Arthur Sullivan

Remembered primarily for his collaborations with William Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan was considered the most prodigiously gifted English composer since Purcell. Yet his choral and orchestral works, which he considered to be his real work, are forgotten; indeed, they were not a success when originally performed. On closer inspection, Sullivan becomes an enigma: his diaries contain many cryptic references to mistresses, whose identities he strove to keep secret. Employing previously unavailable letters and diaries, Arthur Jacobs here presents a biography of Sullivan that sheds new light on the persona and art of this leading figure of Victorian music.