Sullivan wrote in 1899 to his cousin, the music critic B. W. Findon: "Had I known that Stanford would name his work an 'Irish Symphony', I think I should have knocked my modesty on the head.
[4][n 1] The symphony had its second performance on 11 April at St James's Hall at a concert of the Musical Society of London;[6] the conductor was Alfred Mellon.
[9] The programme consisted mainly of Sullivan's works, including the overture to The Sapphire Necklace and excerpts from The Masque at Kenilworth, conducted by the composer.
Among the performers was the popular singer, Jenny Lind, who co-sponsored the concert, sang four musical numbers including two Sullivan songs, and attracted a capacity audience.
While Lamb judges the general mood of the symphony quite serious, he finds that it "also displays Sullivan at his lightest, above all in the joyous third movement … with its jaunty theme for oboe and delightful interplay between pizzicato strings and bubbling woodwind.
[14] It received few performances in the twentieth century, but it has been heard more frequently in recent decades and was the major work of the opening concert of the first English Music Festival (broadcast by the BBC) in October 2006.