Introduction

The operetta “Yeomen of the Guard” turned out to be the penultimate major popular collaboration between WS Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. It came at a time of increasing difficulties in communications between the two musical protagonists and in its way is a departure from what had become their trademark "Opera Comique".

The story is a tragic one – a simple jester losing the love of his life to a condemned and then reprieved hero – interspersed by moments of comedy. Although it is not made clear from the initial libretto, it is the only work where one of the cast probably dies at the end (unless you count the hellish departure of John Wellington Wells from “The Sorcerer”). From the musical point of view it was the nearest that Sullivan came to writing “a Grand Opera” (indeed they dropped the term “comic” from their descriptions). It is also run through with patriotic English themes.

The plot

The scene is set on the green inside the Tower of London. It is sometime in the Middle Ages. Our hero is Colonel Fairfax (a soldier of great bravery) who is now under sentence of death, falsely accused of sorcery, and a prisoner in the Tower. He is guarded by the head jailer and assistant tormentor, William Shadbolt, and Dame Carruthers, the Tower housekeeper, who also believes in his guilt. As the curtain rises he is to be executed that day. Fairfax is greatly admired by Sergeant Meryll (of the Yeomen of the Guard) who hopes that his son Leonard, who arrives that day to join the Yeomen, will bring a reprieve from the Court before it is too late. Meryll’s daughter, Phoebe, has also fallen in love with Fairfax from afar. Phoebe in turn is the centre of Shadbolt’s attention.

In the meantime, Fairfax is walking in the grounds with the Lieutenant of the Guard. He discloses that the charge of sorcery has been trumped up by one of his relations with the intention of succeeding to the estate. Fairfax asks the Lieutenant to find him a girl who would agree to marry him (for a fee of 100 crowns) to prevent this. She would after all be free again later that day. At the same time, a troupe of poor players led by Jack Point (a clown) and Elsie Maynard (his promised) are chased into the green. To quieten their pursuers they sing and dance a duet. The Lieutenant puts Fairfax’s proposition to Elsie who after discussion reluctantly agrees. The Lieutenant has Shadbolt blindfold Elsie and leads her into the Tower to be married to Fairfax without seeing him.

Leonard (who is unknown to the other Yeomen) duly arrives without the pardon and between them, he, Phoebe and Sergeant Meryll hatch a plot to save Fairfax. Phoebe entices Shadbolt with promises of things to come and steels the jail keys from his belt. Sergeant Meryll uses these to free Fairfax who shaves off his beard and dresses as a Yeoman to take the place of Leonard. In this guise he is introduced to the gathered Yeomen. He is introduced to Phoebe as her brother and they share some tender moments – much to Phoebe’s pleasure. The headsman and the block are brought onto the green. Fairfax and two warders are sent to bring out the prisoner. Of course he returns to say that he has escaped and disappeared. This causes considerable alarm – particularly to Elsie, who faints into Fairfax’s arms.

Act Two starts with a despondent Point and a glum Shadbolt mulling over their fate. Point wants to see Fairfax declared dead so that he can win back Elsie. Shadbolt has been condemned to the block for allowing the escape. Point persuades Shadbolt to say that he caught up with Fairfax on the battlements. After a fight Fairfax dived into the river and Shadbolt then shot him.

In the meantime Dame Carruthers is reporting dreams that Elsie has been having about marrying someone she hasn’t seen for one hundred crowns. At this Fairfax realises that it is Elsie that he has married. Elsie at the same time is falling in love with him, still believing him to Leonard. Hearing that Fairfax is supposedly dead, Elsie agrees to marry him. While this is going on, Phoebe is in despair because she has helped Fairfax escape and he has now married someone else. She lets slip this secret to Shadbolt who realises Fairfax is now posing as Leonard. He is unable to do anything about it now but to ensure his silence, Phoebe agrees to marry him. Dame Carruthers also uncovers the plot and as the price of her silence, Sergeant Meryll agrees to marry her.

The final scene is set for the triple marriage. A messenger arrives to declare that Fairfax has been indeed reprieved. Elsie is again downcast – believing that Fairfax will claim her and she will be unable to marry Leonard. Fairfax declares his true identity and they are rapturously reunited. At the end Jack Point makes one last attempt to win back Elsie but he is abandoned to sing his final sad song. As “Fairfax embraces Elsie, Point falls insensible at their feet”.

Gilbert and Sullivan history

“The Mikado” had been a rapturous success in London and around the world in 1885. “Ruddigore” had been received with mixed reviews during its run in 1886. When the latter closed there was no successor in preparation or production and it was replaced first by a revival of “H.M.S. Pinafore” and then of “Pirates Of Penzance”.

Sullivan continued to yearn for more classical and serious works. He spent the summer of 1886 on the Riviera enjoying the sunshine and the casinos. On his return he was invited to compose a “Jubilee Ode” for the forthcoming celebrations. Gilbert suggested another collaboration and once again brought up the theme of the Magic Lozenge. Sullivan again rejected it.

By this time the pair were also seeing increased competition from other composers in the genre. A comic opera by Alfred Cellier “Dorothy” played to full houses at the Gaiety Theatre for over 930 performances (much more than anything that Gilbert and Sullivan catalogue has seen). The Carl Rosa Opera Company were performing Grand Opera at Drury Lane.

“Yeomen of the Guard” opened at the Savoy Theatre, London on October 3rd 1888 and ran continually for 423 performances until December 1889.

The background

“Yeomen of the Guard” had its origins in the Jubilee Year of Queen Victoria, which saw renewed interest in Elizabethan England. The story goes that Gilbert was waiting for a train on Uxbridge Station when he saw a poster depicting the Tower of London. He spent many months investigating Tudor England. He spent long periods at the Tower of London researching the “Beefeaters”. The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard is the oldest of the royal bodyguards and the oldest military corps in existence in Britain. It was created by Henry VII in 1485 at the battle of Bosworth. All members nowadays are former officers and sergeants of the British Services.

On Christmas morning 1887 Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte met to finalise the title. Sullivan wrote: ”Gilbert read plot of new piece (Tower of London) – immensely pleased with it. Pretty story, no topsy-turveydom, very human and funny also.” This was the first time that Gilbert was not lampooning anything. There are some misunderstandings between the characters in the plot but these are kept fairly simple. It is a tragic, romantic storyline. Sullivan was clearly relieved that Gilbert had dropped the Lozenge idea.

There has been controversy about the fate of Jack Point ever since the first performance of the opera. The last sentence of the plot description is a quotation from the libretto. It is said that one of the most famous of all the great Savoyards, Sir Henry Lytton, confirmed that Gilbert had approved the finale as a death scene. However, others have pointed out that Gilbert never modified the official libretto beyond that quoted.

The songs

The overture opens with a synopsis of some of Sullivan’s most rousing and English of themes. True to the initial promises there is a larger percentage of sung rather than spoken dialogue. It also contains the one song (Point’s “I have a song to sing Oh”) from the whole Savoyard canon that always induces a tear whenever I hear it – particularly in the reprise at the very end of the operetta.

Songs of particular note are:

“When Maiden Loves She Sits And Sighs” – Phoebe
“Tower Warders Under Orders” – Chorus and Yeomen and Townspeople
“I Have A Song To Sing, Oh” – Jack Point and Elsie
“Oh A Private Buffoon Is A Light-Hearted Loon” – Jack Point’s patter song.
“When A Wooer Goes A-Wooing” – Quartet: Elsie, Phoebe, Fairfax and Point
“Rapture! Rapture!” – Duet: Dame Carruthers and Sergeant Meryll
“O Thoughtless Crew” – Jack Point (reprise of "I Have A Song To Sing Oh!”)

The words and music of these songs are to be found on the Web Opera Pages of the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
(Clicking on the midi file on that page should open your media player and start the melody. To return here close the media player and then press the [BACK] button of your browser)

Stage performances

I saw an excellent performance of “Yeomen of the Guard” at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne by the Carl Rosa Opera as part of their Spring Season 2001.

The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company put on a season at the Savoy Theatre in 2002.

Continued in column 2...

Other resources

This two-disc box set is part of the complete set of operas recorded by the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company and released by DECCA originally on vinyl in the 1960s. This recording is without the spoken dialogue. John Reed is a very credible tragic-comic Jack Point. The other soloists are in good voice and the orchestra is in its usual sparkling form.

Amazon.com has also provided excerpts from all the tracks of this CD set in either Windows Media or RealOne Player format: “Yeomen of the Guard" at Amazon.com

The second CD is completed with a performance of the Trial By Jury.

YEOMEN OF THE GUARD - Gilbert & Sullivan (1964)

The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent.
Soloists: John Reed (Jack Point); Philip Potter (Colonel Fairfax)
Donald Adams (Sergeant Meryll); Elizabeth Harwood (Elsie Maynard)
Gillian Knight (Dame Carruthers); Ann Hood (Phoebe Meryll)
Kenneth Sandford (Wilfred Shadbolt) David Palmer (Leonard Meryll)

TRIAL BY JURY – Gilbert & Sullivan (1964)

The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden: Conducted by Isidore Godfrey
Soloists: John Reed (The Learned Judge); Thomas Round (The Defendant)
Ann Hood (The Plaintiff); Kenneth Sandford (Counsel for the Plaintiff)

CD: LONDON 417358-2

LIBRETTO

The Yeomen of the Guard or The Merryman and His Maid.
International Music Publications Ltd. £ 4.99

THE VIDEO

This recording of “Yeomen of the Guard” is taken from a full series of specially staged productions (originally by the BBC in 1982) which is now offered both as a series of single DVDs and as a boxed set from Amazon (America). These are currently available only as Region 1 discs. As far as I am aware there is no other complete set of performances of the operas.

“Yeomen” stars Joel Grey (born 1932) – most noted for Broadway roles in Cabaret and Chicago as well as a number of films – who is good in the role of Jack Point. The film also features Alfred Marks (1921 – 1996) - the British comedian well known for his stage, radio and television performances - as Wilfred Shadbolt. The music is provided by the London Symphony Orchestra supported by the Ambrosian Opera Chorus.

As with the rest of the series each act is introduced by Douglas Fairbanks Junior introduces each act with a short anecdote. There is also a “Life and Times Of Gilbert and Sullivan” storyboard on the DVD.

“YEOMEN OF THE GUARD" Acorn Media DVD AMP5408

Trial By Jury

‘Trial By Jury’ was, historically, the genesis of the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership having been brought together by Richard D’Oyly Carte in 1875 to write a short comic opera as a curtain raiser for “La Périchole” by Jacques Hoffmann. As such I realise that this paragraph is out of chronological sequence with the other reviews. Because of its brevity it is usually performed alongside one of the other works (frequently ‘HMS Pinafore’) but in the DECCA CD series it partners ‘Yeomen of the Guard’. Hence its appearance here.

Although he did not appear in the 1924 performance by the Leicester Amateur Dramatic Society at the Royal Opera House in Leicester George Cook did include a series of portraits in his photographic collection. I have reproduced these here.

It is the story in one act of a court case, tried for breach of promise. We are initially introduced to the jury whose sympathies clearly lie with the plaintiff, Angelina, who arrives in court in full wedding regalia accompanied by her bridesmaids. As the trial proceeds there is the typical mixed up logic from the plaintiff and the defendant; and the Judge finally decides that “he will have to marry her himself”.

Although lasting barely thirty minutes all the classic Gilbert and Sullivan trademarks are present. It is the only work with no spoken dialogue. Of note is the Judge’s song “When I Good Friends Was Called To The Bar” (“I am a Judge – and a Good Judge Too”).

Footnote

The first version of this article originally appeared on CIAO on April 2nd 2003.

References

1. 'Yeomen of the Guard' Lithograph Poster by Dudley Hart: Gilbert and Sullivan: From London to America, Department of Rare Books & Special Collections, University of Rochester
2. The Tower of London: Hotels of London: Places of Interest
3. George Grossmith as Jack Point. Original cast (1888): Harvard Magazine (Innocent Merriment)
4. Geraldine Ulmar as Elsie Maynard. Original cast (1888): "Gilbert and Sullivan Down Under": Mel's Gilbert and Sullivan Site
5. W.H. Denny as Wilfred Shadboth. Original cast (1888): Harvard Magazine (Innocent Merriment)
6. Courtice Pounds as Captain Fairfax. Original cast (1888): "Gilbert and Sullivan Down Under": Mel's Gilbert and Sullivan Site
7. Richard Morrison as Sir Richard Cholmondeley (2001): The Carl Rosa Opera Company
8. Simon Butteriss as Jack Point (2001): The Carl Rosa Opera Company
9. Alfred Marks: The Actors Compendium
10. Joel Grey: NNDb: Tracking The Entire World

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Page added - December 14th 2005
Last updated - April 27th 2019

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