Arthur Sullivan

13 May 1842—22 November 1900

SIR ARTHUR SEYMOUR SULLIVAN, born in London, May 13, 1842; son of Mr. Thomas Sullivan, a musician, a native of Cork; was a chorister in the Chapel Royal, 1854 to 1857; elected Mendelssohn scholar at the Royal Academy of Music, London, 1856; studied there under Sir John Goss and Sir W. Sterndale Bennett till 1858; afterwards at Leipzig under Plaidy, Moscheles, Richter, Rietz, and Hauptmann, from 1858 to 1861; organist of St. Michael’s, Chester Square, till 1867, and St. Peter’s, Cranley Gardens, London, till 1871; received the degree of Doctor in Music from the University of Cambridge 1876, and from Oxford University, 1879; knighted May 15, 1883; died in London, November 22, 1900.

by William Cowan & James Love
The Music of the Church Hymnary (1901)

SIR ARTHUR SEYMOUR SULLIVAN was born in London, May 13, 1842. His father, a native of County Cork, was a bandmaster, and chief professor of the clarinet at Kneller Hall; he was thus born amongst music. His first systematic instruction was received from the Rev. Thomas Helmore, Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal, which he entered April 12, 1854, and left on the change of his voice, June 22, 1857. While at the Chapel Royal he wrote many anthems and small pieces. One of them, “O Israel” a “sacred song,” was published by Novello in 1855. In 1856 the Mendelssohn Scholarship was brought into active existence, and in July of that year Sullivan was elected the first scholar. Without leaving the Chapel Royal he began to study at the Royal Academy of Music under Goss and Sterndale Bennett, and remained there till his departure for Leipzig in the autumn of 1858. An overture “of considerable merit” is mentioned at this time as having been played at one of the private concerts of the Academy.

At Leipzig he entered the Conservatorium under Plaidy, Hauptmann, Richter, Julius Rietz, and Moscheles, and remained there in company with Walter Bache, John F. Barnett, Franklin Taylor, and Carl Rosa, till the end of 1861. He then returned to London, bringing with him his music to Shakespeare’s “Tempest” (op. 1a, dedicated to Sir George Smart), which was produced at the Crystal Palace, April 5, 1862, and repeated on the 12th of the same month. This beautiful composition made a great sensation in musical circles, and launched him into London musical society. Two very graceful pianoforte pieces, entitled “Thoughts,” were among his earliest publications. The arrival of the Princess of Wales in March 1863, produced a song, “Bride from the North,” and a Procession March and Trio in Ely; and a song entitled “I heard the Nightingale” was published April 28 of the same year. But his next work of importance was a cantata called “Kenilworth,” words by the late H.F. Chorley, written for the Birmingham Festival of 1864, and produced there. It contains a fine duet, for soprano and tenor, to Shakespeare's words, “On such a night as this.” His music to the ballet of “L’ Ile enchantée” was produced at Covent Garden, May 16, 1864. . . .

Featured Tunes:

BISHOPGARTH
GOLDEN SHEAVES
LUX EOI
NOEL

see also:

ST. CLEMENT

Publications of Hymns & Tunes:

Edited by Sullivan:

Church Hymns with Tunes (1874): Archive.org

Hymn Written by the Bishop of Wakefield (1897): PDF

Edited by Others:

Psalms and Hymns for Divine Worship (London: James Nisbet, 1866): Archive.org

Good Words (London, 1868, 1872): WorldCat

A Hymnal Chiefly from the Book of Praise, ed. John Hullah, Roundell Palmer (London: Macmillan, 1868): HathiTrust

Supplemental Hymn & Tune Book, 3rd ed., R. Brown Borthwick (London: Novello, 1868): WorldCat

The Sarum Hymnal (1868): Archive.org

Christmas Carols New and Old, 2nd series, ed. John Stainer (1870): WorldCat

The Musical Times, vol. 15, no. 346 (Dec. 1, 1871), p. 311: PDF

The Hymnary, ed. Joseph Barnby (London: Novello, 1872): HathiTrust

New Church Hymn Book, ed. Charles Kemble (London: SPCK, 1874): Google Books

The Congregational Psalmist (1875)

The Musical Times (Nov. 1877, Jan. 1878)

Hymns for Children, Sarah Wilson (1888)

The Church Hymnary, ed. John Stainer (Edinburgh: H. Frowde, 1898): PDF

Church Hymns with Tunes, ed. Charles Lloyd (London: SPCK, 1903): PDF

For lists of Sullivan’s tunes and sources, see Hymn Tunes (1902); Young (1972) Appendix 1, pp. 278–281; and Bradley (2013) Appendix 1, pp. 188–198.

Editions:

Arthur Sullivan, Hymn Tunes (London: Novello, 1902): PDF

Manuscripts:

Sir Arthur Sullivan Diaries, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University:
http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/3965127

Arthur Sullivan Music Manuscripts, Pierpont Morgan Library, NY:
https://www.themorgan.org/music/composer/sullivan-arthur

Life & Works:

Arthur Lawrence, Sir Arthur Sullivan: Life Story, Letters and Reminiscences (London: James Bowden, 1899): Archive.org

“Sir Arthur Sullivan as a church musician,” The Musical Times, vol. 42, no. 695 (1 Jan. 1901), pp. 21–24: JSTOR

Walter J. Wells, Souvenir of Sir Arthur Sullivan, Mus. Doc., M.V.O. (London: George Newnes, 1901): Archive.org

H. Saxe Wyndham, Arthur Sullivan (London: George Bell & Sons, 1903): Archive.org

B.W. Findon, Sir Arthur Sullivan: His Life and Music (London: James Nisbet, 1904): Archive.org

George Grove, “Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan,” Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. J.A. Fuller Maitland, vol. 4 (NY: MacMillan, 1908), pp. 743–747: Archive.org

H. Saxe Wyndham: Arthur Seymour Sullivan (London: K. Paul, 1926): WorldCat

Erik Routley, “Victorian Hymn Composers—IV: Arthur Seymour Sullivan,” HSGBI Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 7 (July 1949), pp. 103–110.

H.T. Sullivan and N. Flower, Sir Arthur Sullivan: His Life, Letters & Diaries, 2nd ed. (London: Cassell & Co., 1950): WorldCat

Gervase Hughes, The Music of Arthur Sullivan (NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1960): WorldCat

Betty Matthews, ‘“Onward, Christian Soldiers’: A Centenary Note,” Musical Times, vol. 113, no. 1558 (Dec. 1972), p. 1232.

Percy Young, Sir Arthur Sullivan (New York: W.W. Norton, 1972): WorldCat

Arthur Jacobs, Arthur Sullivan: A Victorian Musician, 2nd ed. (Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 1992): Amazon

Paul Westermeyer, “Arthur Sullivan,” Let the People Sing: Hymn Tunes in Perspective (Chicago: GIA, 2005), pp. 260–261.

Ian Bradley, “Trust in God and Christian Soldiers: The hymn tunes of Arthur Sullivan,” HSGBI Bulletin, vol. 20, no. 5 (Winter 2013), pp. 175–182.

Ian Bradley, Lost Chords and Christian Soldiers: The Sacred Music of Arthur Sullivan (London: SCM Press, 2013): Amazon

Ian Bradley, Arthur Sullivan: A Life of Divine Emollient (Oxford: University Press, 2021): Amazon

Jeremy Dibble, “Arthur Seymour Sullivan,” Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology:
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/a/arthur-seymour-sullivan

Arthur Jacobs, “Sir Arthur Sullivan,” Grove Music Online:
https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.27100

Arthur Sullivan, Hymnary.org:
https://hymnary.org/person/Sullivan_Arthur

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