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Mackenzie was a fluent and intelligent composer who introduced some stylized Scottish folk elements into his work; the overtures, concertos and dramatic music are bracing and inventive. Some of his works were championed by internationally famous soloists, such as Sarasate and Paderewski.

Some principal works:

Operas

• The Troubador (1886)
• His Majesty (1897)
• The Cricket on the Hearth (1900 - has a splendid overture)
• The Knights of the Road (1905)

Cantatas

• The Rose of Sharon (1884)
• The Witches’ Daughter (1904)
• The Sun-God’s Return (1910)

Orchestral

• Overture ‘Cervantes’ (1877)
• Three Scottish Rhapsodies (No.1, 1880, No.2 ‘Burns’ 1881, No.3 ‘Tam o’ Shanter’ 1911)
• La Belle dame sans Merci (1883)
• Violin Concerto (1885)
• Incidental music to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (1883) and Coriolanus (1901)
• Pibroch Suite for violin and orchestra (1889)
• Scottish Concerto for piano and orchestra (1897)
• Suite, London Day by Day (1902)
• Canadian Rhapsody (1905)
• Overture ‘Rule Britannia’ (1911)
• Overture ‘Youth, Sport and Loyalty’ (1922)

From a musical family, studied at Sondershausen in Germany and later at the Royal Academy of Music, London. 1865-79 was active in Scotland as a violinist and teacher, 1879-1888 lived partly in Italy. From 1888 to 1924 was Principal of the Royal Academy of Music, and from 1892 conducted the Philharmonic Society of London (conducted first British performance of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony). He was knighted in 1895; KCVO (Knight Commander of the Victorian Order), 1922. His Autobiography, A Musician’s Narrative (published 1927), is quite interesting.