Sullivan, Sir Arthur Seymour 1842-1900
English composer

He was born in London, and studied music under William Sterndale Bennett and at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Together with his friend George Grove he discovered the lost Rosamunde music by Schubert. He was organist and choirmaster of St Michael's, London, from 1861 to 1872, and became first Principal of the National Training College (1871), later the Royal College of Music. His association with the theatre, begun with his music to John Morton's Cox and Box (libretto by F C Burnand), was consolidated by his 18-year partnership with W S Gilbert, which produced the 14 comic 'Savoy' operas from 1871, including HMS Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1880), Iolanthe (1882), The Mikado (1885), The Yeomen of the Guard (1888) and The Gondoliers (1889). Sullivan also composed a Te Deum (1872), an opera, Ivanhoe (1891), cantatas, ballads and hymn-tunes. His best-known songs include 'Orpheus with his Lute', 'The Lost Chord', and the tune for the hymn 'Onward Christian Soldiers'. He was buried in St Paul's Cathedral.