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Posted by Robin Gordon-Powell on July 11, 2008, 8:50 pm
91.106.70.93
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/July08/Sullivan_Sibelius_RR115cd.htm
I was interested to read ROB BARNETT's excellent review of Sullivan's incidental music to THE TEMPEST, but wonder what he meant by his reference to Massenet? Massenet was born one day before Sullivan, there is no record that they had met by the time of THE TEMPEST, and a quick perusal of Grove's Dictionary suggests that Massenet's first compositions only appeared in 1863, two years after THE TEMPEST. His first published music appeared in 1867; it is extremely unlikely that the 19-year-old Sullivan, fresh from Leipzig, had ever heard of Massenet, let alone any of his music.
Rob, as One who loves both Sullivan and Massenet, I would be very interested to hear what parts of THE TEMPEST seem to you to be infused by Massenet - but I would suggest that instead of finding Massenet in Sullivan, it is much more likely that One would find traces of Sullivan, in Massenet!
For more interesting stuff on Sullivan's incidental music to THE TEMPEST, look at the following sites: http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/sullinci.htm#tempest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest_%28Sullivan%29
ROBIN GORDON-POWELL
Archivist and Music Librarian
SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN SOCIETY
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