SIR ARTHUR SEYMOUR SULLIVAN was the first holder of the Mendelssohn scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music. His principal ambition was to be a serious composer -- thus the success of his collaboration with Gilbert did not satisfy him. Despite many serious compositions (the oratorios such as The Golden Legend and Kenilworth, and the grand opera Ivanhoe ), only the operettas remain popular, and two of his songs ( Onward Christian Soldiers and The Lost Chord ) continue to be sung