With Cat-like Tread
The pirates' stealthy march from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, for 2 to 4 singers: the end of the Act II reprise, where the pirates sing "Come, friends, who plough the sea" over the police's hushed "tarantara", then both choruses together, very loud, "With cat-like tread". The tune climbs to a held top E near the end. Sullivan wrote it for two men's choruses; here, as mixed choirs sing it, the women take the pirates and the men the police.
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The first verse
Words: W. S. Gilbert (1879)Tune: Arthur Sullivan (1879)
Come, friends, who plough the sea,Truce to navigation, Take another station;Let's vary piracee
About With Cat-like Tread
With Cat-like Tread is the pirates' stealthy march from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance of 1879. The pirates sing about creeping in silence, but Sullivan marks their chorus Allegro marziale, like a march, and it gets louder as it goes: the joke is in the music. Our arrangement is read from Chappell's vocal score, the end of the Act II reprise, where two choruses sing at once, the pirates creeping along while the police answer "Tarantara!". Sullivan wrote it for men. Here, as mixed choirs sing it, the soprano and alto take the pirates and the tenor and bass the police, moved from D to A.
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