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''The Yeomen of the Guard'', ''or The Merryman and his Maid'', is a Savoy Opera , with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert . It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888 , and ran for 423 performances. It is set in the Tower Of London during the 16th century and is the darkest of the Savoy Operas, though it does contain considerable humour, and Gilbert's trademark Satire and topsy-turvydom. The dialogue, though in prose, is quasi- Shakespearian in its language, being in Early Modern English . Despite its title, the opera is clearly about the Yeomen Warders rather than the Yeomen Of The Guard . This was the first Savoy Opera to use Sullivan's larger orchestra, including a second bassoon, and third trombone. Prior to ''Yeomen'', Sullivan's standard pit orchestra had just one bassoon and two trombones. Most of Sullivan's subsequent operas, including those not composed with Gilbert as libretist, use this larger orchestra. ROLES
SYNOPSIS Act I Phoebe Meryll sits spinning, sighing and singing of the pain of love. The jailer and torturer Wilfred Shadbolt enters and Phoebe mocks him, disgusted at his profession. He in turn mocks Colonel Fairfax, whom she loves and who is to be beheaded for sorcery; she replies that he is a scientist and alchemist and leaves Wilfred to suffer from his love for her. He leaves and the citizens and Yeomen arrive, singing of the latter's charge erstwhile valiant deeds. Dame Carruthers enters, dismisses protestations by Phoebe and a Yeoman of Fairfax's innocence and, vexed by Phoebe's hatred of the Tower, sings its praises. All but Phoebe leave and she is joined by her father, Sergeant Meryll, who reports that her brother Leonard has been appointed a Yeoman for his valour in battle and is on his way, and ''may'' bring the Colonel's reprieve. He reminisces on his son's boyhood and more recent deeds. Leonard enters bearing a despatch for the Lieutenant of the Tower but no reprieve. His father, eager to save the man who twice saved his life, announces a plan: Leonard will hide and Fairfax, sprung from his cell, will assume his guise; Phoebe is charged with getting cell's the key from Wilfred. Leonard leaves and Fairfax enters, guarded by Yeomen. Sir Richard Cholmondeley, the Lieutenant, meets him, greeting him as an old friend. Fairfax bears his impending fate without sadness, but despite his philosophically cheerful song on the subject Phoebe cannot bear it and leaves in tears with her father. Fairfax asks a boon of the Lieutenant: the charge of sorcery was the doing of his wicked cousin Sir Clarence Poltwhistle, who will inherit his estate if he dies unmarried; he therefore wishes to be married by his confessor to any available woman, who will inherit his hundred crowns. The Lieutenant agrees and leaves. Just then Jack Point the jester and Elsie Maynard the singer arrive, pursued by a crowd which demands merriment and threatens to throw Point into the river should he fail to deliver handsomely. Elsie, objecting to a man's attentions, boxes his ears, which amuses Point. They entertain the crowd with the song of ''The Merryman and his Maid'': it tells of a merryman sad from his love for a maiden who laughs at him and in her turn loves a lord, but the latter rejects her; she returns on her knees to the first man and begs for his love, which he gives, and their sorrow is over. Another citizen tries to kiss Elsie and violence is averted only by the Lieutenant's arrival. They introduce themselves and Point explains that Elsie's mother Bridget is very ill and they seek money to buy things for her. The Lieutenant offers Elsie a chance to earn a hundred crowns, which could save her mother's life, by marrying Fairfax. Point, who intends to marry her himself, agrees once assured that the Colonel will die straight afterwards. Elsie consents and is blindfolded and led off by Wilfred. The Lieutenant tells Point that he has a vacancy for a jester and Point tells him of his skills and tries out some jokes. The Lieutenant is little impressed but leads Point off to discuss the matter further. Wilfred leads Elsie back on and leaves her to reflect on her marriage of a moment ago. She leaves again and Wilfred returns, wondering what they were up to in Fairfax's cell. Phoebe arrives and, forgetting herself, abuses Wilfred as usual before seductively distracting him as she reaches for the keys, which she gives surreptitiously to her father, who goes. Phoebe continues, singing of an imagined happy marriage with Wilfred, until her father returns the keys, which she returns to Wilfred, abruptly shattering the fantasy and leaving him nevertheless hopeful. He goes and Meryll arrives with Fairfax disguised as his son. The Yeomen come to greet 'Leonard', who insists that the tales of his bravery are much exaggerated. He flounders when Phoebe greets him, not having been introduced to her, but Wilfred helpfully identifies her, announcing to him (untruthfully) their betrothal and commends her to the care of her 'brother' until the marriage. All is ready for the execution and Wilfred, 'Leonard' and two Yeomen go to fetch Fairfax. The Yeomen return and Fairfax announces his own disappearance. The Lieutenant leaves, returning with Wilfred and declaring his life forfeit instead. Wilfred protests his innocence and all wonder – not all honestly – how the prisoner could have escaped. Elsie is distraught, as is Point; the former faints in Fairfax's arms as all but they and the Headsman rush off to hunt for Fairfax. Act II Night has fallen. The women and Yeomen despair at Fairfax's flight. Dame Carruthers enters with her niece Kate and berates the Yeomen for letting him escape; they reply that they have searched everywhere but in vain. All leave and Jack Point (now employed by the Lieutenant) enters, brushing up on his jests. Wilfred joins him and they complain of their respective professions; Wilfred says he'd rather be a jester, and Point begins to tell him how to go about it by means of a Patter Song . He then reveals the secret wedding to Wilfred and offers to teach him jesting in full if he will swear, backed up by Point, that he shot Fairfax dead as he swam in the river. Wilfred agrees and they go. Fairfax enters, still disguised as Leonard Meryll, mourning his state of marriage to a bride he cannot identify (for her face was concealed). Sergeant Meryll arrives and says that Elsie, whose shock struck her ill and who has been placed in his charge, has recovered thanks to Dame Carruthers's nursing, and that he is glad the latter will be going, as she, whom he cannot stand, wants to marry him. She then enters with Kate and announces that the latter heard Elsie talking in her sleep about her secret wedding. The other three leave Fairfax alone, pleased to find that his wife is Elsie intent on testing her loyalty by wooing his own wife as Leonard. She rejects him as a married woman should and he withdraws. Just then a shot is heard and Meryll enters, followed by the chorus, they in turn by the Lieutenant, Point and Wilfred, who, with the jester's support, declares that he saw someone creeping about, fell upon him, identified him as Colonel Fairfax, was overpowered, saw him dive into the river and, being unable to swim, seized an Arquebus and shot him dead. The Lieutenant orders the crowd to search for the body and Wilfred is carried off as a hero. Elsie, Fairfax, Phoebe and Point are left and Point tries to persuade Elsie, as she is now free, to marry him. Fairfax tells Point that he doesn't know how to woo and, assisted by Elsie and Phoebe, begins to instruct him, following this up with a most effective demonstration on Elsie. Point, most alarmed, protests, but Fairfax tells him to find another maid. Phoebe, seeing her 'brother' and beloved pledged to another, bursts into tears. Point wishes he was dead. All but Phoebe leave. Wilfred joins her and she, rendered incautious by her grief and her intense dislike of her lover, inadvertently reveals that 'Leonard' is in fact Fairfax. Seeing that the game is up, she desperately buys Wilfred's silence with her hand in marriage. The real Leonard then returns and announces Fairfax's reprieve, which had merely been delayed by the scheming Poltwhistle. He goes and his father enters, followed by an unseen Dame Carruthers. Phoebe tells him of her folly and goes with Wilfred, whereupon Dame Carruthers reveals herself to Meryll and threatens to expose him; he, disgustedly but to her delight, buys ''her'' silence with ''his'' hand. It is time for Elsie's wedding to 'Leonard'. She enters joyfully, hailed by the women, but the Lieutenant arrives and announces that her husband Fairfax lives. All are distraught. Fairfax enters, this time as himself, and has a joke at his wife's expense: Elsie begs for his mercy but he is adamant and claims her as his bride. Then Elsie sees him close up and, of course, recognises him as the 'Leonard' who wooed her. All once again erupt into joy. Then Jack Point enters. Tearfully he reprises ''The Merryman and his Maid'' with sorrowful aptness. Elsie replies with her verse, but changes the words: though she still loves Fairfax, she drops a tear for Point instead of laughing at him. (This was a change made in the first revival. In the original production, she mocked him heartlessly.) While the chorus joins in the final mournful "Heighdy!" Fairfax embraces Elsie as Point falls insensible at their feet. MUSICAL NUMBERS
Act I
Act II
CUT MUSIC Like most of the Savoy Operas, ''Yeomen'' went through significant cuts and alterations during rehearsal, and there were further changes after the authors' deaths that have become traditional. ''Yeomen'' is unusual, however, in the amount of cut music that ''survives'', has been recorded, and is available for performance. Two songs were cut from ''Yeomen'' during rehearsals or early in the first run. Wilfred's solo about his unrequited love for Phoebe, "When jealous torments rack my soul," was cut in rehearsal. Sergeant Meryll's solo about his son's childhood, "A laughing boy but yesterday," was cut after the first night. Before opening night, the third and fourth yeomen's couplets in the Act I finale – in which they remind "Leonard" of his brave deeds – were cut. The third and fourth yeomen had also joined Fairfax when he tells the Lieutenant that the prisoner has escaped. When their solo couplets were cut, the third and fourth yeomen were deleted from this passage, as well, leaving it a trio for Fairfax and two other yeomen. Fairfax's first solo, "Is life a boon?", is the second version. Gilbert thought that Sullivan's first setting (in 6/8 time) was too similar to many of the other tenor ballads in the Savoy Operas, and urged the composer to rewrite it. Sullivan complied, but also saved the first version, leaving an unusual example of two separate settings of the same lyric. The Act II duet for Sergeant Meryll and Dame Carruthers, "Rapture, rapture," was often cut in 20th-century D'Oyly Carte Opera Company performances, apparently because it was thought to detract from the serious tone of the work. However, D'Oyly Carte eventually restored the duet, and in modern productions it is usually performed. As originally written, the duet ended with transitional music directly into the Act II finale. Modern performances sometimes delete this passage, bringing the duet to a full close so that the opening bars of the finale aren't covered by applause. There was one other cut made after Gilbert's death: Two solo lines for Elsie and Point, with lyrics not found elsewhere were cut during the "All frenzied, frenzied with despair they rave" section of the Act I finale, leaving behind a row of rests in the revised score. The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive's ''Yeomen '' page includes lyrics, vocal scores and MIDI files of the two cut solos. The 1993 D'Oyly Carte recording includes all the cut music and both versions of "Is life a boon?". EXTERNAL LINK
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