home, her honour, her life – to be with Sir Ethais. She gives him a ring as a pledge of her love. They go back into the bower together. Darine has overheard them. She too is wildly in love with Sir Ethais, and is feverishly jealous of Selene. Sir Phyllon enters and tries to court Darine, but she does not return his affection. After Sir Phyllon leaves, Selene re-enters. Sir Ethais has suffered a setback, and she fears he will die. Darine suggests that the only hope is to summon the fairy Lutin's mortal counterpart, who will be able to cure Sir Ethais. Selene is grateful for the suggestion, unaware that Darine intends to woo Sir Ethais for herself, once he is recovered.
The mortal Lutin arrives. He is just as enchanted with the fairies as Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon were in Act I, and they are similarly impressed with him. Lutin is so taken with Fairyland that he calls it Paradise and assumes he must be dead. The fairies explain the situation, and they all vie for his attention, saying that they prefer his rugged appearance to men that are handsome. Zayda persuades all the other fairies to find food for Lutin. When they have left, she tells him that all of the other fairies have faults, and that ''she'' is the only fairy worthy of his esteem. When the other fairies return, they ask Lutin if he has a wife. He replies that he is married down below, but is a bachelor in Fairyland, which offends Zayda.
Darine enters, desperately seeking Lutin's aid to cure Sir Ethais. She is the fairy counterpart to Lutin's mortal wife. Lutin does not understand this and assumes his wife has followed him there to chastise his infidelity. After a lengthy misunderstanding, Darine finally gets through to Lutin, and he gives her a phial with the magical cure for Sir Ethais's wound.
Darine contrives a ruse to win Sir Ethais's love. She tells him that Sir Phyllon had accused him of exaggerating the severity of his wound, so that he could avoid fighting again. Sir Ethais is outraged at being called a coward, and wants to challenge Sir Phyllon if he ever recovers. Darine tells him that she has the cure, but she will give it to him only if he promises to love her. Sir Ethais agrees, and observing that one beautiful woman is as good as another, gives Selene's ring to Darine. He takes the potion, and is cured. Sir Phyllon enters, and Sir Ethais accosts him. Their argument escalates, and Sir Ethais turns to Darine to confirm that Sir Phyllon had accused him of cowardice. Darine admits that this was only an artifice. Sir Ethais asks Sir Phyllon's forgiveness and renounces Darine. She implores him to reconsider.
Selene enters. She wonders why her sister is alone with Sir Ethais. Darine calls Selene a hypocrite. The other fairies now enter, and tell Selene that she is the source of all the ill that has blighted Fairyland. They urge her to relinquish the throne in favour of Darine. Admitting that she has been an unfit Queen, she takes off her crown and places it on Darine's head. Selene says that her kingdom is now in the heart of Sir Ethais, but Darine insists that he belongs to her, showing that she now has the ring that Selene had pledged to him. Selene is shocked, but Sir Ethais admits that he had parted with it in exchange for the cure to his wound. Selene pronounces him, of all men, "the most accursed." He begs her forgiveness, and in a rambling address she denounces him, but says that she will join him on earth.
Locrine bursts in with the news that the men's fairy counterparts are about to return. The mortal Lutin is much relieved, for while he finds Zayda enchanting, he cannot enjoy himself while Darine, who bears so close a resemblance to his wife, is looking on. Sir Phyllon and Lutin descend to earth. Selene frantically tries to detain Sir Ethais, saying that she wants to accompany him to earth, to be his "humble, silent, and submissive slave." But Sir Ethais has now tired of her. He casts her aside and returns to Earth, alone.
As soon as the men are gone, the fairies change their attitudes, as if awaking from a dream. With the mortals now gone from their midst, the chastened fairies admit that they have all sinned. The fairy Ethais arrives with the news that fairies, like mortals, can love. But Selene warns that love is a deadly snare. The chorus praise Selene's purity, and Darine returns the crown to her head. The fairies kneel in adoration at her feet.
Musical numbers
; Act I
*1. Fairies, Locrine and Darine – "Oh, world below!"
*2. Fairies, Zayda, Fleta, Locrine, Leila and Lutin – "Hail, Lutin, wondrous traveller!"
*3. Lutin with Fairies" – One incident I'll tell that will appall"
*4. Selene – "With all the misery, with all the shame"
*5. Darine, Zayda and Fairies – "Man is a being all accuse"
*6. Selene and Fairies – "And now to summon them"
*7. Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon – "By god and man, who brought us here, and how.... This is some wizardry of thy design"
*8. Selene and Fairies – "Poor, purblind, wayward youths"
*9. Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon – "With keen remorse"
**Darine, Zayda and Locrine – "Oh, gentle knights, with joy elate"
**Selene – "If my obedient pupils you would be"
**Sir Ethais, Sir Phyllon, Darine, Selene with Fairies – "When homage to his Queen a subject shows"
*10. Act I Finale:
**Lutin – "The warrior, girt in shining might"
**Zayda, Darine, Selene, Ethais and Lutin – "Nay, heed him not!"
**Lutin with Fairies – "Hark ye, you sir!"
**Fairies, Sir Ethais and Sir Phyllon – "Oh, gallant gentlemen"
;Act II
*11. Fairies – "For many an hour"
*12. Zayda and Fairies – "I never profess to make a guess"
*12a Selene – "Oh love that rulest in our land"
*13. Selene and Sir Ethais – "Thy features are fair and seemly"
*14. Sir Ethais and Selene – "When a knight loves ladye"
*15. Darine and Sir Phyllon – "But dost thou hear?"
*16. Lutin, Fleta, Locrine, Cora, Leila – "Help! Help! Help!... A freak of nature, not of art"
*17. Lutin with Fairies – "Suppose you take, with open mind"
*18. Lutin with Fairies – "In yonder world, where devils strew"
*19. Lutin with Fairies – "When husband supposes"
*20. Darine – "Triumphant I!"
*21. Darine, Zayda, Locrine, Fleta, Selene and Fairies – "Away, away! Thou art no Queen of ours"
*22. Selene – "Hark ye, sir knight"
*22a. Melodrame (Orchestra)
*23. Act II Finale: Company – "Pure as the air"
Notes
References
*
*
*
* Gillespie, James. "Gilbert's Last Opera" in ''Savoyard'', 12:2 (September 1973), pp. 10–12.
*Hargreaves, Henry A. "Sir William Schwenck Gilbert and the lure of the fallen fairies" (1967) IMZ report: Records/Disques/Schallplatten – Die Schallplatte in der Musikkultur der Gegenwart Wien: Internationales Musikzentrum Wien pp. 63–70.
*
*
*Review: "Fallen Fairies." ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 51, No. 803 (1 January 1910), p. 23
*Review: "Fallen Fairies, Or, The Wicked World." ''The Times'' (16 December 1909), p. 12; Issue 39144; col D
*Pearson, Hesketh. ''Gilbert and Sullivan'' (1935), Harmondsworth, Penguin Books
*
*Shepherd, Marc. "Introduction: Historical Context", ''The Grand Duke'' (piano score), New York: Oakapple Press, 2009. Linked a
"The Grand Duke"
''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive''
*
* Dunhill, Thomas F. "Edward German, An Appreciation" in ''Musical Times'', Vol. 77, No. 1126 (Dec. 1936), pp. 1073–1077.
External links
''Fallen Fairies''
at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive, including several contemporaneous reviews in London papers
* ttp://edwardgermandisc.synthasite.com/recordings-of-fallen-fairies.php "Fallen Fairies"at the Edward German Discography
{{Edward German
1909 operas
Works by W. S. Gilbert
Operas by Edward German
English-language operas
English comic operas
Operas
Fairies and sprites in popular culture