Alfred Cellier

Alfred Cellier, the lifelong friend, colleague, and admirer of Sir Arthur Sullivan, is restored in this detailed biography to a place of honour alongside his fellow comic opera composers of the nineteenth century. Cellier's key role in the early Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, and his enormous influence on the growth of music theatre in Australia, have only been hinted at in the past, but through Dr Barclay's meticulous research and insightful analysis, they regain a recognition that is both fitting and long overdue. Though subject to chronic ill-health, Alfred Cellier nevertheless developed his musical genius to an impressive level, composing a charming score for the comedy-opera Dorothy which became the longest running work of music theatre in the English speaking world in the nineteenth century - more popular even than The Mikado of Gilbert and Sullivan. Dr Barclay brings his experience as a scholar, musician, and historian to the study of a life which, though it ended prematurely, nevertheless endowed the world with numerous works of grace and beauty, several of which remain well worth reviving. The impressive twenty-first century recordings of Dorothy and The Mountebanks offer any listener the welcome opportunity of experiencing for themselves Cellier's prodigious melodic genius, and further appreciating the value of reviving his memory.