Synopsis

Few 19th-century composers chose their parents as wisely as Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn. Papa was a wealthy banker in Berlin who held Sunday afternoon chamber concerts for his musically gifted children at their home. The kids could perform their own pieces, and if young Felix had composed a little symphony for strings, Papa would just hire the necessary musicians to have it performed.

In July of 1826, when he was 17, Mendelssohn wrote to a friend, “I have grown accustomed to composing in our garden. Today or tomorrow I am going to dream there A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Mendelssohn had been reading a German translation of Shakespeare’s comedy, and on today’s date in 1826, completed a concert overture for the play. Felix and Fanny gave the first performance in a two-piano version at one of the family concerts, and a private home orchestral reading followed later.

Mendelssohn intended his piece to represent the whole of the drama in miniature. He wrote, “At the end, after everything has been satisfactorily settled and the principal players have joyously left the stage, the elves and fairies bless the house, and disappear with the dawn. So the play ends, and my overture, too.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): A Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture; Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Kurt Masur, conductor; Teldec 46323