 The 22-year-old Sullivan composed the piece over the summer of 1864 and travelled to Birmingham in early September for the first rehearsal.He conducted the première of the cantata on 8 September 1864, which was generally well received.However, "The Times" was disappointed in the young composer's missing so "golden a chance" to provide something of "more dignity" for such a grand event and dismissed the music as merely "trivial prettiness".