"Climbing over rocky mountain" is the best known piece from "Thespis", as it was transplanted in 1879 into one of Gilbert and Sullivan's most successful operas, "The Pirates of Penzance". In 1902, Gilbert told a correspondent that this had happened accidentally. He and Sullivan had arrived in New York to produce the new opera, but the composer discovered that he had left his sketches behind in England. Fortunately, the entrance chorus from "Thespis" fitted the situation almost exactly, so it was substituted instead.