The overture ends once again with the same opening four chords by the winds. ![]() The fairies return, and ultimately have the final word in the coda, just as in Shakespeare's play. The recapitulation begins with the same opening four chords in the winds, followed by the fairies theme and the other section in the second theme, including Bottom's braying. The fairies dominate most of the development section, while the lover's theme is played in a minor key. A final group of themes, reminiscent of craftsmen and hunting calls, brings the exposition to a close. This is followed by the braying of Bottom with the "hee-hawing" being evoked by the strings. Following the first theme in the parallel minor ( E minor) representing the dancing fairies, a transition (the royal music of the court of Athens) leads to a second theme, that of the lovers. The overture begins with four chords in the winds. Heinrich Eduard Jacob, in his biography of the composer, surmised that Mendelssohn had scribbled the opening chords after hearing an evening breeze rustle the leaves in the garden of the family's home. The piece is also noted for its striking instrumental effects, such as the emulation of scampering 'fairy feet' at the beginning and the braying of Bottom as an ass (effects which were influenced by the aesthetic ideas and suggestions of Mendelssohn's friend at the time, Adolf Bernhard Marx). While a romantic piece in atmosphere, the overture incorporates many classical elements, being cast in sonata form and shaped by regular phrasings and harmonic transitions. There was a family connection as well: Schlegel's brother Friedrich married Felix Mendelssohn's Aunt Dorothea. The translation was by August Wilhelm Schlegel, with help from Ludwig Tieck. The overture was written after Mendelssohn had read a German translation of the play in 1826. It was written as a concert overture, not associated with any performance of the play. Contemporary music scholar George Grove called it "the greatest marvel of early maturity that the world has ever seen in music". 21, was written by Mendelssohn at 17 years and 6 months old (it was finished on 6 August 1826). The incidental music includes the famous " Wedding March". 61) for a production of the play, into which he incorporated the existing overture. ![]() Later, in 1842, only a few years before his death, he wrote incidental music (Op. ![]() First in 1826, near the start of his career, he wrote a concert overture ( Op. Smyth’s masterful orchestration makes full use of all the sounds of the orchestra (complete with organ!) to take the audience on a cliffside walk along the Cornish coast, breathing in the fresh sea air and gazing at the picturesque greenery before an undercurrent drags you under into a tempestuous swirl of notes and stormy timbres.At two separate times, Felix Mendelssohn composed music for William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream (in German Ein Sommernachtstraum). Set in a Cornish fishing village, the overture does exactly what the libretto says on the tin. Despite all her efforts, it wasn’t until the 21st century that The Wreckers was recognised for its brilliance and began to be performed more often, even taking the prime spot as the opening night for Glyndebourne in 2022, the UK’s oldest annual opera festival. Gustavo Dudamel,Berliner Philharmoniker – Rossini: Guillaume Tell Overture, Allegro vivace (excerpt)Īfter five years touring Europe trying to persuade theatre impresarios to stage it, Smyth’s best-known opera The Wreckers finally received its premiere in Leipzig in 1906.
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