William Schwenck Gilbert, born in London in 1836, was the son of a retired naval surgeon. Except for a kidnapping by Italian brigands in Italy at age two, and a ransomed release, he appears to have had a very normal upbringing. Beyond ordinary schooling, he took training as an artillery officer and was tutored in military science with hopes of participating in the Crimean War. Unfortunately for him, but not for us, he did not graduate until after the War was over. Gilbert subsequently joined the militia and was a member for 20 years.

After finishing his military training Gilbert worked in a government bureau job which he hated. Upon receiving a nice inheritance from an aunt, Gilbert indulged his fancy and became a barrister. Called to the bar at age 28, Gilbert's law career, with no "rich attorney's elderly, ugly daughter" to help him escape mediocrity, lasted just a few years. Before leaving his law practice, however, he married the daughter of an army officer.

Gilbert had shown a proclivity for caustic wit and sarcasm from an early age and it was this talent that put him on the path to greatness. Beginning in 1861, Gilbert contributed dramatic criticism and humorous verse (unsigned) to the popular British magazine FUN . Some of his work was accompanied by cartoons and sketches which were signed "Bab." Many of the characters in the G&S operas were modelled after some of Gilbert's "Bab" characters. A collection of these Bab Ballads was later published in 1869.

The period from 1868 to 1875 was a very fruitful period for Gilbert, primarily because two plays which he wrote in 1871 netted him huge financial rewards. This was also the year that he collaborated briefly with a composer named Sullivan on a production entitled Thespis which did not bring the duo any notoriety. Their collaboration, however, spanned twenty-five years and produced a total of fourteen comic operas of which The Grand Duke , the last in the order, premiered in 1896.

Gilbert was knighted by Edward VII in 1907 and died in 1911, at age 74, while attempting to save a drowning woman.

Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan was born in Lambeth, London, in 1842 to a very musical family. His father was a bandmaster at the Royal Military College and before age 10 Sullivan had mastered all of the wind instruments in his father's band. Sullivan composed his own anthem when he was 8 years old.

At age 14 he entered, as the youngest participant, and won the competition for the first Mendelssohn Scholarship. He also won scholarships at several prominent academies and conservatories, the last of which was located in Germany where Franz List listened to Sullivan's final "thesis." Sullivan returned to England at age 20, wrote the "Tempest" and became famous.

For the next ten years Sullivan was a professor of music, a teacher, and an organist. Regarded as the leading composer of the day, Sullivan had many influential friends in every circle of society including many monarchs in Europe. In addition to composing "Onward Christian Soldiers," Sullivan also composed several major choral works, including The Light of the World, The Martyr of Antioch, The Golden Legend, and his lone grand opera, Ivanhoe.

Sullivan's first venture into comic opera was in 1867, with writer F.C. Brunand. Together they produced Cox and Box and The Contrabandista.

In the period from 1871 to 1896, Sullivan collaborated with W. S. Gilbert on fourteen comic operas. The Grand Duke , last in the line, premiered March 7, 1896.

From 1872 until his death in 1900, Sullivan suffered from extremely painful kidney stones and it is said that his most beautiful music was composed while he endured great pain. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1883.

- From The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive