Flyer/Handbill: 1870 Arthur Sullivan & Sims Reeves Upper Norwood FLYER Gilbert & Sullivan

A flyer produced in 1870 advertising a full choral service at All Saints Church in Upper Norwood (South London) to celebrate the opening of their new organ on Fri 21 October. The great opera and oratorio tenor Sims Reeves sang three anthems including “I will arise”, from “The Prodigal Son”, accompanied on the organ by the composer Arthur Sullivan, best known as creator of the music for the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The 5” by 8” flyer is printed on only the face of a four-page leaflet which has at some point been folded then bound into an album resulting in some damage to the spine. A rare souvenir of a possibly unrecorded performance by Arthur Sullivan.

This item was formerly in the collection of John Cannon, the respected G&S collector and researcher who died in 2021. He left instructions that all collectors should have a chance to acquire the treasures in his collection, which will therefore be auctioned here over the next year or so by StageMemories and PaperJoys. Please let us know if you would like to be added to a mailing list, to be informed of all or specific items from John’s collection.

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