The Yeomen of the Guard

Tuesday 1 October 2013

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the first performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta The Yeomen of the Guard the RCM has made available online the manuscript of the overture.

The operetta was first performed at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, conducted by the composer, who had completed the score only two weeks previously. The overture is unlike most of Sullivan’s other overtures, as it is written in sonata form rather than being an anthology of the operetta’s main themes. 

The manuscript was bequeathed to the RCM by Arthur Sullivan and the physical copy is also on display in the RCM Museum of Music for the remainder of the year.