Introduction

“Patience” is the fourth of the major comic operas written by the partnership of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan (I have discounted 'Thespis' and 'Trial By Jury' from this reckoning). By the time this operetta opened in London in 1881, they had reached the pinnacle of their popularity. They had already set a seal on the renaissance of the English comic opera and had made that medium firmly their own. “Patience” also welcomed into existence the dedicated theatre (the Savoy in the Strand, London) which coined the name Savoyard and which is now ever associated with the writers and their works.

This is Gilbert’s take on cults and fads; popular cultural trends and fickleness. My title is a line from the libretto and is Victorian in meaning. The opera comes from a bye-gone era. It has not weathered the years as well as many of the catalogue and its subject is not easy to get to grips with. It is not commonly performed now and is perhaps not the work to use as a start in your examination of the genre. However it does have a range of good music, well-known songs and barbed humour.

The plot

Reginald Bunthorne is a poet and a leading light of the aesthetes. He has captivated the hearts of twenty love-sick maidens but he himself is immune to their blandishments. He is in love with Patience, the village milk maid – a rather naive rustic girl who has never been in love with anyone except with a playmate when she was a baby. The maidens also were by coincidence in love with the officers of the Dragoon Guards the previous year. The scene is set when the Company of Dragoons return for a period of rest and relaxation but find the maidens’ attention elsewhere. In a quiet moment Bunthorne admits that he is really a sham, only gaining aestheticism to gain admiration. He presses his suit on Patience who rejects him.

She then remembers her babyhood companion who appears in the form of Archibald Grosvenor (an idyllic poet). They declare their love for one another but as true love is ‘utter unselfishness’ and she could not marry one so perfect.

At this point, the spurned Bunthourne decides to put himself up as a prize in a raffle. The disappointed maidens momentarily transfer their attentions to the Dragoons, but then espy Grosvenor and immediately fall for him as he is so ‘perfect’. Grosvenor is not happy with this full attention and Bunthorne persuades him to cut his hair, change his image and become commonplace. Patience can now marry him as he is no longer perfect.

Bunthorne finds that the twenty love-sick maidens again return to the Dragoons. He decides to console himself by marrying the most portly of them – the lady Jane. Unfortunately he is beaten to her by one of the Dragoons, lieutenant the Duke of Dunstable. Bunthorne is left at the end without a bride!

Gilbert and Sullivan history

The year is 1880. The names Gilbert and Sullivan have travelled the world with their two overwhelmingly successful operettas “HMS Pinafore” and “Pirates of Penzance” captivating all who saw them at home and particularly in America. That summer Sullivan retreated into more mainstream classical pursuits but Gilbert was searching for a follow up comic opera.

The vogue that summer was the “Asthetic Movement”. The salons of London were filled with languid ladies and affected men. Aesthetes (usually male) were characterised by wearing satins and velvets, walking or stood with a particular gait or hand attitude, had a penchant for large flowers and lilies and read and wrote poetry. A leading protagonist was Oscar Wilde. They contrasted very acutely with the archetypal male role – which here is personified in the British Army.

The audiences in London loved “Patience” when it opened at the Opera Comique on April 23rd 1881. During this time, Richard D’Oyly Carte was in the process of building his Savoy Theatre which was to be the venue for the future operas. It was the first public building in the world to be illuminated by electric light and seated 1292 patrons. “Patience” was transferred to the new theatre for its opening on October 10th 1881.

There was difficulty in the transition to America, where aestheticism was unknown. Indeed D’Oyly Carte engaged Oscar Wilde to carry out a lecture tour at the time of the opera’s opening – which benefited both the opera and Wilde himself.

The background

Gilbert was a brilliant writer and librettist. He had a sharp eye, razor wit and was a harsh taskmaster as a stage director. Each of the operettas has a target (the Army, the Law, the Establishment, Politicians) which remain a potential target for similar treatment today. This is one explanation of the longevity and popularity of the works.

Such is not really the case with “Patience” where Gilbert was lampooning the latest popular rave idea of aestheticism. Bear in mind this was the 1880s – and so such crazes can seem very remote and alien today. One of Bunthorne’s lines notes that “to rank as an apostle in a high aesthetic band … you walk down Piccadilly with a poppy or a lily in your medieval hand.”

Even after carrying out some limited research, I find these weird definitions difficult to understand: “The phenomenon of irrationalism and aestheticism was a reaction against positivism from which symbolism and existentialism came.” (Wikipaedia) and “Any trend which argues that art is self-sufficient and justifies its own existence, thus rejecting an opposing perspective which assumes that art has some other purpose for existence and must by non-aesthetic standards (moral, political, social, etc.). It developed self-consciously into the Aesthetic Movement of the late 18th century”.

Most generations have spawned similar disparities (Regency bucks and dandies, mods and rockers) – although none are identical. This makes the Victorian concept difficult to understand by a modern day audience. It can also lead to an updating by parody – maybe the replacement of Bunthorne with John Inman’s Mr Humphreys.

Continued in column 2...

Page added - November 26th 2005
Last updated - April 26th 2019

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The songs

The overture is a charming piece of the composer Sullivan at his best. All the themes from the work are present interwoven with classical motifs and structures. There are fast, jolly themes but also rather more sad and reflective tunes. There are several delightful patter songs sung as solos and as combinations between the main characters.

Songs of particular note are:

“The Soldiers of the Queen” – Chorus of Dragoons
and “If You Want A Receipt For That Popular Mystery” – Colonel Calverley
“When I First Put This Uniform On” – Colonel Calverley
“So Go To Him And Say To Him” (“Sing ‘Hey To You, Good Day To You’”) – Bunthorne and Jane

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

Before starting this review, I had never seen “Patience” in its entirety. I was certainly aware of a number of the songs but would not have been able to ascribe them to this particular work or to put them into context.

“Patience” is to be performed as part of the touring repertoire for the Autumn 2006 season by the Carl Rosa Opera Company.

As an aside I spent the week prior to writing this article in London, staying in an apartment in Craven Street (just around the corner from Charing Cross Station). I did take the opportunity of a stroll though the Victoria Gardens and up Savoy Place to the stage door of the Savoy Theatre (much as Gilbert must have done on those – to him – trying first nights). The back of the Savoy Hotel (and theatre) looks out over the Embankment and Cleopatra’s Needle. I wonder what whimsy he would have made out of the London Eye?

Other resources

This CD set is a bravura performance by the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company – soloists and chorus. The voices are excellent, the diction clear - even in the fastest songs. Donald Adams gets the major ration of patter songs here as Colonel Calverley. John Reed is rather more “straight” in the role of Bunthorne but easily captures the languid laid-back persona in his solos. The literary notes describe him as a “Fleshly poet”.

The performance is complete with the spoken libretto.

PATIENCE - Gilbert & Sullivan (1961)

The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company
The New Symphony Orchestra of London: Conducted by Isidore Godfrey.
Soloists: John Reed (Reginald Bunthorne); Philip Potter (The Duke of Dunstable)
Donald Adams (Colonel Calverley); Mary Sansom (Patience)
Gillian Knight (The Lady Jane); Kenneth Sandford (Archibald Grosvenor)
CD: LONDON 414429-2

LIBRETTO

"Patience" or "Bunthorne's Bride"
International Music Publications Ltd (1993)

THE VIDEO

This version is another taken from the specially staged productions (originally by the BBC in 1982) which is now offered as a single DVD 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.

It stars Donald Adams in his familiar role as Colonel Calverley, Derek Hammond-Stroud as Bunthorne, John Fryatt as Archibald Grosvenor and Terry Jenkins as The Duke of Dunstable. Overall it is a workmanlike performance with good vocalisations and clear diction. Perhaps more strongly than others in the series this looks like television from a theatre stage. These features together make this video a simple introduction to the work. It does however suffer from the parody I mentioned above. Bunthorne and Grosvenor are both limp-wristed and fey – straight from any of several 1970s sitcoms (including “Are You Being Served”). Terry Jenkins plays The Duke as a Field Marshall Montgomery clone complete with moustache and lisp.

As usual each act is introduced by Douglas Fairbanks Junior. The DVD also contains a “Life and Times Of Gilbert and Sullivan” storyboard.

“PATIENCE” (2002) Acorn Media DVD AMP5351

G&S trivia spot

Oscar Wilde was in the stalls on the opening night. The Sporting Times reported: “There, with the sacred daffodil, stood the exponent of the uncut hair”. He was also in the audience on the opening night of the transfer to the Savoy Theatre later that year.

Postscript

Amongst the photographs that came from George Cook's collection were a number which were not identified or annotated. The picture included above is most likely from a season of productions including 'Patience' by the Leicester Amateur Dramatic Society at the Royal Opera House in the early 1920s. Our best guess is that he was playing the part of The Duke of Dunstable.

Footnote

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

References

1. Richard D'Oyly Carte: BAILEY. L: "Gilbert & Sullivan and their world" Thames & Hudson Ltd (1973)
2. The Savoy Hotel and Theatre, Strand, London: on Wikipedia
3. Stage and interior, Savoy Theatre, London: The British Theatre Guide
4. Scenes from the Sadler's Wells Opera production (1972): BAILEY. L: "Gilbert & Sullivan and their world" Thames & Hudson Ltd (1973)
5. "Opening Night of 'Patience'" Savoy Theatre, London: BAILEY. L: "Gilbert & Sullivan and their world" Thames & Hudson Ltd (1973)
6. "Asthetic Postures" from the opening night of 'Patience': BAILEY. L: "Gilbert & Sullivan and their world" Thames & Hudson Ltd (1973)
7. John Reed and Gillian Knight: From a John Reed Photo Album Memories of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
8. Oscar Wilde: English Grammar On Line

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