When ‘Law’ Rhymes with ‘Flaw’: the Sounds of British Justice in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury (1875)
Gilbert and Sullivan’s second operatic collaboration, Trial by Jury (1875) is often discarded as a ‘minor’ work, compared to their later, better-known operas such as The Pirates of Penzance (1879), The Mikado (1885) or The Gondoliers (1889). Yet I would argue that as early as the mid-1870s, the comp...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
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| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/cve/9845 |
| _version_ | 1818744238600355840 |
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| author | Joël Richard |
| author_facet | Joël Richard |
| author_sort | Joël Richard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Gilbert and Sullivan’s second operatic collaboration, Trial by Jury (1875) is often discarded as a ‘minor’ work, compared to their later, better-known operas such as The Pirates of Penzance (1879), The Mikado (1885) or The Gondoliers (1889). Yet I would argue that as early as the mid-1870s, the composer-and-librettist duo had successfully started working on what might be perceived by their audience as the ‘sound’ best fit to satirize a number of Victorian institutions—here, the judicial system, turned topsy-turvy by a banal breach of promise case. Their already clever play on tessitura, the many echoes of grand Italian opera tunes and their attempt at rendering the comical and ludicrous atmosphere of the courtroom all coalesced to make Trial by Jury a key example of how both their witty words and catchy notes were—back then and are still now—heard as truly British. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T02:41:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-093f8362ceb44ecca610e88ffc69e529 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T02:41:08Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| spelling | doaj.art-093f8362ceb44ecca610e88ffc69e5292022-12-21T21:23:41ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492021-01-019410.4000/cve.9845When ‘Law’ Rhymes with ‘Flaw’: the Sounds of British Justice in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury (1875)Joël RichardGilbert and Sullivan’s second operatic collaboration, Trial by Jury (1875) is often discarded as a ‘minor’ work, compared to their later, better-known operas such as The Pirates of Penzance (1879), The Mikado (1885) or The Gondoliers (1889). Yet I would argue that as early as the mid-1870s, the composer-and-librettist duo had successfully started working on what might be perceived by their audience as the ‘sound’ best fit to satirize a number of Victorian institutions—here, the judicial system, turned topsy-turvy by a banal breach of promise case. Their already clever play on tessitura, the many echoes of grand Italian opera tunes and their attempt at rendering the comical and ludicrous atmosphere of the courtroom all coalesced to make Trial by Jury a key example of how both their witty words and catchy notes were—back then and are still now—heard as truly British.http://journals.openedition.org/cve/9845musicGilbert and Sullivancomic operasatirelaw |
| spellingShingle | Joël Richard When ‘Law’ Rhymes with ‘Flaw’: the Sounds of British Justice in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury (1875) Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens music Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera satire law |
| title | When ‘Law’ Rhymes with ‘Flaw’: the Sounds of British Justice in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury (1875) |
| title_full | When ‘Law’ Rhymes with ‘Flaw’: the Sounds of British Justice in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury (1875) |
| title_fullStr | When ‘Law’ Rhymes with ‘Flaw’: the Sounds of British Justice in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury (1875) |
| title_full_unstemmed | When ‘Law’ Rhymes with ‘Flaw’: the Sounds of British Justice in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury (1875) |
| title_short | When ‘Law’ Rhymes with ‘Flaw’: the Sounds of British Justice in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury (1875) |
| title_sort | when law rhymes with flaw the sounds of british justice in gilbert and sullivan s trial by jury 1875 |
| topic | music Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera satire law |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/cve/9845 |
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