Gilbert and Sullivan or "entertainments", for Thomas German Reed. At a rehearsal for one of these entertainments, "Ages Ago", in 1870, the composer Frederic Clay introduced Gilbert to his friend, the young composer Arthur Sullivan. Over the next year, before the two first collaborated, Gilbert continued to write humorous verse, stories and plays, including the comic operas "Our Island Home" (1870) and "A Sensation Novel" (1871), and the blank verse comedies "The Princess" (1870), "The Palace of Truth" (1870) and "Pygmalion and Galatea" (1871). Sullivan was born in London on 13 May 1842. His father was a military bandmaster, and by the time
Trial by Jury Dark and Rowland Grey also give a high value to the importance of "Trial by Jury" and the operas that followed: "There is not a little historical interest in the genesis of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the one English contribution of any value to dramatic literature for many generations." In addition, references to the opera continue today in the popular media and even in law cases. "Trial by Jury" is the only Gilbert and Sullivan opera played in one act and the only theatrical work by W. S. Gilbert without spoken dialogue. However, later Gilbert and Sullivan operas retained