Arthur Sullivan (later to become the musical half of Gilbert & Sullivan) was born in Lambeth, London, in 1842. He was a boyhood friend of John Stainer. At the age of 11, he applied for membership of the choir of the Chapel Royal and was accepted, despite concerns that he was too old to give much service before his voice broke. Thomas Helmore, Master of the Choristers, encouraged Sullivan to start composing and arranged for the publication of his anthem “O Israel” in 1855. It was Sullivan’s first published work.
The anthem was sung at the Chapel Royal in 1855 and we present here a performance of the same piece by the same choir, but in 2002.
Contemporary accounts state that Sullivan had an extraordinarily beautiful treble voice and that he wrote the solo is his anthem to show off his voice. A showman even at 13 years old, perhaps?
Read more about Arthur Sullivan here: [ Ссылка ]
