THE B.B.C. ORCHESTRA (Section C)
(Led by LAURANCE TURNER )
Conducted by VICTOR HELY-HUTCHINSON
JOHN ARMSTRONG (tenor)
ORCHESTRA
Overture, The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard succeeded Ruddigore and preceded The Gondoliers at the Savoy Theatre in 1888. Of all his light operas Sullivan thought this the best-it was, anyhow, his favourite. The whole work was composed, scored and rehearsed in rather under three months, but that speed was not at all unusual with Sullivan. Much is made of the fact that Rossini, Handel, Donizetti and others composed at top speed, but Sullivan was not very far behind the speediest in the rapidity with which he put many of his works together. His first oratorio, The Prodigal Son, was begun and finished within the space of three weeks.
The Yeomen of the Guard ran for 423 consecutive performances; even that number was, however, exceeded by some of his other operas.
The curious history of this song-cycle, which involved the efforts of the three most outstanding people in the world of art some sixty years ago-Tennyson, Miliais, and Sullivan - is set forth on page 12.

ORCHESTRA
Three Dances from The Tempest
1. Masque; 2. Banquet Dance; 3. Dance of Nymphs and Reapers
Overture, Di Ballo
It was with The Tempest music that Sullivan first really made his name. He wrote it in Leipzig, at the end of his four years' Mendelssohn Scholarship. It was performed first as a student's work in the Leipzig Conservatore with gratifying success, and later-revised and partly rewritten-at a Crystal Palace Concert under Sir August Manns. This performance was due to the interest taken in the work, and in the young composer, by Sir George Grove, of Dictionary fame, then Secretary of the Crystal Palace, afterwards first Director of the Royal College of Music, and always a close friend of Sullivan.
The first performance created such an impression - 'It is no exaggeration', wrote Sullivan some years later, 'to say that I woke up the next morning and found myself famous' - that it was repeated in the following Saturday's concert, to which all musical London flocked. The Tempest music was Sullivan's introduction to the best musical and social circles in London. Thereafter he never looked back.