Scan 23
Grove's dictionary of music and musicians;, 1907
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1An overture (see below) was given at the Crystal Palace in Oct. 1885, but it was not until 1887 that his name became widely known, from the success of his overture, 'Land of the Mountain and Flood,' produced at the same place. It was at once evident that the young composer had a strongly individual note of his own, and in quick succession other orchestral works were brought forward, for the most part at the Crystal Palace, where his first cantata, 'Lord Ullin's Daughter,' was given on Feb. 18, 1888. In that year he was commissioned to write a cantata for the Glasgow Choral Union; this was 'The Lay of the Last Minstrel,' given at Glasgow, Dec. 18, 1888, and at the Crystal Palace, Feb. 16, 1889. 'Bonny Kilmeny' had been given at one of Paterson's concerts in Edinburgh three days before; and in 1888 he was appointed a professor at the Royal College, a position which he held until 1894. A series of orchestral concerts was given in the same year in the studio of John Pettie, R.A., whose daughter he married in 1889. In 1894 his opera, 'Jeanie Deans,' was produced by the Royal Carl Rosa Company in Edinburgh, and performed in London by the same company, after much success throughout the provinces, on Jan. 22, 1896. He was for some years connected with this company as conductor, and has had much experience in operatic and other conducting. He directed the production in English of many of the later works of Wagner, including 'Tristan' and 'Siegfried,' as well as the stock repertory. After the death of Sullivan, during the last seasons of the Savoy Theatre as a home of English light opera, he conducted the run of 'Merrie England' and 'A Princess of Kensington.' Since the dispersal of the company, he has conducted various musical comedies and similar things. His compositions show a strongly national colouring, and certain sides of Scottish music, particularly those which deal with the more intimate and tender emotions, had scarcely been brought into the world of artistic or 'composed' music until his time. The following is a list of his principal works:—
3OPERAS, etc.
4'Jeanie Deans' (libretto by Joseph Bennett), in four acts, Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Nov. 15, 1894.
5'Diarmid': Grand opera in four acts, libretto by the Duke of Argyll (then Marquis of Lorne), Covent Garden Theatre, Oct. 23, 1897. This is understood to be part of a projected trilogy, the rest of which has not yet seen the light.
6'The Masque of War and Peace' (libretto by Louis N. Parker), given at a single special performance for the benefit of the Household Troops, Her Majesty's Theatre, Feb. 13, 1900.
7'The Golden Girl,' musical comedy, written by Captain Basil Hood; produced at the Prince of Wales's Theatre, Birmingham, August 5, 1905 (not yet performed in London).
9CANTATAS, BALLADS, etc. (for Choir and Orchestra).
10'Lord Ullin's Daughter,' Crystal Palace, Feb. 18, 1888.
11'The Lay of the Last Minstrel,' with soli, Glasgow Choral Union, Dec. 18, 1888; Crystal Palace, Feb. 16, 1889.
12'Bonny Kilmeny,' with soli, Paterson's Concerts, Edinburgh, Dec. 15, 1888, and at the Crystal Palace, March 8, 1889.
13'The Cameronian's Dream,' with baritone solo, Paterson's Concerts, Edinburgh, Jan. 27, 1890; Crystal Palace, Dec. 6, 1890.
14'Queen Hynde of Caledon,' with soli, Glasgow Choral Union, Jan. 28, 1892; Crystal Palace, March 5, 1892.
15'The Death of Parcy Reed,' for male chorus and orchestra, not yet performed.
16'The Wreck of the Hesperus,' produced with pictorial illustrations at the Coliseum Theatre, August 28, 1905.
18ORCHESTRAL OVERTURES, etc.
19'Clor Mhor,' Crystal Palace, Oct. 27, 1886.
20'The Land of the Mountain and Flood,' Crystal Palace, Nov. 8, 1887.
21'The Ship o' the Fiend,' Henschel Concerts, Feb. 21, 1888; Crystal Palace, April 21, 1888.
22'The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow,' Crystal Palace, Oct. 13, 1888.
23'Highland Memories,' three descriptive pieces, Crystal Palace, March 13, 1897, and at the Philharmonic on May 20 of the same year.
24These overtures, etc. were frequently played at other concerts besides those mentioned, and were stock pieces for several years.
25Psalms VIII., for chorus and organ, was performed at the Glasgow Exhibition of 1901.
26Nine part-songs, six original pieces, 'Scotch Dances' for piano solo, three pieces for violoncello and piano, extra numbers for various musical comedies, and about eighty songs, are also among MacCunn's published works.
27M.
29M'DONALD, MALCOLM, a Scottish composer of Strathspeys of some note during the latter part of the 18th century. Little is known of his personal history save that he was associated with the Gow family, and that he lived (and probably died) at Inver, the birthplace of Niel Gow. A footnote in The Beauties of Niel Gow states that he played the violoncello in Gow's band at Edinburgh. His published collections of Strathspey reels number four. The first in oblong folio was published in 1788; 2nd in folio, circa 1789; 3rd folio, circa 1792; a 4th folio, circa 1797.
30F. K.
32M'DONALD, PETER, a Scottish minister and son of one, born in the Manse of Durness in Sutherland, N.B., April 22, 1729. He was educated at St. Andrews, and ordained minister of Kilmore in Argylshire, Oct. 12, 1756. He remained in this position for sixty-nine years, and died Sept. 25, 1824. He was one of a musical family, and was a skilled performer on the violin. He is deserving of remembrance for his valuable work (the first attempt at such a gathering), a 'Collection of Highland Vocal Airs,' issued in Edinburgh in 1783. In his preface he mentions that a number of the melodies were noted down by his brother Joseph (born Feb. 26, 1739, died 1762), also a clever musician, who left Scotland for India in 1760. Joseph was the author of a Treatise on the Theory of the Scots Highland Bagpipe, which forms part of a work, a Collection of Bagpipe Music, published in Edinburgh in 1808.
33F. K.
35MACDOWELL, EDWARD ALEXANDER, American composer and pianist, born in New York City, Dec. 18, 1861. He is descended from a Quaker family of Scotch-Irish extraction that emigrated to America about the middle of the 18th century. As a boy he studied the piano-forte with Juan Buitrago, a South American, and Pablo Desvernine, a Cuban, and for a brief space with Teresa Carreño, a native of Venezuela. The nationality of these early teachers is recorded to enable the curious to study or speculate on the influences which, with the varied training received in Europe, may have helped to shape the artistic character of MacDowell, who, though entitled to rank with contemporary composers of the highest class irrespective of country, is yet specially significant as a representative of the best that America has produced in music. His European studies were varied. In 1876 he became a pupil of Savard in composition, and
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