- MacFarren originally composed this overture for an opera in 1837, but he rescinded the opera when he saw it being advertised as the work of another composer (the postings claimed the music was “composed, selected and arranged by Mr T. Cooke”)
- Felix Mendelssohn conducted this overture in 1843 in Leipzig. Mendelssohn said the piece was well-received, but avoided complimenting the music itself, so it’s possible that he wasn’t a fan.
- Richard Wagner enjoyed this overture. He conducted it in London in 1855 and said he liked it “on account of its peculiarly wild, passionate character.”
- Wagner and MacFarren were not friends, however. Wagner referred to MacFarren as “Mr. MacFarrinc, a pompous, melancholy Scotsman” (awkward, because MacFarren was English)1
- The overture is based on folk ballad about feuding families, Percy and Douglas, on the Scottish border…
Sources
- Nicholas Temperley, “Macfarren, Sir George,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed November 13, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000017324.
Cut IDs
19144