 William Behrend from "Politiken" noted that Nielsen "conducted the performance with great assurance and quite natural zeal" but wondered whether the work would attract as much enthusiasm in future productions.Several other reviewers pointed out that it was hardly an opera in the classic sense but was more like an oratorio with its symphonic treatment, its cool dramatic approach and its large choral pieces.There were only a few more performances of "Saul og David" in Copenhagen during Nielsen's lifetime and despite his own efforts to have it performed in Dresden and Vienna, it was not until November 1928 that it was staged abroad in Gothenburg.