''The Tempest'' incidental music, Op. 1, is a set of movements for

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's play composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1861 and expanded in 1862. This was Sullivan's first major composition, and its success quickly brought him to the attention of the musical establishment in England.

Background and first performances

Sullivan wrote his incidental music to Shakespeare's play as his graduation piece while a conservatory student at

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. Felix Mendelssohn was much admired by the tutors at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

, and Sullivan's music, following the pattern of Mendelssohn's famous score for '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'', was chosen for inclusion in the Conservatory’s end-of-year concert at the Leipzig

Gewandhaus Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. History The first Gewandhaus (''Altes Gewandhaus'') The f ...

on 6 April 1861, while Sullivan was still eighteen years old. At that concert, six items from the score were played, conducted by the composer: "Introduction", "Ariel’s Song", "Entr’acte", "Grotesque Dance", "Entr’acte and Epilogue", "Dance of Nymphs and Reapers".Shepherd, Marc
"The Tempest, incidental music (1861)"
''A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography'' (2005) After Sullivan's return to England, early in 1862, music critic Henry F. Chorley hosted a private performance of ''The Tempest'' in his home, where

George Grove Sir George Grove (13 August 182028 May 1900) was an English engineer and writer on music, known as the founding editor of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. Grove was trained as a civil engineer, and successful in that profession, b ...

, at that time Secretary to

the Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around th ...

, heard the piece. Grove was sufficiently impressed to arrange for a performance the work by the unknown composer at the Crystal Palace, where it was taken up by August Manns, conductor of the Crystal Palace concerts.''See'' Preface to the score of ''

The Masque at Kenilworth ''Kenilworth, A Masque of the Days of Queen Elizabeth'' (commonly referred to as "The Masque at Kenilworth"), is a cantata with music by Arthur Sullivan and words by Henry Fothergill Chorley (with an extended Shakespeare quotation) that premier ...

'' by Robin Gordon-Powell, Archivist & Music Librarian of the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society, published by The Amber Ring in 2002 Sullivan revised and extended the music to twelve movements, which were given in full at a concert on 5 April 1862 at the Crystal Palace, with a linking narration written by Chorley and spoken by Arthur Matthison. The solo singers were May Banks and Robertina Henderson. The work was an immediate success, with five numbers being encored. The score was favourably reviewed by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' and even more favourably by ''The Athenaeum'', which was the publication for which Chorley was critic. So great was the success of the concert that it was repeated the following week, and Sullivan's reputation as an extremely promising composer was made overnight.

Musical analysis and subsequent performances

As might be expected in the work of such a young composer, the influence of earlier composers is marked.

Gervase Hughes Gervase Alfred Booth Hughes (1 September 1905 – July 1984) was an English composer, conductor and writer on music. From 1926 to 1933, Hughes pursued a career as a conductor and chorus master, principally at the British National Opera Company, ...

detects the influence of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

in the Introduction, Robert Schumann in the Act IV Overture. Percy Young suggests Franz Liszt (an acquaintance of Sullivan's) and Hector Berlioz as influences. Hughes, Young and

Arthur Jacobs Arthur David Jacobs (14 June 1922 – 13 December 1996) was an English musicologist, music critic, teacher, librettist and translator. Among his many books, two of the best known are his ''Penguin Dictionary of Music'', which was reprinted in sev ...

agree that the most conspicuous influence is Felix Mendelssohn. In early 1863,

Charles Hallé Sir Charles Hallé (born Karl Halle; 11 April 181925 October 1895) was an Anglo-German pianist and conductor, and founder of The Hallé orchestra in 1858. Life Hallé was born Karl Halle on 11 April 1819 in Hagen, Westphalia. After settling ...

included the work in two concerts with his

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orchestra, which also included Mendelssohn's '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'' music, where Sullivan's piece was received enthusiastically. The '' Manchester Guardian'' was strong in its praise for Sullivan's work. In October 1864 it was used in a production of the play at the

Prince's Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue. History The theatre was d ...

in Manchester. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Mendelssohn's music for ''A Midsummer Night’s Dream'' was regularly used in theatrical productions. The same is not true of Sullivan's ''The Tempest'' music, although he later was commissioned to write incidental music for productions of other Shakespeare plays staged by

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

and others. In his review of the 2008 recording by the Kansas City Symphony, Rob Barnett writes, "This music is smooth, full of lissom invention and generally in the style of Schumann and Mendelssohn ... Truly charming is the skipping flute figuration in 'Banquet Dance'. The orchestra is just as successful in the ... 'Dance of Nymphs and Reapers'. Mendelssohn is certainly engaged in the Act IV overture. The Act V Prelude with its shivering-plodding string pizzicato and epic lassitude is another magnificent effort."Barnett, Rob
Review of the 2008 recording
''Music Web International'' (July 2008)

Musical numbers

*Introduction Act I *Song: Come unto these yellow sands (Ariel to Ferdinand) *Song: Full fathom five thy father lies (Ariel to Ferdinand) Act II *Ariel's Music *Melodrama and Song: While you here do snoring lie (Ariel to Gonzalo) Act III *Prelude *Banquet Dance Act IV *Overture *Masque of Iris, Ceres, Juno *Duet: Honour, riches, marriage blessings (Juno and Ceres to Ferdinand and Miranda) *Dance of nymphs and reapers Act V *Prelude *Song: Where the bee sucks (Ariel to Prospero) *Epilogue

Recordings

The full score of ''The Tempest'' (except for a few passages surrounding the dialogue) was first recorded in 1955 by the Vienna Orchestral Society conducted by F. Charles Adler, better known for his performances of the works of Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler. The recording was well regarded and was reissued on CD in 1999 on the "Sounds on CD" label. A suite comprising about half the music was recorded in 1972 by the

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

, conducted by

Sir Vivian Dunn Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Francis Vivian Dunn (24 December 1908 – 3 April 1995) was a British conductor who was Director of Music of the Portsmouth Division of the Royal Marines from 1931 to 1953 and Principal Director of Music of the Royal Mari ...

, and in 2000, by the

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Media ...

, conducted by

Richard Hickox Richard Sidney Hickox (5 March 1948 – 23 November 2008) was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music. Early life Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family. After attending the Royal Gram ...

. In 2008, a recording of most of the music was issued by the Kansas City Symphony, with Michael Stern conducting, on the Reference Recordings label (RR-115CD). Rob Barnett calls the recording excellent, but Marc Shepherd judges it "not as good as the 1955 reading utnevertheless enjoyable". A complete recording was issued in 2016 on the Dutton Epoch label, together with Sullivan's incidental music for ''Macbeth'' and his "Marmion Overture". Soloists are the sopranos Mary Bevan and Fflur Wyn, with

Simon Callow Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View'' (19 ...

speaking some of Shakespeare's dialogue surrounding the music, and the

BBC Singers The BBC Singers are a British chamber choir, and the professional chamber choir of the BBC. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British ...

and

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

. The conductor is John Andrews.Hugill, Robert
"Mendelssohnian charm: Sir Arthur Sullivan's ''Macbeth'' and ''The Tempest''"
PlanetHugill.com, 15 August 2016

Notes

References

*Hughes, Gervase:
The Music of Arthur Sullivan
', Macmillan, London 1960 *Jacobs, Arthur: ''Arthur Sullivan'', OUP, Oxford, 1986 * Rowse, A. L. (ed): ''The Annotated Shakespeare'', Orbis, London, 1978 *Young, Percy M.: Note to EMI recording CSD 3713 of numbers from ''The Tempest'', 1972 *Young, Percy M.: ''Sir Arthur Sullivan'', J M Dent & Sons, London 1971

External links

*
''The Tempest''
at the G&S Archive, including Midi files and the score

at the G&S Discography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tempest (Sullivan) 1862 compositions Compositions by Arthur Sullivan Incidental music Music based on works by William Shakespeare Works based on The Tempest