DownWithTyranny!: Sunday Classics preview: G&S's "republican" kings vow, "For everyone who feels inclined, some post we undertake to find"

Pittsburgh Savoyards

MARCO and GIUSEPPE (alternating bars):
Replying, we sing
as one individual.
As I find I'm a king,
to my kingdom I bid you all.
I'm aware you object
to pavilions and palaces,
but you'll find I'll respect
your republican fallacies.
You'll find I respect
your republican fallacies.
CONTADINE and GONDOLIERI:
They're aware we object
to pavilions and palaces.
How can they respect
our republican fallacies?
MARCO: For every one who feels inclined,
some post we undertake to find
congenial with his frame of mind --
and all shall equal be.
GIUSEPPE: The Chancellor in his peruke,
the Earl, the Marquis, and the Dook,
the Groom, the Butler, and the Cook --
they all shall equal be.
MARCO: The Aristocrat who banks with Coutts,
the Aristocrat who hunts and shoots,
the Aristocrat who cleans our boots --
they all shall equal be!
GIUSEPPE: The Noble Lord who rules the State,
the Noble Lord who cleans the plate.
MARCO: The Noble Lord who scrubs the grate --
they all shall equal be!
GIUSEPPE: The Lord High Bishop orthodox,
the Lord High Coachman on the box.
MARCO: The Lord High Vagabond in the stocks --
they all shall equal be!
MARCO and GIUSEPPE: For every one who feels inclined etc.
Sing high, sing low,
wherever they go,
they all shall equal be!
CONTADINE and GONDOLIERI: Sing high, sing low,
wherever they go,
they all shall equal be!
The Earl, the Marquis, and the Dook,
the Groom, the Butler, and the Cook,
the Aristocrat who banks with Coutts,
the Aristocrat who cleans the boots.
The Noble Lord who rules the State,
the Noble Lord who scrubs the grate,
the Lord High Bishop orthodox,
the Lord High Vagabond in the stocks.
Sing high, sing low,
wherever they go,
They all shall equal be!
Then hail! O King,
whichever you may be,
to you we sing,
but do not bend the knee.
It may be thou;
likewise it may be thee.
So hail! O King,
whichever you may be!

Leonard Osborn (t), Marco Palmieri; Alan Styler (b), Giuseppe Palmieri; D'Oyly Carte Opera Chorus, New Promenade Orchestra, Isidore Godfrey, conductor. Decca, recorded Mar. 11, 1950 (digital transfer by F. Reeder)

by Ken

I'm writing this post beforehand, obviously, but by the time it appears, I will have attended a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers, and in pre-performance anticipation -- I don't remember the last time I saw The Gondoliers in the flesh -- I'm still able to feel excitement. (By, say, the 10-minute mark of the performance, I won't be surprised if I'm in a state of rage.) So I thought this we'd poke around this glorious piece.

In our opening excerpt above, from the Act I finale of The Gondoliers, with the brothers Palmieri now so closely joined that they take over for one another in mid-word (by the simple musical expedient of having the tenor and baritone swap out at each bar line), I've intentionally left out the question to which the brothers Marco and Giuseppe, are "replying . . . as one individual."

We're going to hear this chunk of the finale again with the question, from their Venetian friends, reinstated, but first I need to correct myself, because by this point Marco and Giuseppe have learned that they aren't actually brothers, that in fact one of them . . . well, let me not get ahead of myself. Let's go back to the opening scene, which we'll be talking about more and hearing in full on Sunday. For now we're going to skip to the brother's much-delayed entrance and their song of self-identification.

The Gondoliers: Act I, Duet, Marco and Giuseppe, "We're called gondolieri"

MARCO and GIUSEPPE: We're called gondolieri,
but that's a vagary,
it's quite honorary
the trade that we ply.
For gallantry noted
since we were short-coated,
to beauty devoted
[Giuseppe/are Marco] and I.
When morning is breaking,
our couches forsaking,
to greet their awaking
with carols we come.
At summer day's nooning,
when weary lagooning,
our mandolins tuning,
we lazily thrum.
When vespers are ringing,
to hope ever clinging,
with songs of our singing
a vigil we keep.
When daylight is fading,
enwrapt in night's shading,
with soft serenading,
we sing them to sleep.
We're called gondolieri etc.

Leonard Osborn (t), Marco Palmieri; Alan Styler (b), Giuseppe Palmieri; New Promenade Orchestra, Isidore Godfrey, cond. Decca, recorded Mar. 11, 1950 (digital transfer by F. Reeder)

Richard Lewis (t), Marco Palmieri; John Cameron (b), Giuseppe Palmieri; Pro Arte Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent, cond. EMI, recorded Mar. 11-15, 1957

Thomas Round (t), Marco Palmieri; Alan Styler (b), Giuseppe Palmieri; New Symphony Orchestra of London, Isidore Godfrey, cond. Decca, recorded September 1960

A lot of the fun of The Gondoliers has to do with the mental contortions Marco and Giuseppe, and their wives and friends, go through to adapt to the newly discovered identity of one of them, from their original idea of who they are, as Giuseppe expresses it to the dour figure of the Grand Inquisitor, Don Alhambra del Bolero, who accosts them within the hour of the nuptials to the sparkling flower maidens Gianetta and Tessa:

We are jolly gondoliers, the sons of Baptisto Palmieri, who led the last revolution. Republicans, heart and soul, we hold all men to be equal. As we abhor oppression, we abhor kings; as we detest vainglory, we detest rank; as we despise effeminacy, we despise wealth. We are Venetian gondoliers -- your equals in everything except our calling, and in that at once your masters and your servants.

There's just one problem. Let Don Alhambra explain:

Bless my heart, how unfortunate! One of you may be Baptisto's son, for anything I know to the contrary; but the other is no less a personage than the only son of the late King of Barataria.

When the two couples declare themselves frantic to know which of the Palmieri boys is the king, the Inqisitor asks: "What does it matter? As you are both republicans, and hold kings in detestation, of course you'll abdicate at once."

And it turns out that no, even among these die-hard republicans there isn't much sentiment for prompt abdication. "Well, as to that," Giuseppe declares, "there are kings and kings. When I say I detest kings, I mean I detest bad kings."

"I see," the Inqisitor replies. "It's a delicate distinction." But as we'll hear Sunday, it's crystal clear in the minds of the might-be royals and their new brides.

Which brings us more or less up to the point where we started tonight. The bridal couples have barely had time to sort out these new tidings when their friends, the other gondoliers and contadine rejoin them and express amazement at the state of hilarity in which they find them. Below I've added the question they pose to the even happier-than-expected couples; the rest proceeds as we heard up top.

GILBERT AND SULLIVAN: The Gondoliers: Act I, Chorus, "Now pray what is the cause of this remarkable hilarity?" and Duet, Marco and Giuseppe, "Replying, we sing as one individual" . . . "For everyone who feels inclined, some post we undertake to find"

CONTADINE and GONDOLIERI:
Now pray what is the cause of this remarkable hilarity?
this sudden ebullition of unmitigated jollity?
Has anybody bless'd you with a sample of his charity --
or have you been adopted by a gentleman of quality?
MARCO and GIUSEPPE: Replying, we sing etc.

Thomas Round (t), Marco Palmieri; Alan Styler (b), Giuseppe Palmieri; D'Oyly Carte Opera Chorus, New Symphony Orchestra of London, Isidore Godfrey, conductor. Decca, recorded September 1960

Richard Lewis (t), Marco Palmieri; John Cameron (b), Giuseppe Palmieri; Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, Pro Arte Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent, cond. EMI, recorded Mar. 11-15, 1957

IN THIS WEEK'S SUNDAY CLASSICS POST

We're still missing an entire crucial plot strand, not yet having made the acquaintance of the doughty Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro, their daughter, and their one-man "suite." And we're going to find out how the ideal of "a monarchy that's tempered with republican equality" works out. (Hint: In one of my favorite moments on records, we're going to hear the hybridly royal Marco and Giuseppe whine, "We want our tea!")