Description of The Ballet
The composer's autograph does not survive, but Roderick Spencer of the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society has reconstructed the score from a composite of various sources, including earlier scores from which Sullivan drew, the piano reduction, and other clues in letters and press reports. Sullivan extracted three orchestral suites from the ballet, but only one of these survives. Sullivan's assistant, Wilfred Bendall, prepared the published piano reduction of the ballet.
The ballet does not have a plot per se. It consists, rather, of a series of seven historical vignettes in praise of Britain, such as "Ancient Britain", Christmas in the time of Charles II, and two scenes devoted to Queen Victoria. The score is a potpourri of characteristically English music, although it is probably too much of a pièce d'occasion to enter the standard repertory.
In the score, Sullivan re-used material from his Imperial March (1893) and his only other ballet, L'Île Enchantée (1864). The final scene depicting Victoria's coronation ends in a contemporary dance for soldiers from the various parts of Great Britain and its colonies and includes a counterpoint of characteristic tunes representing England, Scotland and Ireland.
Read more about this topic: Victoria And Merrie England
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