Description: | My father was indisposed and there were two tickets to a performance of Ruddigore by the D'oyly Carte in Liverpool so at the age of five I was taken off to see my first stage production of any sort. I can still remember it vividly, especially the second act where the ghosts in the portraits came to life. (I have also seen Yeoman performed by the same company at the Tower of London which is quite something) but Ruddigore has always remained perhaps my favourite.
Musically I reckon that Ruddigoe is probably Sullivan's best overture However, there are two versions: The original Sullivan one whilst pleasant enough is not great but the Toye version written shortly afterwards, remains the most popular and it is this version thta I have based my transcription on.
I have played various parts of the operetta many times over the years in concerts but never the complete overture so I thought it was about time that I made a transcription for organ.
First thoughts for the initial theme were to create a Mulet Tu es Petra manual part to the pedal playing the solo and whilst it is possible to play, I found that it didn't quite work so I opted for a simpler option where the theme is in the LH accompanied by a simpler RH and pedal. The 32' reed is supposed to represent timpani rolls where used.
From the second section onwards, it's fairly plain sailing although the rapid repeated quavers in the subsequent patter section are very awkward.
All in all, I hope that it captures the essence of the original orchestral version and it's certainly enjoyable to play.
I am also toying with the idea of producing a duet version to fill in some of the orchestral parts that just cannot be played by one person - mainly the flourishes in the "When the night wind howls" entry section.
|