''The Outpost'' is an opera or operetta by the composer

Hamilton Clarke James Hamilton Siree Clarke (25 January 1840 – 9 July 1912), better known as Hamilton Clarke, was an English conductor, composer and organist. Although Clarke was a prolific composer, he is best remembered as an associate of Arthur Sullivan, ...

with a libretto by A. O'D. Bartholeyns. The story is an adaptation of the

Singspiel A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk-like ...

''Der vierjährige Posten'' by Theodor Körner with music by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

.Walters, Michael and George Low
"The Outpost"
''Curtain Raisers'', The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 25 April 2008, accessed 8 May 2010 The piece was one of Clarke's last compositions following several operettas that he had composed for the German Reeds. It premiered at the

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 ...

from 2 July 1900 to 3 November 1900 as a companion piece to 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 ...

opera ''

The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 ...

'', for the second London revival of ''Pirates'', and also played from 10 November 1900 to 7 December 1900 as a companion piece to ''

Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when faced ...

'', a total of 131 performances. After this, the work was performed on tour from late 1901 through 1902 as a companion piece to ''Pirates'', ''Patience'' and ''

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 ...

''. Both the score and the libretto appear to be lost, but there survives a copy of a fantasia for flute and piano, based on airs from the piece, and so the vocal score may have been published. The fashion in the late

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

and

Edwardian era The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

was to present long evenings in the theatre, and so producer

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 ...

preceded his

Savoy opera Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impr ...

s with

curtain raisers A curtain raiser is a short performance, stage act, show, actor or performer that opens a show for the main attraction. The term is derived from the act of raising the stage curtain. The first person on stage has "raised the curtain". The fashio ...

, like ''The Outpost''.

W. J. MacQueen-Pope Walter James MacQueen-Pope (11 April 1888 – 27 June 1960), known familiarly as Popie, was an English theatre historian and publicist. From a theatrical family which could be traced back to contemporaries of Shakespeare, he was in management for ...

commented, concerning such curtain raisers: :This was a one-act play, seen only by the early comers. It would play to empty boxes, half-empty upper circle, to a gradually filling stalls and dress circle, but to an attentive, grateful and appreciative pit and gallery. Often these plays were little gems. They deserved much better treatment than they got, but those who saw them delighted in them. ...

hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...

served to give young actors and actresses a chance to win their spurs ... the stalls and the boxes lost much by missing the curtain-raiser, but to them dinner was more important.

Roles and original cast

*Walter – H. Carlyle Pritchard *Henry –

Charles Childerstone Charles Childerstone (3 July 1872 – 29 May 1947) was an English operatic tenor and actor who after a career on the stage including a period with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1896 to 1903 later had a career on the music halls and in f ...

*Karl – W. H. Leon *Colonel – Edwin Bryan *Captain –

Powis Pinder Powis Pinder (6 September 1872 – 25 July 1941) was an operatic baritone who created a number of minor roles in the Savoy Operas and played a range of more important parts in Gilbert and Sullivan operas and other works during a two decade l ...

/ J. Lewis Campion *Corporal – Iago Lewis ewys *Kate – Lulu Evans/Nell Richardson Campion played from 30 July to 11 August, while Pinder was substituting as the Pirate King in ''Pirates''. Nell Richardson probably played while Evans was off from 27 August to 8 September. The touring cast was Fred G. Edgar, W. G. Lennox, E. A. White, R. A. Swinhoe, Fred Drawater, Bernard Fisher, Edward L. Bishop and, at times, Frank Robey, Norah Maguire, Florence Beech and Bessel Adams.

Plot

Körner's original libretto depicts a young French soldier sent to guard the German border. He hates military life, deserts his post, crosses into Germany, marries a German girl and lives happily as a farmer. Four years later, war breaks out, and the French army crosses the border. The young man is recognised, arrested, and charged with desertion, a

capital offence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. He decides to claim that he has been at his post the whole time, but the French do not believe this story and put him before a court martial. He is saved by the intervention of the French general who gives him the benefit of the doubt and an honourable discharge from the army, and he returns to living happily as a farmer. It is not known how much, if at all, Bartholeyns altered the original plot. The ''dramatis personae'' of both versions are essentially the same, with the addition of a corporal in the English version. The names of the heroine (Kate/Käthchen) and her father (Walter/Walther) are merely Anglicised.The original German libretto is a
Theodor Körners sämmtliche Werke
accessed 12 May 2010.

References

External links

at the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Outpost, The English-language operas English comic operas Operas 1900 operas Operas by Hamilton Clarke