''The Willow Pattern'' is a one-act

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a n ...

with a libretto by

Basil Hood Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ''The Merry Wid ...

and music by Cecil Cook. It was first produced by William Greet at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pal ...

on 14 November 1901, running for a total of 110 performances until 29 March 1902. It toured thereafter. ''The Willow Pattern'' was a companion piece to '' Ib and Little Christina'' (for 16 performances) and later ''

Iolanthe ''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...

'' (94 performances). It and was toured in Britain and America. A copy of the printed libretto is in the British Library, at 11778.f.23(5). (1901). The vocal score was published by Chappells, and a copy is in British Library at F.690.j.(2)

902 __NOTOC__ Year 902 ( CMII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Adalbert II, margrave of Tuscany, revolts against Emperor Louis II ...

A silent film of the legend was made in 1914, called ''Story of the Willow Pattern''. When the

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which '' H.M.S. ...

partnership disbanded after the production of ''

The Gondoliers ''The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria'' is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances (at that time the ...

'' in 1889, impresario

Richard D'Oyly Carte Richard D'Oyly Carte (; 3 May 1844 – 3 April 1901) was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer, and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. He built two of London's theatres and a hotel empire, while also estab ...

and, after his death, his widow Helen Carte and then lessee William Greet, filled the Savoy Theatre with a combination of new works and revivals of the

operas. The fashion in the late

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edward ...

and

Edwardian era The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

was to present long evenings in the theatre, and so these

Savoy opera Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which ...

s were paired with curtain raisers, such as ''The Willow Pattern''. W. J. MacQueen-Pope commented, concerning such curtain raisers: :This was a one-act play, seen only by the early comers. It would play to empty boxes, half-empty upper circle, to a gradually filling stalls and dress circle, but to an attentive, grateful and appreciative pit and gallery. Often these plays were little gems. They deserved much better treatment than they got, but those who saw them delighted in them. ... heyserved to give young actors and actresses a chance to win their spurs ... the stalls and the boxes lost much by missing the curtain-raiser, but to them dinner was more important.MacQueen-Pope, Walter James. ''Carriages at Eleven'' (1947), London: Robert Hale and Co., p. 23

Synopsis

The libretto follows the familiar legend of the

willow pattern The Willow pattern is a distinctive and elaborate chinoiserie pattern used on ceramic tableware. It became popular at the end of the 18th century in England when, in its standard form, it was developed by English ceramic artists combining and ...

, but with the addition of some extra characters, notably a rogue, PingPong, who helps to trick the father into allowing his daughter to marry her lover. The Legend of the Willow Pattern was invented by the English over 200 years ago to promote pottery sales of a china willow pattern based on an older china pattern. The story runs as follows (with the frequent references to the figures in the plate design omitted): Once there was a wealthy mandarin, who had a beautiful daughter. She had fallen in love with a humble accountant, angering her father. He dismissed the young man and built a high fence around his house to keep the lovers apart. The Mandarin was planning for his daughter to marry a powerful Duke. The Duke arrived by boat to claim his bride, bearing a box of jewels as a gift. The wedding was to take place on the day the blossom fell from the willow tree. Savoy-Willow-pattern1

On the eve of the daughter's wedding to the Duke, the young accountant, disguised as a servant, slipped into the palace unnoticed. As the lovers escaped with the jewels, the alarm was raised. They ran over a bridge, chased by the Mandarin, whip in hand. They eventually escaped to the safety of a secluded island, where they lived happily for years. But one day, the Duke learned of their refuge. Hungry for revenge, he sent soldiers, who captured the lovers and put them to death. The Gods, moved by their plight, transformed the lovers into a pair of doves.

Roles and cast

*Ah Mee, ''a maiden''. Agnes Fraser *Hi Ho, ''her lover''.

Powis Pinder Powis Pinder (6 September 1872 – 25 July 1941) was an operatic baritone who created a number of minor roles in the Savoy Operas and played a range of more important parts in Gilbert and Sullivan operas and other works during a two decade lo ...

*So Hi, ''her father''. Reginald Crompton *So Lo, ''his friend''. Robert Rous *Wee Ping, ''a rich lady''. Rosina Brandram *Ping Pong.

Walter Passmore Walter Henry Passmore (10 May 1867 – 29 August 1946) was an English singer and actor best known as the first successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Passmo ...

*Tee Thing, ''his grandmother''. Jessie Pounds *Fee Fi, ''a poor girl''. Blanche Gaston Murray *Fo Fum, ''her lover''. W. H. Leon Because ''Ib and Little Christina'' was shorter than ''Iolanthe'', ''The Willow Pattern'' was condensed when it was revived with the latter opera. The cast was reduced to the following four characters: Ah Mee, Hi Ho, So Hi ( Rudolph Lewis), and Ping Pong (Robert Rous).

Musical numbers

*1. Chorus and Solos: Fee-Fi, Fo-Fum and Wee-Ping – "Comes a merry throng" *1a. Exit of Chorus – "Come, O merry throng" *2. So-Lo – "Your father in his day" *3. Ping-Pong – "Come, listen to a lecture" *4. Finale – "Join the merry throng" *5a. Intermezzo *5b. Ping-Pong – "Creepy, crawly, crawl and creep" *5c. Hi-Ho and Ah-Mee – "Soft as the dove" *6. Ah-Mee, Hi-Ho and Ping-Pong – "A thousand years ago" *7. Ping-Pong – "Nid-Nod, I'm a Chinese God" *8. Hi-Ho and Ah-Mee with Chorus – "I, like the tender turtle-dove" :Note: The vocal score credits the music of numbers 2 and 5 to Harold Vicars.

References

External links

''The Willow Pattern'' at the G&S ArchiveArticle on Savoy curtain raisersVocal score
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100510153708/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/ceramics/audio/willow/index.html Site links to a transcript of the Legend of the willow patternbr>Another site with information about the legend of the willow pattern
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willow Pattern, The English-language operas English comic operas Operas 1901 operas Operas by Cecil Cook