Trial by Jury of 1875 is the earliest surviving Gilbert and Sullivan opera. It wasn't their first. Thespis had been written some years earlier with only moderate success, and the musical score was soon lost. The two men went their separate ways.
By 1874, Gilbert, a failed barrister, had written a short libretto set in a courtroom, poking fun at the English legal procedure. Carl Rosa, the opera impresario, planned to set it to music and stage it featuring his wife as the plaintiff. However, Madame Rosa died suddenly and the whole project was abandoned.
About a year later Gilbert happened to meet Richard D'Oyly Carte in a London street. Carte was looking for a one-act operetta as a curtain-raiser to Offenbach's La Perichole at the Royalty Theatre. Gilbert suggested his courtroom drama, and Carte suggested that Sullivan should set it to music. Sullivan agreed and composed the score in less than three weeks. It was performed with huge success on the 25th March 1875. Thus began the most successful words and music partnership in the history of the English musical theatre. (What if Madame Rosa had not died?)
Trial by Jury was set in a Court of Justice. Edwin had asked Angelina to marry him and she had accepted. He then changed his mind and broke off the engagement. Angelina, broken-hearted and materially the poorer, sued Edwin for breach of promise. The usher was corrupt, the jury corruptible, and the court officials were incompetent. Even the Judge admitted publicly that his present position was gained dishonestly. What chance was there of a fair trial?
Our version of Trial was set in around 1940 - Edwin was a dashing RAF pilot and Angelina a WRN.
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The Set for Trial by Jury
HMS Pinafore followed two years later in 1877, surely the most English of all operettas. It has a "heart of oak", and the tunes have a salty tang reminiscent of many a folksong, hornpipe and sea shanty. By setting his opera on the quarterdeck of a ship in the Royal Navy, Gilbert was able to focus his humour on the very centre of the British Empire. In addition, Sullivan's melodies were so memorable and patriotic that credibility was given to some very biting and controversial satire.
The plot revolves around Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty, who has learned that the Captain of the Pinafore has a marriageable daughter. On the morning of our opera, Sir Joseph will arrive to inspect the ship, the crew and the Captain's daughter, Josephine. However, she is a lass who loves a common sailor - one Ralph Rackstraw, a member of her father's crew.
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