How a teenage prodigy captured the magic of Shakespeare in a single musical masterpiece
In short: At seventeen, Felix Mendelssohn composed an overture so evocative that it defined the sound of fairies for generations. Decades later, he expanded this early work into a full suite of incidental music, accidentally creating the world's most famous wedding anthem in the process. Discover the genius behind the score.
In 1826, at the age of seventeen, Felix Mendelssohn composed his Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Inspired by reading German translations of Shakespeare, the young composer created a work that balanced Classical sonata form with the imaginative, atmospheric qualities of the burgeoning Romantic movement. The piece is celebrated for its technical brilliance, particularly its ability to emulate the scampering of fairy feet and the braying of Bottom the weaver, who is transformed into an ass within the play.
The overture’s journey was nearly cut short in 1829. After Mendelssohn conducted its first British performance in London, the original score was left in a cab by a friend and lost forever. Remarkably, the composer was able to rewrite the entire work from memory. This resilience allowed the music to survive and eventually evolve; in 1842, commissioned by King Frederick William IV of Prussia, Mendelssohn expanded his youthful overture into a full set of incidental music for a royal production of the play.
This expanded collection, Op. 61, included vocal sections and instrumental movements like the Scherzo and the iconic Wedding March. While the march is now a staple of bridal processions, its association with weddings only began in 1858, eleven years after the composer's death, following its use at the wedding of the Princess Royal. Mendelssohn’s ability to weave literary, pictorial, and musical elements together cemented his reputation as a master of the early Romantic period, bridging the gap between the rigid traditions of the past and the expressive freedom of the future.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Romantic, Overture, Incidental Music | Britannica
- Also: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mendelssohn)
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