Martyn Green in Famous Gilbert and Sullivan Songs

00:00 A Modern Major General (from "The Pirates of Penzance")
02:44 When I was a Lad (from "H.M.S. Pinafore")
05:35 I've Jibe and Joke (from "The Yeomen of the Guard")
07:38 The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring (from "The Mikado")
09:02 There is Beauty in the Bellow of the Blast (with Ella Halman, from "The Mikado")
11:06 I've Got a Little List (from "The Mikado")
13:14 Willow, Tit-willow (from "The Mikado")
15:54 If You Give Me Your Attention (from "Princess Ida")
18:14 Whene'er I Spoke (from "Princess Ida")
19:57 I Have a Song to Sing (from "The Yeomen of the Guard")
23:30 Am I Alone (from "Patience")
27:57 When I Went to the Bar (from "Iolanthe")
30:08 The Law Is the True Embodiment (from "Iolanthe")
32:29 The Judge's Song (from "Trial By Jury")
35:34 Oh! A Private Buffoon (from "The Yeomen of the Guard")
38:30 The Nightmare Song (from "Iolanthe")

Martyn Green, with Lehman Engel conducting the Columbia Operetta Chorus & Orchestra

Martyn Green needs no introduction to Gilbert and Sullivan enthusiasts. They have known him for years as the very model of a modern Savoyard, as an unbelievably dapper, nimble, inventive comedian whose diction, even in the most breathless of the “patter” songs, is impeccable and whose comic spirit is irresistible. For audiences of this generation, Martyn Green is the peerless Ko-ko of The Mikado, the Lord Chancellor of Jolanthe, the Major-General of The Pirates of Penzance, Jack Point of The Yeomen of the Guard, Bunthorne of Patience, or any of the other lovable buffoons of the G. & S. galaxy.

As a member of the D’Oyly Carte Company for more than two decades, Martyn Green is steeped in the great tradition. His Gilbert and Sullivan is all style and gusto, and these admirable qualities come through wonderfully in these recorded performances, for Mr. Green’s voice capers and twinkles as fetchingly as his expressive hands and legs and eyes.

Fresh from experience with contemporary musicals and from classes at the Royal College of Music in London where he studied voice with a member of the great Garcia family, Martyn Green joined the D’Oyly Carte troupe in 1923. Starting as a member of the ensemble and bit player (his first role was as Luiz in The Gondoliers), he soon was understudying Sir Henry Lytton, the outstanding Gilbert and Sullivan comedian of his day. Marytn Green succeeded to Sir Henry’s roles, and long before he left the D’Oyly Carte organization in 1951 Mr. Green was universally recognized as the master of his Gilbert and Sullivan world. His stay with the D’Oyly Carte Company was continuous except for the War years when he served as Flight Lieutenant with the RAF. In what spare time he had he appeared in a film version of The Mikado and of a movie based on the lives of Gilbert and Sullivan. And he has not forsaken the immortal pair on leaving the English company but he continues his delightful performances with a new management.

Looking back on his career, Mr. Green said that if he had his life to live over he would spend it as he has - singing and performing Gilbert and Sullivan. And his favorite role? To that query he replies, “The one I am about to play next — unless I’m playing it at the moment.”

William S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan are in even less need of an introduction than Martyn Green. Their partnership in a dozen or more comic operas is among the most bewitching in the history of the theatre, producing words and music whose gaiety and satire and deftness have never been matched on the musical stage.

On this record, Martyn Green sings almost all the solo songs of the varied characters he portrays. The combination of words, music and superlative, authoritative delivery makes this recording a joy not only to the Gilbert and Sullivan specialist but also to all those who relish sparkling fun.

Columbia (CL 832) 1953