Feted for his Savoy operas with librettist W.S. Gilbert, Sir Arthur Sullivan also regularly produced music for important royal or national occasions. In 1897, to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, he was commissioned to write a ballet for the Alhambra Theatre in London. Conforming closely to the theatre's established style, this single-act ballet was a spectacular pageant, featuring 'specialty' dances, startling dramatic effects and grand tableaux, notably military ones. Significant research and reconstruction of the score has made this recording possible.

Tracklist:

Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 1: Britannia Asleep
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 1: Sacred March Of The Druids
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 1: Rites Of The Mistletoe - Britannia Awakes
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: Festivities On The Village Green
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: Procession Of Mummers And Revellers
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: Warriors' Dance
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: Morrice Dance
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: Mazurka
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: Robin Hood And Maid Marian
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: Friar Tuck And The Dragon
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: Two Hobby Horses
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: Six Women Morrice Dancers
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: General Dance
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: Solo Variation
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 2 & 3: Maypole Dance
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 4 & 5: Windsor Forest - Storm
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 4 & 5: Entrance Of The Hunters
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 4 & 5: Waltz Of Wood Nymphs
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 4 & 5: Procession Of The Yule Log
Victoria And Merrie England, Scenes 4 & 5: Galop - Dance Of Nymphs And Hunters
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 6: Castle Hall
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 6: Procession Of The Boar's Head And Roast Beef
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 6: Comic Pas De Quatre
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 6: Drunken Jester's Dance
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 6: Blind Man's Buff
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 6: Entrance And Procession Of Father Christmas
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 6: Mistletoe Dance
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 7: Tableau "Imperial March"
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 8: English, Irish, Scottish & Colonial Troops - Military Maneuvers
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 8: Sailors' Hornpipe
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 8: Pas Redoublé
Victoria And Merrie England, Scene 8: Finale. Britannia - The Albert Memorial - God Save The Queen

UPC: 747313521623
Label: Naxos
Release Date: 12.3.21
Format: CD

Sullivan / Rte Sinfonietta / Penny - Victoria & Merrie England (CD)