Overture in C, "In Memoriam"
The Overture in C, "In Memoriam", by Arthur Sullivan, premiered on 30 October 1866 at the Norwich Festival, in honour of his father, who died just before composition began. The piece was written early in Sullivan's career, before he began to work with his famous collaborator, W. S. Gilbert, on their series of Savoy Operas. The sombre piece was well received. It was first published by Novello almost twenty years later, in 1885. Background and history In late 1864, Sullivan received commissions to write overtures for the Philharmonic Society of London and the Norwich Festival. The first was to be based on Sir Walter Scott's poem Marmion, but the second had no theme assigned. Inspiration for the Norwich Festival commission came with the sudden death of Sullivan's father in September, 1866. Sullivan turned his grief to the completion of this overture. The work was premiered in Norwich, conducted by Julius Benedict. It was well received; the reviewer in The Observer wrote that the piece "expresses with wonderful force and clearness of intention the various phases of an all-absorbing, poignant sorrow, from the first overwhelming burst of passionate grief to the calm resignation which time and a higher teaching alone can