Gilbert And Sullivan

Main tag based on greatest number of listeners: Gilbert & Sullivan. Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911) was born in London and originally trained as a lawyer. He started out by writing humourous poetry and his collaboration with Sullivan gave him the ability to create absurd characters and lyrics. Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842-1900) was also born in London. He was taught music by his father and continued his training at the Royal Academy of Music and the Leipzig conservatory. The first of his music that got noticed was incidental music to a 1862 production of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'. His incredibly successful partnership with Gilbert lasted for 25 years. Together, Gilbert and Sullivan created comic operas, considered to be some of the finest ones written in English. Despite their personal relationship being frequently strained, their professional relationship was incredibly productive.