The 1907 G&T Yeomen

Cast
Sir Richard CholmondelyPeter Dawson
Colonel FairfaxErnest Pike
Sergeant MeryllPeter Dawson
Leonard MeryllErnest Pike
Jack PointStanley Kirkby
Wilfred ShadboltPeter Dawson
Elsie MaynardEleanor Jones-Hudson
Phoebe MeryllCarrie Tubb /
Florence Venning /
Eleanor Jones-Hudson
Dame CarruthersFlorence Venning
Kate[not indicated]

Sullivan Operatic Party
Unnamed Orchestra

Recorded in London, February 1907

This was the second more-or-less complete set issued by G&T, capitalizing on publicity surrounding the repertory season W. S. Gilbert personally supervised at the Savoy during 1906-7. Like the earlier 1906 Mikado, the cast were an ad-hoc team of studio artists called the Sullivan Operatic Party (S.O.P.). As seen above, casting the roles consistently did not occur to anyone, as most of the sides were meant to be purchased individually anyway (though they were also bundled as a set).

The single-sided catalogue numbers shown below, which do not even adhere to a consistent numbering scheme, clearly indicate that the items in the set were released at different times. However, once the set was complete, they were issued together in a box with a descriptive booklet, in December, 1907 (just in time for Christmas, one might speculate).

The HMV re-issue, on the other hand, was clearly designed to be purchased as a set, as shown by the relatively consistent numbering (even though discs were still available individually). Still, there are anomalies that indicate the marketing considerations that governed recordings of the time. The two tenor arias, for example, were issued on the same disc (B409), even though they come at disparate points in the opera. And, since there were originally an odd number of single-sided discs, a selection had to be designated to stand by itself. The fact that "Rapture, rapture" was chosen may indicate that the omission of this number in stage performances had already become customary. (The reason could also be simply that it was the "left-over" 10-inch side after all the others had been allocated.)

Issue History
DateLabelFormatNumber
Dec. 1907 G&T Nineteen 10" and two 12" single-sided discs see details below
ca. 1912 HMV Nine 10" double-sided discs & one 12" double-sided disc (included one Gondoliers side—see below) see details below

Notes:

  1. Three selections from this recording were included in the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society's cassette re-issue of HMV's abridged 1931 Yeomen.
  2. "Were I thy bride" (s. 10) was re-issued on EMI's Gilbert and Sullivan: The Early Records, on Symposium 1123, and as a bonus track on Arabesque's CD re-issue of the 1929 Iolanthe.
Recording Details
Side
Nbr
Matrix
Number
Single-
Sided
(G&T)
Double-
Sided
(HMV)
SelectionArtist(s)Disc
Size
Rec.
Date
11017c0547C511 s.1 Overture [edited]The Bohemian Orchestra12" ?? ??? 07
29992b3701B404 s.1 When maiden lovesTubb10" 8 Feb 07
310180b3703B404 s.2 When our gallant Norman foesVenning10" ?? ??? 07
49885b4423B405 s.2 Alas, I waver to and froVenning, Pike, Dawson10" 29 Jan 07
510073b3-2848B409 s.1 Is life a boon?Pike10" ?? ??? 07
6.19979b4609B405 s.1 Here's a man of jollity [sung through twice, very slowly]S.O.P.10" 8 Feb 07
6.26574e4609XB405 s.1 Here's a man of jollity [sung through twice, very slowly]S.O.P.10" ?? ??? 07
79882b4415B406 s.1 I have a song to sing, OJones-Hudson & Kirkby10" 29 Jan 07
89880b4422B406 s.2 How say you, maiden?Jones-Hudson, Kirkby, Dawson10" 29 Jan 07
99899b3698B407 s.1 'Tis done! I am a bride.Jones-Hudson10" 30 Jan 07
1010187b3699B407 s.2 Were I thy brideJones-Hudson10" ?? ??? 07
119981b4416B408 s.1 To thy fraternal careS.O.P.10" 8 Feb 07
129886b4421B408 s.2 Hereupon we're both agreedKirkby & Dawson10" 29 Jan 07
1310072b3-2847B409 s.2 Free from his fetters grimPike10" ?? ??? 07
149875b4424B410 s.1 Strange adventureS.O.P.10" 29 Jan 07
159988b4610B410 s.2 Like a ghost his vigil keepingS.O.P.10" 8 Feb 07
169878b4426B411 s.1 A man who would woo a fair maidS.O.P.10" 29 Jan 07
179877b4425B411 s.2 When a wooer goes a-wooingS.O.P.10" 29 Jan 07
189989b4420B403 Rapture, rapture [sung through twice]Venning & Dawson10" 8 Feb 07
19980c04500C511 s.2 Finale Act II [edited]S.O.P12" 8 Feb 07

Notes:

  1. Francis omits sides 1, 6, 15, 19; Rees lists all nineteen sides. Oddly, Francis fails to list the double-sided catalog number for s. 14, even though he does list the side.
  2. Side 6 was issued in two different versions, shown above as 6.1 and 6.2. Wolfson lists only the second of these, but with the matrix number of 6574b and the catalog number 4609. Rees lists both versions of the side. Wolfson's matrix number cannot be correct, as the b series of numbers was assigned to Fred Gaisberg. According to Perkins, Kelly, and Ward, this particular matrix would have been recorded in Vienna in early 1905! And while Fred Gaisberg is known to have been in Vienna in the first half of 1905, it is extremely unlikely that he could have recorded the Sullivan Operatic Party in that city at that time! The e series of numbers was taken by Will Gaisberg, Fred's brother.
  3. The reverse side of B403, the double-sided issue of s. 18, contained s. 4 of the 1907 G&T Gondoliers ("Of happiness the very pith").
Recording Sessions
Side
Nbr
Matrix
Number
SelectionArtist(s)Disc
Size
Rec.
Date
149875b Strange adventureS.O.P.10" 29 Jan 07
179877b When a wooer goes a-wooingS.O.P.10" 29 Jan 07
169878b A man who would woo a fair maidS.O.P.10" 29 Jan 07
89880b How say you, maiden?Jones-Hudson, Kirkby, Dawson10" 29 Jan 07
79882b I have a song to sing, OJones-Hudson & Kirkby10" 29 Jan 07
49885b Alas, I waver to and froVenning, Pike, Dawson10" 29 Jan 07
129886b Hereupon we're both agreedKirkby & Dawson10" 29 Jan 07
99899b 'Tis done! I am a bride.Jones-Hudson10" 30 Jan 07
6.19979b Here's a man of jollityS.O.P.10" 8 Feb 07
119981b To thy fraternal careS.O.P.10" 8 Feb 07
159988b Like a ghost his vigil keepingS.O.P.10" 8 Feb 07
189989b Rapture, raptureVenning & Dawson10" 8 Feb 07
29992b When maiden lovesTubb10" 8 Feb 07
19980c Finale Act IIS.O.P12" 8 Feb 07
11017c OvertureThe Bohemian Orchestra12" ?? ??? 07
1310072b Free from his fetters grimPike10" ?? ??? 07
510073b Is life a boon?Pike10" ?? ??? 07
310180b When our gallant Norman foesVenning10" ?? ??? 07
1010187b Were I thy brideJones-Hudson10" ?? ??? 07
6.26574e Here's a man of jollityS.O.P.10" ?? ??? 07

Notes:

  1. We can safely infer that sides 13, 5, 3, and 10 were recorded in that order, based on the sequence of matrix numbers. Sides 1 and 6.2 are part of different matrix numbering sequences, and so could have been recorded at any time before or after these other sides.
  2. One must assume that both Fred and Will Gaisberg, as well as the other G&T recordists, assigned matrix numbers in order of their use. It is therefore interesting to note that the first nine sides of this set were actually recorded before the 1907 Gondoliers excerpts, between 1 Feb and 5 Feb 1907, while the remaining ten sides were recorded after The Gondoliers.