A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mendelssohn)
Felix Mendelssohn finished writing his Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream on the 6th of August 1826. He was seventeen years and six months old at that moment. The music scholar George Grove later called this work "the greatest marvel of early maturity that the world has ever seen in music." Mendelssohn had read a German translation of Shakespeare's play earlier that year. August Wilhelm Schlegel translated the text with help from Ludwig Tieck. Their family connection ran deep since Schlegel's brother Friedrich married Felix's Aunt Dorothea. The composer wrote this piece as a concert overture without any specific performance in mind. It emerged after he studied the translated play during a quiet summer.
The overture received its premiere in Stettin on the 20th of February 1827. Carl Loewe conducted the concert while Mendelssohn traveled eighty miles through a raging snowstorm to attend. He had turned eighteen just two weeks prior to this event. This marked his first public appearance before an audience. Loewe and Mendelssohn performed together as soloists in a concerto for two pianos. Mendelssohn also played Weber's Konzertstück alone. After intermission, he joined the first violins for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The first British performance occurred on the 24th of June 1829 at London's Argyll Rooms. Mendelssohn conducted it himself for flood victims in Silesia. Thomas Attwood held the score afterward but lost it in a cab. Mendelssohn rewrote the entire piece from memory.
King Frederick William IV commissioned new incidental music in 1842. Mendelssohn served as music director of both the King's Academy of Arts and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. A successful production of Sophocles' Antigone took place on the 28th of October 1841 at Potsdam's New Palace. That earlier work carried Opus number fifty-five. The king requested similar music for plays he particularly enjoyed. A Midsummer Night's Dream premiered on the 14th of October 1843 in Potsdam under producer Ludwig Tieck. This commission led to further works including Oedipus at Colonus and Athalie. The original overture became part of this larger Opus sixty-one collection. It stood as the first of fourteen total numbers within the incidental score.
Act one played without any musical accompaniment during the Potsdam production. The Scherzo followed as an intermezzo between acts one and two with sprightly scoring. Chattering winds and dancing strings dominated that movement. Oberon arrived accompanied by a fairy march using triangle and cymbals. The vocal piece "Ye spotted snakes" opened act two's second scene. Act three included a quaint march for the Mechanicals entrance. Music from the overture accompanied actions within that act. The Nocturne featured a solo horn doubled by bassoons. It accompanied sleeping lovers between acts three and four. Only one melodrama appeared in act four before closing with a Nocturne reprise. The famous Wedding March served as the intermezzo between acts four and five.
The overture scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, and two bassoons. Two horns and two trumpets joined these woodwinds. An ophicleide filled out the brass section alongside timpani and strings. The original part was written for English bass horn or corno inglese di basso. This instrument appeared at both the first performance and London premiere of 1829. Mendelssohn later replaced it with the ophicleide in his published edition. Hogwood notes uncertainty about whether this change was artistic or executive. The incidental music added a third trumpet and three trombones to the mix. Triangle and cymbals entered the orchestra for fairy scenes. Soprano, mezzo-soprano, and women's chorus voices completed the vocal requirements.
Mendelssohn arranged three movements for piano solo in 1844. These included the Scherzo, Nocturne, and Wedding March. Roberto Prosseda recorded them for the first time in 2005. A more famous arrangement existed as five movements for piano duet from that same year. Franz Liszt transcribed the Wedding March and Dance of the Elves under number S410. Sigismond Thalberg created an arrangement of the Scherzo. Moritz Moszkowski handled the Nocturne while Sergei Rachmaninoff tackled another version of the Scherzo. Many other arrangements exist for piano and various instruments today. Eugene Ormandy recorded selections for RCA Victor using German text translations. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos released a complete Decca Records LP in the 1970s. Seiji Ozawa recorded the full score with Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians in October 1992.
Sections of the score appeared in Woody Allen's 1982 film A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy. Portions played extensively in The Scarlet Empress directed by Josef von Sternberg in 1934. Marlene Dietrich starred as Catherine the Great in that production. Max Reinhardt hired Erich Wolfgang Korngold to re-orchestrate music for his 1935 film adaptation. Korngold added other Mendelssohn works into the mix. Leonard Maltin praised the music alongside contemporary critics. The Scherzo featured briefly in the opening scene of Red Dragon thriller from 2002. Actress Judi Dench recited play excerpts against music during recordings. Kenneth Branagh acted several roles live during Abbado's Sony Masterworks album. The Wedding March remains one of the most ubiquitous pieces ever written across global culture.
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Common questions
When did Felix Mendelssohn finish writing the Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream?
Felix Mendelssohn finished writing his Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream on the 6th of August 1826. He was seventeen years and six months old at that moment.
Where did the overture receive its premiere by Felix Mendelssohn?
The overture received its premiere in Stettin on the 20th of February 1827. Carl Loewe conducted the concert while Mendelssohn traveled eighty miles through a raging snowstorm to attend.
Who commissioned new incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream from Felix Mendelssohn?
King Frederick William IV commissioned new incidental music in 1842. This commission led to further works including Oedipus at Colonus and Athalie.
What instruments were originally used in the score by Felix Mendelssohn?
The original part was written for English bass horn or corno inglese di basso. This instrument appeared at both the first performance and London premiere of 1829 before Mendelssohn later replaced it with the ophicleide.
Which film adaptation featured music from Felix Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream?
Portions played extensively in The Scarlet Empress directed by Josef von Sternberg in 1934. Max Reinhardt hired Erich Wolfgang Korngold to re-orchestrate music for his 1935 film adaptation.