This
month, Clef Notes is traveling through the seasons of the year and this week,
it’s summer!
Did
you know that Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) wrote his famous Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream when he was
just 17 years old? Growing up in a well-to-do family, young Mendelssohn was
exposed to music early on and given excellent musical instruction from Carl
Friedrich Zelter. His parents often hosted performances in their home, inviting
society’s rich and famous to attend. It was at one of these in-home
performances that Mendelssohn first performed his overture, playing it as a
piano duet with his sister, Fanny. Shortly thereafter, he orchestrated the work
and it became quite successful.
Mendelssohn’s
Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream
was conceived as a concert overture, not originally intended to accompany the
play. It is likely that Mendelssohn first encountered Shakespeare as it was
read aloud or acted out at some of the performances his parents held in their
home.
Over
a decade after the completion of his overture, Mendelssohn was approached by
the King of Prussia who desired incidental music for a new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was at
this time that the remaining music came to be. You can listen below. Can you
hear love, adventure, fairies, and even a donkey in this setting?
