Level 4-Day 51.Gilbert and Sullivan

词汇提示

1.operetta 轻歌剧

2.verse 诗歌

3.puns 双关

4.wit 机智

5.businesslike 高效的

6.composer 作曲家

7.satire 讽刺诗

8.triumph 胜利

9.scripts 脚本

10.rehearsed 排练

11.orchestra 管弦乐队

12.separately 分别地

13.humming 哼鸣

原文

Gilbert and Sullivan

Gilbert and Sullivan are the authors of many lively and humorous operetta.

These works are the most popular of their kind, and are regularly performed today.

But the two authors are known almost as well for their arguments and disagreements.

The famous partners were very different people with very different interests.

William S Gilbert wrote the words that Sullivan set to music.

Gilbert had a special talent for humorous verse.

He loved puns and had a very quick wit.

Personally, though, he was very businesslike.

He had wanted to enter the military and always had the look of a soldier about him.

He was fond of giving orders and disliked criticism of anything he did.

Arthur S Sullivan, on the other hand, was a sensitive, emotional person whose main interest was music.

Sullivan came from a poor family, but his musical talents and good looks had helped him to succeed.

Sullivan wanted to write serious, classical music, but as a poor man, he needed a source of income.

Sullivan also needed someone to direct him on his own.

He had trouble deciding what to do.

Gilbert and Sullivan never became really good friends, and at the end of their lives, they had little contact with each other.

But the writer and musician needed each other.

Gilbert needed a composer who could enliven his writings for the stage.

Sullivan needed someone to write a text for his music.

Sullivan, who tended to be lazy, needed someone to push him.

A theatrical manager named Richard D'Oyly Carte arranged their first collaboration.

Gilbert visited Sullivan and read him his satire on the legal system “Trial By Jury”.

Sullivan loved the piece and quickly wrote the music.

“Trial By Jury” was produced in 1875 and became the first triumph for the partners.

D'Oyly Carte decided to form an acting company, which would stage future works by Gilbert and Sullivan.

A string of successes follows: "The Sorcerer"in 1877; "H. M. S. Pinafore" in May 1878; "The Pirates of Penzance" in December 1878; "Patience" in 1881;"lolanthe" in 1882; "The Mikado" in 1885;"The Yeomen of the Guard" in 1888;and "The Gondoliers" in 1889.

In spite of these successes, the two partners were not happy.

Sullivan did not like the way Gilbert dominated their relationship.

Sullivan had to write music for Gilbert's scripts.

Why couldn't Gilbert write words for Sullivan's music?

Gilbert, on the other hand, thought that Sullivan got the most of the credit for the success of their operates, and that he was overlooked.

Gilbert was a driving force in the relationship.

He was always writing new scripts and taking them to Sullivan.

It was Gilbert who rehearsed the actors and supervised the productions.

Sullivan had little to do with the actual performance.

He usually did conduct the orchestra on opening night.

The amazing thing is how these two different people produced such wonderful work.

Each separately had difficulty writing something that the public wanted.

Together, they were unbeatable.

Gilbert's sharp and often cutting remarks were made acceptable by Sullivan's beautiful music.

Gilbert satire might have made people angry, but Sullivan's music calmed them down.

Even when the English people were the targets of Gilbert's criticisms, the audience went out of the theater humming these criticisms to Sullivan's music.

翻译

吉尔伯特和沙利文

吉尔伯特和苏利文创作了许多生动幽默的轻歌剧。
这些作品是同类作品中最受欢迎的，至今仍经常上演。
但这两位作者的争论和分歧几乎同样为人所知。
这些著名的合伙人是不同的人，有着不同的兴趣。
威廉·S·吉尔伯特(William S Gilbert)写了沙利文谱成音乐的歌词。
吉尔伯特有写幽默诗的特殊才能。
他喜欢双关语，而且非常机智。
不过，就个人而言，他非常务实。
他曾想从军，而且总是一副士兵的样子。
他喜欢发号施令，不喜欢批评他所做的任何事情。
另一方面，亚瑟·S·苏利文是一个敏感、情绪化的人，他的主要兴趣是音乐。
沙利文来自一个贫穷的家庭，但他的音乐天赋和英俊的外表帮助他取得了成功。
沙利文想创作严肃的古典音乐，但作为一个穷人，他需要一个收入来源。
沙利文也需要有人亲自指导他。
他难以决定该做什么。
吉尔伯特和沙利文从未成为真正的好朋友，在他们生命的最后阶段，他们彼此几乎没有联系。
但是作家和音乐家彼此需要。
吉尔伯特需要一个能使他的作品在舞台上生动起来的作曲家。
沙利文需要有人为他的音乐写一段文字。
沙利文很懒，需要有人来督促他。
一位名叫理查德·德奥利·卡特的戏剧经理安排了他们的第一次合作。
吉尔伯特拜访了沙利文，给他读了他对法律制度的讽刺作品《陪审团审判》。
沙利文很喜欢这首曲子，很快就完成了配乐。
《陪审团审判》制作于1875年，成为合伙人的第一个胜利。
多伊利·卡特决定成立一家表演公司，为吉尔伯特和沙利文日后的作品演出。
一系列的成功接踵而至:1877年的《魔法师》;1878年5月的《H. M. S. Pinafore》;1878年12月的《彭赞斯海盗》;1881年的《耐心》;1882年的《洛兰瑟》;1885年的《天皇》;1888年的《近卫自耕农》以及1889年的《船夫》。
尽管取得了这些成功，但这两个合伙人并不快乐。
沙利文不喜欢吉尔伯特主导他们的关系。
沙利文必须为吉尔伯特的剧本作曲。
为什么吉尔伯特不能为沙利文的音乐写歌词?
另一方面，吉尔伯特认为苏利文获得了他们行动成功的大部分功劳，而他被忽视了。
吉尔伯特是这段关系的推动力。
他总是写新剧本，然后拿给沙利文看。
是吉尔伯特为演员排练并监督制作。
苏利文几乎没有参与演出。
他通常会在首演之夜指挥管弦乐队。
令人惊讶的是，这两个不同的人是如何创作出如此美妙的作品的。
他们各自都很难写出公众想要的东西。
他们在一起是不可战胜的。
吉尔伯特尖锐而又尖刻的评论被沙利文优美的音乐所接受。
吉尔伯特的讽刺可能会让人们愤怒，但沙利文的音乐让他们平静下来。
即使英国人民是吉尔伯特批评的对象，观众走出剧院时也会哼着这些批评的歌，配上沙利文的音乐。