ABSTRACT
This chapter bears out, the boundaries between sacred and secular were porous in their function within Victorian society as well as in terms of Sullivan's musical style. It examines two of his larger-scale choral works, both composed on a liturgical text though designed in each case for a wider civic purpose. Though Sullivan had contributed a small-scale setting of the Anglican Te Deum text in 1866 as part of a Morning Service in D, it is the two larger versions from 1872 and 1900 – the 'Festival' Te Deum and the 'Boer War' Te Deum. These two settings provide an opportunity to explore more deeply the nature of Sullivan's religious music and the distinctive qualities of this side of his output. Furthermore, the latter work is the last significant piece Sullivan would complete, and in referencing several of his earlier pieces it rounds off his compositional career as appropriately as it does this study of his music.
