1826: Mendelssohn: A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream Overture

MONDAY, November 23, 2020 – 11:58 AM

A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream Overture, age 17

Instrumentation:

  • two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons
  • two horns, two trumpets, ophicleide
  • timpani
  • strings

Joan Pagès Valls

This is one of Joan’s earliest recordings with his group of amazing young players, from more than nine years ago. I actually like this better than the Andrés Orozco-Estrada recording below because the sound is clean, not recorded in a huge stone building.

Andrés Orozco-Estrada

This is recorded with social distancing because of Covid, and they are playing in a huge stone area so there is a lot of bounce, a very “wet” sound. It’s wrong for this music, which should be clean, airy and light. But I have a special love for it anyway because it least it was a sign that we might have real music again.

The ophicleide part was originally written for English bass horn (“corno inglese di basso”), which was also used at the first performance; the composer subsequently replaced this instrument with the ophicleide in the first published edition. Read about this unusual instrument HERE. As for the “corno inglese di basso”, I don’t yet know for sure what it is, except it seems to be some kind of weird brass instrument that no one uses today.

Popular for 194 years

Mendelssohn wrote this music when he was still 17 years old, and in fact not even close to his 17th birthday. I remains one of the most incredible compositions ever written by a teenager and has never been less than a huge success in any year since it was first played.

 

2 thoughts on “1826: Mendelssohn: A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream Overture”

  1. I love how this piece fits in with his other one of a similar name. Similar instruments, similar sound. Yet you can really tell the difference that changing both brass instruments from 2-3 can make on how the whole thing sounds. Really adds to the more calming sound of the piece. Sorry for late comment, same problem as last one.

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