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

Society Events and New Book

Sir Arthur Sullivan Society AGM 2025

This year’s Annual General Meeting of the Society will take place on Saturday 13th September at 1pm, in the Sir Arthur Sullivan Hall, The Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham B3 3BS. It will be followed by an afternoon of Sullivan music and entertainment commencing at 2pm. The event is expected to conclude by 4.30pm.

A Date for your Diary – Saturday 22 November 2025

To commemorate the 125th anniversary of Sir Arthur’s death,

Forthcoming Events

Thirtieth-first International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival 2025

The thirty-first international Gilbert and Sullivan Festival will take place in and around Buxton Opera House from 2-16 August 2025. The National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company presents The Pirates of Penzance (2 Aug 2.30 & 7.30, 9 Aug 2.30, 13 Aug 7.30, 16 Aug 2.30); Iolanthe (3 Aug 2.30 & 7.30, 10 Aug 7.30, 13 Aug 2.30, 16 Aug 7.30); and Princess Ida (6 Aug 2.30 &

The Scarborough Spa Orchestra

The Scarborough Spa Orchestra,
Britain’s last surviving seaside orchestra, presents G & S: A La Carte: 6 Aug at 7.45. Soloists Debra Morley, Louise Crane, Philip Lee, Richard Suart. www.scarboroughspa.co.uk.

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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