Fand Catalogue

  

Jolly Roger Overture

for piano duet

Walter Leigh

arr. John Mitchell

Jolly Roger, or The Admiral’s Daughter, is a comic opera set in Jamaica in 1690. The title refers to a person in the cast, rather than to the skull and crossbones pirate flag. The production opened at the Opera House, Manchester on 13th February 1933, with George Robey in the leading role. It soon transferred to London’s West End, where it ran for 199 performances, enjoying much critical success.

The high-spirited Overture sets the nautical scene splendidly, with a humorous quote from Rule, Britannia along the way. The concluding excessive number of tonic chords is perhaps a wry dig at the final bars of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony! This arrangement for piano duet will hopefully give this not-as-well-known-as-it-should-be overture a greater currency.

—John Mitchell, October 2021

Sample pages

(Click to enlarge)

	Composer	Title	Grade	Forces	Duration
	Walter Leigh arr. John Mitchell	Jolly Roger Overture for piano duet	7	Piano duet	4 mins

Recorded performance

In the absence of a live recording of this piece, John and Jean Meccanico have obliged to give you an idea of how it sounds

Catalogue code: FM238 • Published: 24th December 2021
Entry last updated: 24th December 2021