Feted for his Savoy operas with librettist W.S. Gilbert, Sir Arthur Sullivan also regularly produced music for important royal or national occasions. In 1897, to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, he was commissioned to write a ballet for the Alhambra Theatre in London. Conforming closely to the theatre’s established style, this single-act ballet was a spectacular pageant, featuring ‘speciality’ dances, startling dramatic effects and grand tableaux, notably military ones. Significant research and reconstruction of the score has made this recording possible.
Tracklist
Artist details
Sullivan, Arthur
Victoria and Merrie England
1 Scene 1, "Ancient Britain": Introduction - Britannia asleep 04:38
2 Scene 1, "Ancient Britain": Sacred March of the Druids 02:33
3 Scene 1, "Ancient Britain": Rites of the Mistletoe - Britannia awakes 04:28
4 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": Festivities on the Village Green 04:14
5 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": Procession of Mummers and Revellers 03:45
6 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": Warriors' Dance (Historical Quadrille) 01:45
7 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": Morrice Dance 02:54
8 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": Mazurka (Knights and Rose Maidens) 01:32
9 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": Robin Hood and Maid Marian 01:11
10 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": Friar Tuck and the Dragon 00:32
11 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": The Two Hobby Horses 00:35
12 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": Six Women Morrice Dancers 00:52
13 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": General Dance 00:35
14 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": Solo Variation - May Queen 01:09
15 Scenes 2 and 3, "May Day in Queen Elizabeth's Time": Maypole Dance 01:52
16 Scenes 4 and 5, "Legend of Herne the Hunter": Windsor Forest - Storm 01:33
17 Scenes 4 and 5, "Legend of Herne the Hunter": Entrance of the Hunters 02:12
18 Scenes 4 and 5, "Legend of Herne the Hunter": Waltz of Wood Nymphs 04:47
19 Scenes 4 and 5, "Legend of Herne the Hunter": Procession of the Yule Log 01:47
20 Scenes 4 and 5, "Legend of Herne the Hunter": Galop and Dance of Nymphs and Hunters 03:45
21 Scene 6, "Christmas Revels": Castle Hall - Servants, Players and Guests 02:07
22 Scene 6, "Christmas Revels": Procession of the Boar's Head and Roast Beef 03:43
23 Scene 6, "Christmas Revels": Comic Pas de Quatre (Fugue) 01:39
24 Scene 6, "Christmas Revels": Drunken Jester's Dance 01:17
25 Scene 6, "Christmas Revels": Blind Man's Buff 01:19
26 Scene 6, "Christmas Revels": Entrance and Procession of Father Christmas 01:35
27 Scene 6, "Christmas Revels": Mistletoe Dance 01:54
28 Scene 7, "Coronation of Queen Victoria": Tableau - Imperial March 06:23
29 Scene 8, "1897 - Britain's Glory": English, Irish, Scottish and Colonial Troops - Military Manoeuvres 05:18
30 Scene 8, "1897 - Britain's Glory": Sailors' Hornpipe 01:33
31 Scene 8, "1897 - Britain's Glory": Pas Redoublé 01:52
32 Scene 8, "1897 - Britain's Glory": Finale: Britannia - The Albert Memorial - God Save the Queen 02:29
Total Playing Time: 01:17:48
