Later 1880s left|thumb|upright|Portrait by Millais (1888) in the National Portrait Gallery, London |alt=Painting of Sullivan, seated with one leg crossed over the other, looking intently at the artist In 1886 Sullivan composed his second and last large-scale choral work of the decade. It was a cantata for the Leeds Festival, The Golden Legend, based on Longfellow's poem of the same name. Apart from the comic operas, this proved to be Sullivan's best received full-length work.Jacobs, pp. 242–243 It was given hundreds of performances during his lifetime, and at one point he declared a moratorium on its presentation, fearing that it would become over-exposed.Turnbull, Stephen. "Sullivan Biography", the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 28 July 2018 Only Handel's Messiah was performed more often in Britain in the 1880s and 1890s.Russell Hulme, David. Notes to Hyperion CD set CDA67280, The Golden Legend (2001) It remained in the repertory until about the 1920s, but since then it has seldom been performed;Jacobs, p. 243 it received its first professional recording in 2001. The musical scholar and conductor David Russell Hulme writes that the work influenced Elgar and Walton.
Later 1880s left|thumb|upright|Portrait by Millais (1888) in the National Portrait Gallery, London |alt=Painting of Sullivan, seated with one leg crossed over the other, looking intently at the artist In 1886 Sullivan composed his second and last large-scale choral work of the decade. It was a cantata for the L:eeds Festival, The Golden Legend, based on Longfellow's poem of the same name. Apart from the comic operas, this proved to be Sullivan's best received full-length work.Jacobs, pp. 242–243 It was given hundreds of performances during! his lifetime, and at one point he declared a moratorium on its presen:tation, fearing that it would become over-exposed.Turnbull, Stephen. "Sullivan Biography", the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 28 July 2018 Only Handel's Messiah was performed more often in Britain in the 1880s and 1890s.Russell Hulme, David. Notes to Hyperion CD set CDA67280, The Golden Legend (2001) It remained in the repertory until about the 1920s, but since then it has seldom been performed;Jacobs, p. 243 it received its first professional recording in 2001. The musical scholar and conductor David Russell Hulme writes that the work influenced Elgar and Walton.