I Have a Song to Sing, O! An Introduction to the Songs of Gilbert and Sullivan

by John Langstaff, Emma Chichester Clark (Illustrator)

Presents an illustrated collection of sixteen songs from eight of Gilbert and Sullivan's popular operettas--H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, The Yeoman of the Guard, and others.

Genres: Music, Humor

74 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Albeit I Have a Song to Sing, O! An Introduction to the Songs of Gilbert and Sullivan claims in the title that this seventy-four page picture book represents an introduction to the songs of Gilbert and Sullivan, I frankly do think that this claim is truth be told pretty majorly misleading. Yes, sixteen Gilbert and Sullivan songs from eight of their operettas are being featured, selected by editor John Langstaff from H.M.S. Pinafore, The Yeomen of the Guard, The Mikado, Ruddigore, The Gondoliers, Princess Ida, The Pirates of Penzance and Patience and with humorous accompanying artwork by Emma Chichester Clark as well as Brian Holmes' musical scores. However, since I Have a Song to Sing, O! An Introduction to the Songs of Gilbert and Sullivan basically just showcases the selected songs and nothing at all about the eight operettas and the songs themselves, with no content and thematic synopses, with no performance history, with nothing at all biographical about W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan (except that John Langstaff briefly points out that in his family Gilbert and Sullivan songs are often sung for enjoyment and when performing and that he hopes the intended audience of I Have a Song to Sing, O! An Introduction to the Songs of Gilbert and Sullivan, that children will also find pleasure doing the same), I will thus and of course not consider I Have a Song to Sing, O! An Introduction to the Songs of Gilbert and Sullivan as in any manner of speaking even remotely providing an adequate introduction to Gilbert and Sullivan (and as such just being a songbook and also as a songbook kind of annoyingly frustrating and annoying for and to me as well).

For considering that my two favourite Arthur and Sullivan operettas are The Gondoliers and The Pirates of Penzance, why does John Langstaff only include one song from The Gondoliers and two from The Pirates of Penzance in I Have a Song to Sing, O! An Introduction to the Songs of Gilbert and Sullivan? And no, I bien sûr do not at all mind that I Have a Song to Sing, O! An Introduction to the Songs of Gilbert and Sullivan features five songs from H.M.S. Pinafore and four from The Mikado, but since in my opinion, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado, The Gondoliers and The Pirates of Penzance are probably both the most accomplished and also the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, I definitely was expecting a lot more songs from in particular The Gondoliers to be included in I Have a Song to Sing, O! An Introduction to the Songs of Gilbert and Sullivan (as The Gondoliersjust so happens to also be a personal favourite and I am indeed profoundly ticked off at John Langstaff only including but one song from The Gondoliers and actually not even the best one by a long shot at that). And combined with the fact that while Emma Chichester Clark's illustrations might be (and as already mentioned above) fun, I do not personally find them visually wowing or spectacular in any way, well, my disappointment at the lack of information from John Langstaff about Gilbert and Sullivan and the eight featured operettas and that I most definitely both want and also need a much better and more extensive selection of songs, yes, for and to me, I Have a Song to Sing, O! An Introduction to the Songs of Gilbert and Sullivan has been pretty hugely lacklustre and frustratingly disappointing (and that my two star rating is probably even to be considered rather generous all things considering).

And finally, since John Langstaff generally does provide interesting (and often also detailed) supplemental information in and for his music-themed picture books, I really do not understand why there are no content synopses for the operettas and no information on Gilbert and Sullivan's lives and careers included in I Have a Song to Sing, O! An Introduction to the Songs of Gilbert and Sullivan (and that this is a huge and major textual shortcoming).

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic way to introduce Gilbert and Sullivan to children. It's a very nice selection--sixteen songs from eight operettas--and the piano arrangements are impressive, neither too complicated for the average player nor too simplistic to convey the splendor of the compositions. The book is filled with beautiful pictures, imaginative and whimsical. This book is gold.

[Jobiska (Cindy)]

Droll illustrations accompany music and lyrics of well-known Gilbert and Sullivan songs.