The other music is made up of 13 pieces borrowed from Arne's earlier stage works, a new overture was by C. F. Abel, and 23 songs by other composers, including Bishop, Boyce, Geminiani, Giordani, and Galuppi, albeit with new texts.

The English libretto, by Isaac Bickerstaffe, is based on Charles Johnson’s 1729 play The Village Opera.

Love in a Village was received enthusiastically at its premiere and became one of Arne's more popular operas, enjoying 40 performances in its first season alone.

A copy of the full score, which is partly in the composer’s hand, also survives and is in the collection of the library at the Royal College of Music.

Rosetta, a role written for Arne's lover Charlotte Brent, requires a gifted coloratura soprano, particularly for the aria "The traveller benighted" which has several challenging passages containing wide vocal leaps, fast runs, and trills.