Explore Mendelssohn's life and music, his generally cheerful music, his upbringing, and his early talents. Learn about the challenges faced by conductors in determining tempo and integrating music with text. Delve into Mendelssohn's compositions for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', including the Fairy March, Nocturne, and Wedding March. Discover the influence of Mendelssohn's music on Shakespeare's play and its connection to film soundtracks.
Despite growing up in a happy and fortunate family, Mendelssohn's music is often unjustly overlooked due to its generally cheerful nature.
Mendelssohn's incorporation of music in the play, his depiction of fairies and characters, and the theatricality of his compositions are discussed in depth.
Deep dives
The Genius of Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream
The podcast episode explores the brilliance of Felix Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream. Despite growing up in a happy and fortunate family, Mendelssohn's music is often unjustly overlooked due to its generally cheerful nature. However, his talent and the quality of his compositions are undeniable. The Overture, written at the age of 17, showcases Mendelssohn's staggering musical abilities, with its inventive orchestration and captivating structure. The episode analyzes the opening chords, the introduction of the fairy music, the integration of various themes, and the exceptional orchestration. Mendelssohn's incorporation of music in the play, his depiction of fairies and characters, and the theatricality of his compositions are also discussed.
Mendelssohn's Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream
The podcast episode delves into Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music composed for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Commissioned by King Frederick William IV of Prussia, Mendelssohn's task was to integrate music into a play that previously had none. The episode explores Mendelssohn's creative solutions and his ability to seamlessly blend the previously composed Overture with new music. The selection of music discussed includes the Scaredsohn, the March of the Fairies, the Nocturne, and the Wedding March. The episode highlights Mendelssohn's ability to capture the essence of the characters and scenes, his use of orchestration and vocal writing, and the dramatic and playful elements present in the score.
Mendelssohn's Innovative Compositional Approach
The podcast episode explores Mendelssohn's innovative compositional approach in his Overture and incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream. The episode discusses Mendelssohn's skillful use of tempo, timing, and orchestration to create a magical and dreamlike atmosphere. It analyzes his unique treatment of the fairy music, the integration of diverse themes, and the organic integration of music with the play. The episode also highlights the challenges faced by performers in capturing the lightness and clarity required to bring out the scintillating character of Mendelssohn's music. Mendelssohn's ability to seamlessly transition between contrasting moods and his masterful use of musical structure are also examined.
The Enduring Legacy of Mendelssohn's Music
The podcast episode discusses the enduring legacy of Mendelssohn's music for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Despite its initial composition in 1826, the music still resonates with its burnished maturity and magical qualities. The episode explores the integration of Mendelssohn's music with Shakespeare's play, emphasizing the intrinsic connection between the two. It highlights the impact of Mendelssohn's music on the perception of the play, setting a benchmark for future incidental music and even film soundtracks. The episode concludes by pointing out the brilliance, ingenuity, and beauty present in Mendelssohn's compositions, forever linked with the genius of Shakespeare's work.
The stories, legends, and myths about the trials and travails of composers lives are legion, like Beethoven’s battles against fate, Mozart and Schubert’s struggles with finances, Brahms’ failures with women, Mahler’s troubles with just about everyone, and Shostakovich’s near fatal interactions with the government. These stories tend to add to the general understanding of these composers, and in fact they tend to enhance their reputations. We see their struggles in their music, and it makes us admire them more for overcoming them. With Mendelssohn, and to some extent Haydn as well, we have the opposite case. Mendelssohn grew up in a happy, wealthy German family, and it was only late in his life when he underwent any major struggles at all. Whether this happy upbringing contributed to the character of his music is anyone’s guess, but Mendelssohn seems to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to reputation, and I think that his generally cheerful music has a lot to do with this fact. But Mendelssohn is no second-rate composer. As I mentioned in April with my show about Mendelssohn’s Octet, he was certainly THE greatest composer under 18 that we know of(and yes I’m including Mozart in that), and his best music ranks up there with the best composers in history. And today, our focus on both the overture to Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the incidental music that Mendelssohn wrote 17 years later, allows us to enjoy the full breadth of Mendelssohn’s staggering talent. This is not only clever and cheerful music. It is also fantastically orchestrated, perfectly structured, and in the case of the overture, it is full of invention and character that is simply mind-blowing from a composer who was just 17 years old at the time. So today we’ll talk all about this, from the beauty and perfection of the overture to the incidental music that followed, meant to be performed alongside Shakespeare’s play. We’ll also talk about the role Shakespeare played in Germany at the time, and how Mendelssohn’s upbringing did indeed have a lot to do with the music he chose to write. Join us!
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