Welcome to the website of the

Sir Arthur Sullivan Society

The Society aims to promote and generate interest in the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan through recordings, publications, festivals and the Society's magazine. We hope you find everything you need to know about Sullivan and the Society on this website including:

Society membership
up to date news of forthcoming performances and other events
music available for free download or hire
the Society's Shop selling recordings and books

and much more ...

Sir Arthur Sullivan

Born in London in 1842, Arthur Sullivan trained at the Chapel Royal, the Royal Academy of Music and the Leipzig Conservatoire. His incidental music to Shakespeare’s The Tempest made him an overnight celebrity when it was performed at the Crystal Palace in 1862. He went on to compose in practically every musical genre: oratorio, cantata, symphony, concerto, ceremonial works, incidental music for the stage, piano and chamber works, songs, partsongs, hymns and anthems.

His celebrated collaboration with W. S. Gilbert produced fourteen operas, including H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado, between 1871 and 1896. There were also ten operas with other librettists. Incomparably the greatest British musician of the nineteenth century, Sullivan held honorary doctorates from both Oxford and Cambridge, was knighted in 1883 and died in London in 1900.

News

Recordings and Society news

The Martyr of Antioch and The Chieftain

Recording sessions for the Society’s new recording of The Martyr of Antioch took place at the Watford Colosseum in early March 2026. Soloists included Anush Hovhannisyan, Kitty Whately, William Morgan, Ben McAteer and Robert Hayward. The BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Concert Orchestra were conducted by John Andrews. The recording also included Hely-Hutchinson orchestration of Sullivan’s song cycle The Window.

Forthcoming Events

Opera Columbus

Opera Columbus (Ohio) presents Pirates! The Penzance Musical from 6-8 November 2026. www.operacolumbus.org.

Toledo Opera

Toledo Opera (Ohio, USA) presents H.M.S. Pinafore: 19 Feb 2027 at 7.30 and 21 Feb at 2.00. www.toledoopera.org

L’île Enchantée

Sullivan: L’île Enchantée: ballet in one act (1864) includes world premiere recordings of two of the movements

Sullivan: Procession March (1863) world premiere recording

Sullivan: Day Dreams (1867) orchestrated by Herman Finck (1934); arranged by Robin Gordon-Powell (2011) world premiere recording of this arrangement

Sullivan: The Sapphire Necklace – Overture (1863-64) orchestrated by Robin Gordon-Powell (2020) world premiere recording of this orchestration

BBC Concert Orchestra; John Andrews (conductor).

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