Charles Mackerras authority on Mozart's operas and those of Sir Arthur Sullivan. His ballet with John Cranko, "Pineapple Poll", is an arrangement of Sullivan music with a story based on one of W. S. Gilbert's "Bab Ballads". The piece premiered in 1951, soon after the expiration of copyright on Sullivan's music, and continues to be a popular light music favourite in English speaking countries. Mackerras later arranged music by Giuseppe Verdi for the ballet "The Lady and the Fool". He also arranged a suite from John Ireland's score for the 1946 film "The Overlanders", after Ireland's death in 1962. He became principal
Ballet (music) including the likes of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, were predominantly in France and Russia. Yet with the increased international notoriety seen in Tchaikovsky's lifetime, ballet music composition and ballet in general spread across the western world. Until about the second half of the 19th century, the role of music in ballet was secondary, with the main emphasis on dance, while music was simply a compilation of danceable tunes. Writing "ballet music" used to be a job for musical craftsmen, rather than for masters. For example, critics of the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky mentioned his writing of ballet