GILBERTIAN PATTER SONGS by J. Leslie HACKETT

Gilbert seems to have been very fond of including in his operas one of the above and the idea seems to be to take them as quickly as possible trusting that the singers can make them intelligible. This may be possible to those like myself who have grown up with the operas but I doubt whether the modern generations really catch on to many of the words. I wonder whether it would lose any effect if the tempo was slowed slightly. In point of fact, the words are indeed worth listening to and surely it would do them justice by allowing them to be understood and not permit them to turn into a meaningless gabble. This may offend the purists who would not have any alteration made but in point of fact the company have over the years made alterations to many of the operas, leaving out some numbers and dialogue, so I would not consider that a slight alteration to the tempo of the patter songs would be such a terrible thing. I would be glad to find out how many of your readers would react to this idea or whether they would consign me to the executioner's axe. [Mr. Hackett has raised a very interesting point. I think few would disagree with him that Gilbert's words should be intelligible, the point at issue here seems to be whether they are, and if not whether matters would be improved by slowing the tempo. My own personal view is that if the words of a patter song are not clear, it does not mean that the song is being taken too fast, but that the singer is incompetent. It ought, surely, to be possible to have both speed and clarity? Comments please. Ed.]

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