Background
The music of "The Elements" is arranged from the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. [1] Lehrer also drew inspiration from the song "Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians)", written by Ira Gershwin, which listed fifty Russian composers in a similar manner. [4]
"The Elements" differs musically from the "Major-General's Song" in that:
- It omits the third verse of the original as well as all of the choral "responses", and it adds an extra two lines at the end of the last verse.
- Lehrer simplifies the melody by primarily singing each phrase on a single note, instead of rapidly moving back and forth between two different notes as in Sullivan's original melody.
- It is in the key of C, while the "Major-General's Song" is in E-flat.
- On some of the live recordings, Lehrer pauses in the middle for spoken interludes, in which he talks to the audience (e.g., "I hope you're all taking notes, because there's going to be a short quiz next period!") while vamping on the piano.
- The song ends with a piano coda: "Shave and a Haircut".
In some live performances, after the song was finished, Lehrer joked that an earlier version, from Aristotle's time, lists only the classical elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water, explaining that "life was much simpler in those days". [5]
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known.
Thomas Andrew Lehrer is an American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, who later taught mathematics and musical theater. He recorded pithy and humorous songs that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s. His songs often parodied popular musical forms, though they usually had original melodies. An exception is "The Elements", in which he set the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance.
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where it was well received by both audiences and critics. Its London debut was on 3 April 1880, at the Opera Comique, where it ran for 363 performances.
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time. H.M.S. Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation.
George Baker was an English singer. He is remembered for singing on thousands of gramophone records in a career that spanned 53 years, beginning in 1909. He is especially associated with the comic baritone roles in recordings of the Gilbert & Sullivan operas. Baker made his stage debut in 1915 and toured during the 1920s.
"I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" is a patter song from Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance. It has been called the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan patter song. Sung by Major-General Stanley at his first entrance, towards the end of Act I, the character introduces himself by presenting his résumé as a polymath but admitting to fundamental shortcomings. He claims a wide range of classical, historical and scientific knowledge but admits that he knows little of military tactics, weapons or jargon. The song thereby satirises the idea of the "modern" educated British Army officer of the latter 19th century.
An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer is an album recorded by Tom Lehrer, the well-known satirist and Harvard lecturer. The recording was made on March 20–21, 1959 in Sanders Theater at Harvard.
The patter song is characterised by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note. It is a staple of comic opera, especially Gilbert and Sullivan, but it has also been used in musical theatre and elsewhere.
Doctor Who and the Pirates, or The Lass That Lost a Sailor, is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the first musical story in the series' history.
Fitness to Practice is a 2004 album produced for charity by Amateur Transplants. 10% of the profits from the album sales go to Macmillan Cancer Relief.
William Martin Green, known by his stage name, Martyn Green, was an English actor and singer. He is remembered for his performances and recordings as principal comedian of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, in the leading patter roles of the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas in the 1930s and 1940s, and for his career in America from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Dennis Hans Olsen AM is an Australian singer, actor, director and pianist. His performances include opera, musical theatre, cabaret, radio, television and film. He is best known as an exponent of "patter" roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas and his performances of Noël Coward songs.
Pirates of Penzance – The Ballet! is a comic ballet adapted from Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 Savoy Opera The Pirates of Penzance. The plot is the same as in the opera, and the music is arrangements of Arthur Sullivan's original music for the opera.
In vocal music, contrafactum is "the substitution of one text for another without substantial change to the music". The earliest known examples of this procedure date back to the 9th century used in connection with Gregorian chant.
A Song to Sing, O is a one-man musical play by Melvyn Morrow with songs by Gilbert and Sullivan and by George Grossmith, about the life of comedian and actor George Grossmith, who originated the principal comic roles for the most famous Savoy operas from 1877 through the 1880s. The plot concerns a fictional backstage interview given by Grossmith to an American reporter in 1889 during his last performance of The Yeomen of the Guard – indeed, his last performance for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. In between some interview gossip, Grossmith sings Gilbert and Sullivan songs, and some of his own songs to the reporter, and he enacts a scene from Grossmith's book, The Diary of a Nobody.
For nearly 150 years, Gilbert and Sullivan have pervasively influenced popular culture in the English-speaking world. Lines and quotations from the Gilbert and Sullivan operas have become part of the English language, such as "short, sharp shock", "What never? Well, hardly ever!", "let the punishment fit the crime", and "A policeman's lot is not a happy one".
Pauline Wales was an English singer and actress best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
"Fight Fiercely, Harvard" is a satirical college fight song written and originally performed by Tom Lehrer and dedicated to his alma mater, Harvard University. The song was written in 1945 while Lehrer was in his second year of study at Harvard College.
Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done is a 1975 British animated musical comedy film directed by Bill Melendez and designed by Ronald Searle, based on the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.
