Event Dime

New research links Handel's organist in Dublin with the Scottish fiddler & composer Charles Macklean

When:

July 9, 2026 · 10:34 AM

Where:

Govan Old Parish Church

Source:

Planet Hugill: Terrific and intensely atmospheric: the String Quartet No. 1 and Piano Quintet by Olli Mustonen from the Engegård Quartet and the composer on LAWO Classics

Dr Aaron McGregor (Photo: Campbell Parker) Advertisements for Handel's performances in Dublin in 1741 and 1742 (when he premiered Messiah ) give the name of his organist as “Mr M’Lean” or “Mr Maclaine” and that is all we knew. Until now, when research by Dr Aaron McGregor of the University of Aberdeen has linked this figure with an 18th-century Scottish fiddler and composer, Charles Macklean, thanks in part to documents arising from Macklean's complex marital history. Dr McGregor explains: " Cha