SOURCES

Books
The Bab Sketches
If you'll give me your attention...
Links

The Original Introduction to the Quiz

The questions in the quiz were devised over the years 1982-1987, first devised at Trinity College, Melbourne and compiled in their present form in Perth, W.A. in 1987. The questions have been devised with the traditional Gilbert and Sullivan libretti in mind, and it is to the libretti that any person seeking verification on any of the questions contained in this quiz should go.

Since this quiz was devised there have been "upbeat" versions of two of the operas that have received wide acclaim through their productions in Australia. Joseph Papp's The Pirates of Penzance and the more recent production of HMS Pinafore.

With the folding of the D'Oyly Carte in 1982, new performance traditions will no doubt be implemented to supplement as well as supplant many of the old ones that go back to the first performances of these operas. One such new tradition is that of including in one opera songs from one of the others e.g. the Matter, matter Trio from Ruddigore appearing in the second act of Joseph Papp's upbeat The Pirates of Penzance New monographs and texts about the operas continue to appear containing the most recent research. These new traditions will produce a whole new field of Gilbert and Sullivan Quizzing in years to come.

It may well be argued that there are a limited number of questions on such a topic. Perhaps that is so, but there are surely questions on aspects of the operas outside of my own expertise which in this quiz remain unasked. New quiz questions will need to be devised to accomodate the continuing upsurge of interest in the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. When such questions come to my attention and have been verified and crystallized the will be included in the 180 questions which currently make up this quiz.

Why devise such a quiz? Firstly, to consummate my own love of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas: the wit, the music, the traditions and the performances; secondly as a source of innocent merriment; and thirdly as a resource of innocent merriment for Gilbert and Sullivan quizzers everywhere.

Alexander Scutt May, 1987

Books

The books that were used in the compilation of this quiz were:

Allen, R. The First Night Gilbert and Sullivan 1958 The Heritage Press, New York
Out of print as far as I know, and very much my prize possession.

Bailey. L, Gilbert and Sullivan and Their World

Benford, H. The Gilbert and Sullivan Lexicon 1978 Richards Rosen Press Inc, New York

Bradley, I. The Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan Penguin 1982

Bradley, I. The Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan 2 Penguin 1984

Gilbert, W. Songs of a Savoyard 1890

Gilbert, W. The Bab Ballads and Songs of a Savoyard 1897

Green, M. Martyn Green’s Treasury of Gilbert and Sullivan 1961 Simon and Schuster, New York

Taylor, I. The Gilbert and Sullivan Quiz Book
(I think this is out of print and I no longer possess a copy—I foolishly and inadvertently let it go at a garage sale in Tasmania some years ago—and therefore further details escape me. I am not even sure if I have the author correct.)
Can anyone help me out with the correct details here, as I would like to acknowledge it fully and properly as an important source for this website. And...does anyone know where I might obtain a copy...?

All but the last of these books are in my library and have been used extensively.

The Bab Sketches

The Bab Sketches that appear randomly on the quiz pages and the introductory pages were all scanned from the sources stated above. They are, as I understand it, free from copyright. If you want to vary piracy with a little larceny and take these for your own purposes, the computer makes it very easy for you to do so. You need no crowbars, centrebits or life-preservers!... But you may need a little bit of Patience, for if you visit for the first time these will take a little time to download.

The Babs can be found in the folder gilsulquiz/images/babs_library/babsketch/ and the individual files are labelled babsketch01.gif etc. The average filesize of each sketch is 12K.
They appear in Savoy Opera order as follows:

It is interesting to notice how scantily are illustrated some of the operas as distinct from others. Note also that some Bab Sketches provided on other websites in association with HMS Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance are not represented here. This is because such sketches do not appear in the original sources with a Savoy Opera: they appear with Bab Ballads with only a tenuous connection to those two operas.

The sketches provided on this website are all associated with songs from the Savoy Operas only and have not been cropped in any way. They appear randomly, and a different one will appear if you return to any of the pages. I have added texts from the associated song with each sketch, giving you a further clue as to its origin and maybe—randomly—a clue as to the answers to one or more of the questions on the page on which—randomly—it appears!

If you'll give me your attention
I will tell you what I am...

I am a Gilbert and Sullivan enthusiast who have loved them with a love life-long, O. The first Gilbert and Sullivan production I saw was in 1968 at the age of nine in His Majesty's Theatre in Perth, Western Australia. It was The Yeomen of the Guard as produced by the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of WA. I came out of the theatre singing "I have a song to sing, O" and have been singing it ever since. It remains my favourite song in the canon. My three favourite Gilbert and Sullivan operas are The Gondoliers, The Yeomen of the Guard and Princess Ida. I think I saw every production of Gilbert and Sullivan produced by that Society between 1968 and 1980 (which, incidentally, also happened to be a production of Yeomen).

At Christ Church Grammar School, Perth, I starred as Major-General Stanley in the 1973 production of The Pirates of Penzance, produced by Alfred Mountier, an excellent teacher of history and a fine exponent of those comic roles for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of WA in the 1960s and 70s. I owe him a great debt for this opportunity. I played the role again in 1989 in a production at the Queens Park Theatre in Geraldton, Western Australia. This production toured to Carnarvon, Carnamah, and Three Springs. Quite an adventure.

I trained as a musician with a particular interest in early music and keyboard and by profession I am an Anglican priest, currently working in parish ministry in Melbourne, Australia. I have also worked in Western Australia, Tasmania and Papua New Guinea. I have never lost my love for Gilbert and Sullivan and enjoy my small collection of Gilbert and Sullivaniana.

I would be glad of any comments visitors and users may have about the Gilbert and Sullivan Quiz and about suggestions for new quiz topics. Please feel free to send me an email to scuttaj@pacific.net.au

Visitors might also care to look at two of the other websites I currently manage: The website for St Philip's, Collingwood, and The Northern Region of the Anglican Dicoese of Melbourne. They are, however, devoid of any Gilbert and Sullivaniana.

Links

Here are some of the main internet links for Gilbert and Sullivan enthusiasts:

The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
The primary internet source for all things Gilbert and Sullivan.

Gilbert and Sullivan Discography

Savoynet
Savoynet—the internet discussion group.

The D'Oyly Carte Website

David Sandham's G & S Site
This website is mainly concerned with the Buxton International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, but has other information as well.

Australian and New Zealand Links
Gilbert and Sullivan Down Under
A general website based in New Zealand with interesting historical information about Gilbert and Sullivan in New Zealand and Australia

Savoy Opera
A Theatre company based in Melbourne

Christ Church Grammar School, Perth
My alma mater, where I appeared in my first Gilbert and Sullivan production as the Major General Stanley in 1973. It now promotes music and the arts far, far better than it did then!

Trinity College, University of Melbourne
Another alma mater. I was musical director for the first College musical in 1983 which was Trial by Jury. This has become an annual event, and the productions (not always G&S) are professionally directed and are of the highest standard. I am proud to have been associated with the beginning of such a fine tradition.

Gilbert and Sullivan Societies in Australia
South Australia

Victoria

Western Australia
Their productions first sparked my love of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Tasmania
The island state has the smallest population of any in Australia, and their Gilbert and Sullivan productions are of the highest standard. I attended their production of The Pirates of Penzance in 1996.