Episode 67: See the Music: A Midsummer Night's Dream

In this special episode of See the Music recorded live at our Lincoln Center theater, NYCB Music Director Andrew Litton dives into the history of the Felix Mendelssohn score for Balanchine's enchanted ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream. Litton shares excerpts from the music—written 173 years ago, when Mendelssohn was just 17 years old—that encapsulate the young composer's prodigious talent, even in the face of religious persecution in his native Germany where the score was banned for a time, despite its charming, enduringly romantic character. (12:43)

Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music: Symphony in Three Movements (1945) by Igor Stravinsky Overture and Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream, opp. 21 and 61 (1826, 1842) Overtures to Athalie, op. 74 (1845), The Fair Melusine op. 32 (1833), The First Walpurgis Night, op. 60; Symphony No. 9 for strings; Overture to Son and Stranger, op. 89 (1829) by Felix Mendelssohn All music performed by New York City Ballet Orchestra