Sir Arthur Sullivan is best known for the operas that he composed with librettist W.S. Gilbert. At various points, however, Sullivan wrote concert works that were considered among the finest of their era. When premiered in 1886, The Golden Legend was a resounding success; it was the second-most-performed choral work in England, after Handel's Messiah, until Sullivan's death in 1900, and then it disappeared from the repertory.

The Golden Legend is very much a work of its time, stately and filled with big tunes, as well as steeped in high romanticism in its text, drawn from an extensively edited Longfellow. Opening in a swirl of strings and winds evoking a storm, the tenors and bells rise up in opposition to Lucifer (baritone) and the Spirits of the Air (altos, sopranos) as they try to tear down the cross on Strasbourg Cathedral. Bells and tenors, baritone, altos, and sopranos mix it up musically in intertwining melodic lines—the choir of tenors, representing the bells, rises up in a hymn-like tune announcing a vigil over the cathedral. Scene 1 opens on a Wagnerian brass- and string-laden declamatory section, taking us to Prince Henry's castle on the Rhine, where the prince (tenor) tells of being sick at heart; Lucifer, masquerading as a doctor to a rather brisk, playful accompaniment on the reeds and winds, seduces the Prince into believing that only the blood of a maiden who dies willingly for him can cure him. Scene 2 depicts, in sweet, noble tones, Ursula (mezzo-soprano), a humble woman of the town, and her daughter Elsie (soprano), who is so charmed as the Prince passes by, adding his voice to the hymn tune ("O gladsome light") sung by the workers, that she offers her life for him. In Scene 3, the Prince and Elsie become pilgrims, traveling to the doctor who can effect the cure—in a moving duet, they describe their wonder at the world, and at life, until Lucifer, masquerading as a Friar, intrudes, observing the scene. He gleefully describes his plans to take Elsie's soul for himself, to a light brass accompaniment that is joined by chorus and finally the full orchestra. Scene 4 depicts the arrival of the couple before Lucifer, masquerading as the doctor—the baritone's furtive, fearful announcement of his impending victory contrasts sharply with the hero tenor's bold announcement of Elsie's intent, and her attendants sing a hymn-like chorale. The Prince won't permit her death, however, rescuing her in battle in which his and Lucifer's motifs briefly intertwine, before the Prince and the attendants, overwhelming Lucifer, close the action with a rousing chorale. Scene 5 depicts Ursula's learning of her daughter's survival, expressing her joy in contemplative fashion while the Prince sings in a bolder, richer mode. Scene 6 takes place on the eve of the Prince and Elsie's wedding, each in richly melodic arias expressing joy in their mutual salvation. The work ends in a rousing choral epilog giving a spiritual overview of the tale.

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