In a likely reference to Mozart, a fortissimo interjection from the chorus precedes this character saying “No, all is still.” While in a dressing gown, this character describes “a lot of poplar trees / Courted by the fickle breeze” in a ballad that begins “Sighing softly by the river.” A lengthy joke revolving around this character’s misunderstanding of the word “often” is kept by Joseph Papp, but shortened in D’Oyly Carte’s (“doy-lee cart’s”) productions. An archaic term for a horse is included in the phrase “sat a gee,” which this character devises as a rhyme for “strategy.” This character, who was based on Garnet Wolseley, lies about being an orphan to stop the abduction of his daughters. In the most iconic “patter song,” this father of Mabel claims he can “whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.” For 10 points, “information animal, vegetable, and mineral” is possessed by what “modern” Gilbert and Sullivan character? ■END■
ANSWER: the Major-General [or Major-General Stanley; accept “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General”] (He appears in The Pirates of Penzance.)
<Other Fine Arts>
= Average correct buzz position