The music for this piece was inspired by a short extract from a traditional melody sung by women cloth-workers in Barra, in the Western Isles of Scotland. The Scottish folk music tradition is one that Weir has frequently drawn on in the past, both in shorter works such as the songs of Scotch Minstrelsy and in her second opera The Vanishing Bridegroom, and it is one she has completely assimilated into her technique.
The modal feel of this piece, however, is as much a result of Weir's intuitive and idiomatic harmonic sense as of the original inspiration. Overture for Orchestra, commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Tanglewood Music Centre in 1991; it received its first performance there on 3 August that year.
| Arrangement | Orchestra |
| Genres | Post-1900 |
| Format | Score |
| NumberOfPages | 44 |
| Media | Sheet Music |
| Publisher | Chester Music |
| Contributors | Weir, Judith (Artist) |
| Language | English |