7 The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time 7

After his split with Gilbert, Sullivan wrote the opera

Haddon Hall (1892) to a libretto by Sydney Grundy. Sullivan

also completed three other operettas: The Chieftain (1895),

largely an adaptation of Contrabandista; The Beauty Stone

(1898), with a libretto by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero and J.

Comyns Carr; and The Rose of Persia (1889), with Basil

Hood, who also wrote the libretto for The Emerald Isle,

which was left unfinished by Sullivan and completed by

Edward German.

In the course of his career, Sullivan independently

composed a number of works in a more classical vein,

including The Prodigal Son (1869), The Light of the World

(1873), The Martyr of Antioch (1880), The Golden Legend

(1886), and the “romantic opera” Ivanhoe. In addition, he

wrote many hymn tunes, including “Onward! Christian

Soldiers,” and his song “The Lost Chord” attained great

popularity. In 1876 Sullivan accepted the principalship of

the National Training School for Music (later the Royal

College of Music), which he held for five years; he was

active as a conductor, particularly at the Leeds Festivals

from 1880 to 1898. He was knighted in 1883.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

(b. April 25 [May 7, New Style], 1840, Votkinsk, Russia—d. Oct. 25

[Nov. 6], 1893, St. Petersburg)

P

yotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is largely regarded as the

most popular Russian composer of all time. His music

has always had great appeal for the general public in virtue

of its tuneful, open-hearted melodies, impressive harmo-

nies, and colourful, picturesque orchestration, all of which

evoke a profound emotional response. His oeuvre includes

7 symphonies, 11 operas, 3 ballets, 5 suites, 3 piano concertos,

a violin concerto, 11 overtures (strictly speaking, 3 overtures

and 8 single movement programmatic orchestral works),