OUG&SS history

[darcydodo]

The following is from the December 1929 issue of the Gilbert & Sullivan Journal. We all already knew this, but it was incredibly cool to see the actual article.

    The Oxford University Gilbert and Sullivan Society, which has been in existence for some three years, has recently been reconstituted as the Oxford University Savoy Opera Club, affiliated as a branch of the parent society in London. At the present time it numbers about sixty members, who are of necessity restricted to the men's colleges at present.
    Fortnightly meetings have been held during the last two terms at various colleges in rotation and at each it has been the custom to render one item from each of the thirteen operas. The Club has adopted as its anthem—not without some reason—the trio from Princess Ida commencing "Gently, gently, evidently," down to the words "we've enlarged our minds." This is sung at the beginning and end of each meeting. In the intervals at half-time there is a round of "spotting" quotations and other forms of impromptu examinations. -E.R.S.


I so wish that copies of the journal were still obtainable, other than having to sit and look at them in the music library after calling them up from the NRLF (which takes two days, by the way).

Comments

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

If you can get a scan of the page at some point, we could possibly prevail on synergetic to put it on the society web pages.

[darcydodo]

Fairly impossible for me; someone at Oxford could just about, however. In my case, the first 7 volumes are on microfilm. So the printout would probably be quite dark, and then I'd have to scan it.... Oxford person could call up journal, photocopy the first page, and then scan it. Neither of us could get a scan of the actual page, however.

[hatam-soferet.livejournal.com]

I didn't know about that! How damn cool.

We had a Community Exercise today and had to describe the most fun community we'd been in. I broke the rules, I think - OUG&S isn't Jewish (officially)...

[darcydodo]

Isn't it just? I'd heard about it before because at one point we were attempting to figure out something about the age of the society, and that had been mentioned, including the bit about Gently, Gently. But I didn't know what the source was, and I didn't know much of the rest.

Today? I found a 1960s copy of the Bab Ballads for $12.50. I'm clearly on a G&S run. There was also more stuff about the Oxford society in the journal, just on different pages, so I might go back and find out more while I still have the microfilm on hold. Hee. Fun. The journal is so much fun, too, I'm cross that it takes two days to call up from reserve. Why oh why isn't it on the open shelves? I'd read through all of it, bit by bit. Really. Such wonderful hacks in there, too. :)