ABSTRACT
THE first rapturous outburst of enthusiasm for Sullivan as an orchestral composer did not last. Avid reader of the press that he was, 1 he must have been aware of such coolly critical voices as that of Henry C. Lunn, editor of the Musical Times from 1863.
Of his overture to The Sapphire Necklace we may say that there is very much to admire and that, without contrasting it with mature works, it contains sufficient to show that Mr Sullivan has power to advance to a high place provided that power be rightly directed in time... 2
