– Lucifer Prince Henry enters – Henry, Lucifer and Elsie O pure in heart – Chorus Weep not, my friends – Elsie and Henry Come with me, this Way – Lucifer, Henry, Elsie and Chorus Scene 5 Who is it coming? – Ursula and Forester Virgin, who lovest the poor – Ursula Scene 6 We are alone – Henry and Elsie Dear Elsie – Henry and Elsie In life's delight – Henry and Elsie Choral Epilogue God sent His messenger, the rain Critical reception After the first performance, The Leeds Mercury reported: The Observer, quoting from the text, said, "'The deed divine shall through all ages burn and shine.' And so shall The Golden Legend." The Manchester Guardian was more cautious, praising the music but suggesting that comparison with Mendelssohn's St. Paul, played in the second half of the concert, was not to Sullivan's advantage. The Times dismissed Longfellow's poem as insipid but praised the music, calling it "a work which, if not of genius in the strict sense of the word, is at least likely to survive till our long-expected English Beethoven appears on the scene." A later writer commented that the judgment of The Times was shrewd, "for Sullivan's serious music lasted only until Elgar's over-mounted it." Nevertheless, Elgar "always spoke with great feeling and respect for Sullivan, and admired The Golden Legend." When The Golden Legend was recorded in full in 2001, Edward Greenfield wrote in The Gramophone: Later performances and recordings In the twentieth century, the work's popularity declined, though occasional performances continued to be given, among them some at Leeds (1904), Cardiff (1907), London (1911, 1921, 1926 and 1927), Norwich (1911), and Belfast (1927). As late as the 1926-27 season, there were six performances of the piece by British choral societies. Sir Henry Wood never lost his admiration for the work and included part of it in his silver jubilee concert in 1936, alongside the premiere of Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music. Wood insisted on mounting a complete performance of The Golden Legend in May 1942 to celebrate the centenary of Sullivan's birth. He prevailed on the BBC to broadcast it, having reminded them that he was "the only living musician who had daily contact with Sir Arthur Sullivan as an accompanist". Sir Charles Mackerras conducted a centenary performance of the work in 1986, in the same building as the premiere, the newly restored Leeds