Terence Rees
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Dr Terence Albert Ladd Rees, (born 24 February 1928) is a microbiologist but is best known as a collector of material relating to the theatre and music in Wales and Britain. He is also a published theatre historian and researcher, and, in particular, is an authority on the works of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan who, as Gilbert and Sullivan, authored 14 comic operas in the late Victorian era.
Biography
Rees was born at Barry in Glamorgan, Wales, educated at the local county school, the University of Cardiff (1948-1952), and the University of London (1954-1957). As a microbiologist he spent 1965 to 1967 as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Diseases of the Chest at Brompton in London, and between 1967 and 1981 he lectured in Microbiology at The Institute of Laryngology in London. Rees has resided for some years in Powys, Wales.
Gilbert and Sullivan
Rees owned the autograph score of The Zoo, the 1875 one-act operetta by Arthur Sullivan and B. C. Stephenson (who wrote the libretto as Bolton Rowe). The score was believed lost until Rees located it in the vault at Coutts Bank. He bought the score at auction in 1965, and a piano reduction was published. The operetta received its first modern production in 1971.[1]
After considerable research about Gilbert and Sullivan's first collaboration, Thespis, Rees developed a version of the libretto for that work that attempts to correct the many errors noted in the surviving libretto.[2] Rees also prepared a performance version, based on the libretto, which included a few interpolated lyrics from Gilbert's non-Sullivan operas in an attempt to replace the missing songs. A score was supplied by Garth Morton, based on music from lesser-known Sullivan operas, and this version was recorded in 1972.[3]
Rees held in his collection, at least through the 1990s, a number of original Sullivan manuscripts, including The Zoo, The Contrabandista, Haddon Hall, The Chieftain, and The Emerald Isle.[4]
Publications
- Thespis – A Gilbert & Sullivan Enigma (1964) London: Dillon's University Bookshop. ISBN 0900333049
- Theatre Lighting in the Age of Gas (1978) Publisher: Society for Theatre Research ISBN 0854300252
- Rees and David Wilmore, British Theatrical Patents, 1801-1900 (1996) Society for Theatre Research ISBN 0854300589
- A Sullivan discography Sir Arthur Sullivan Society ISBN 0950734853
- Rees and Roderick Spencer, "Sing With Sullivan" in W. S. Gilbert Society Journal, edited by Brian Jones. Vol. 1, No. 3: Spring 1986, p. 94
- "The Happy Land: Its True and Remarkable History" in W. S. Gilbert Society Journal, edited by Brian Jones. Vol. 1 No. 8: 1994, pp. 228-37
- "W. S. Gilbert's Sleepwalking" (a new Gilbert discovery) in W. S. Gilbert Society Journal, edited by Brian Jones. Vol. 2 No. 14: Winter 2003 pp. 420-25
- W. S. Gilbert, The Realm of Joy, edited by Terence Rees (1969) Privately printed. ISBN 0950010812
- W. S. Gilbert, Uncle Baby, edited by Terence Rees (1968) Privately printed. ISBN 0950010804
Notes
- ^ The Zoo at the G&S Discography
- ^ Rees (1964), p. 101-45
- ^ Annotated libretto to Thespis, prepared by Ian Bond, noting Rees' additions for the performance version. The interpolated songs do not appear in Rees' 1964 book. The LP recording was conducted by Roderick Spencer with the Fulham Light Operatic Society. Rare Recorded Editions SRRE 132/3.
- ^ Ric Wilson website containing information about G&S collections
References
- Rees, Terence (1964). Thespis – A Gilbert & Sullivan Enigma. London: Dillon's University Bookshop.