12 | synopsis The music heightens this political satire, both in the style of the lyrics and in the orchestration. Gilbert’s “Major-General” song is a patter song, or a fast-paced song in which each syllable corresponds to one note, filled with rhymes and alliteration, turning it into a tongue-twister. This comedic performance adds to the parody of the educated, “modern” British officer. The orchestration, parodying other works like Gounod’s waltzes or Verdi’s Il trovatore, highlights the satirical tone of the opera. The opera can be an absolute riot for the audience taken at face value, or it can take on a darker comedic tone when considering the underlying layers parodying the British Empire. As Dickens wrote in another of his novels, “Duty, my dear Doctor, before every consideration in the universe!” This is the mindset that ruled Victorian England—and the very mindset Gilbert and Sullivan were trying to lampoon in The Pirates of Penzance.
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