[9] Shortly after joining the roster of singers managed by Messrs Harrison, he appeared in concert at the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival in February 1879; and it was reported in the press that this was his professional debut.
[11] King created the role of Callias, the Priest of Apollo, in the first performance of Arthur Sullivan's oratorio The Martyr of Antioch at the triennial Leeds Festivals in 1880.
[12] At that same festival he replaced an ailing Charles Santley in the title role of Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah and in performances of Joseph Haydn's The Creation, the latter of which included soprano Emma Albani and tenor Edward Lloyd.
Truth to tell, there is not much diabolical in Longfellow's fiend, and it would seem as though Sir Arthur Sullivan had sought on occasion to atone for his comparative mildness by applying a background of orchestration worthy in its sonority of Berlioz or Wagner.
Whether Satan could make himself heard in Pandemonium may be an open question, but undoubtedly there are moments in The Golden Legend when Lucifer's human representative, be his voice ever so stentorian, is bound to be inaudible.
Among his students were Norman Allin, Miriam Licette, Muriel O'Malley,[16] Robert Radford,[17][18] David Brazell,[19] William Samuell[20] and Herbert Heyner.