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

Sullivan Commemoration – Saturday 22 November 2025
To commemorate the 125th anniversary of Sir Arthur’s death, there will be a programme of events in London that day. There will be a wreath-laying service in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral at 11 am and at 1 pm a musical celebration of Sullivan’s life at the Chapel Royal, St. James’s Palace, with the the full Chapel Royal Choir. The day will end with a visit to the National Portrait Gallery at 3 pm to view Millais’

Forthcoming Events

Opera Anywhere

Opera Anywhere presents The Mikado : 15 Nov Players Theatre, Thame 3pm & 7.45pm. https://operaanywhere.com

Sullivan Society Commemoration

To mark the 125th anniversary of Sir Arthur’s death, the Society will commemorate the event with a programme of events in London on Saturday 22nd November 2025. There will be a wreath-laying service in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral at 11 am and at 1 pm a musical celebration of Sullivan’s life at the Chapel Royal, St. James’s Palace, with the the full Chapel Royal Choir. The day will end with a visit to the National Portrait Gallery at 3 pm to view Millais’

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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