Program Notes }
A charming choral song,
“Ye spotted snakes,” is
the fairies’ lullaby to their
queen Titania.
The magnitude of Mendelssohn’s
achievement is even more astonishing
when we realize that, while the incidental
music was composed when the composer
was 34, the overture—one of the bestloved curtain raisers ever penned—comes
from 1826 when he was only 17. Even
Mozart had not composed anything on
this level of artistic originality and technical mastery at such a tender age.
Mendelssohn was truly a golden child,
blessed with brains and prodigious talent,
and a near-ideal environment in which to
cultivate them. His grandfather, Moses
Mendelssohn, had risen from poverty
to become an esteemed philosopher; his
father, Abraham, was one of Germany’s
leading bankers and had made the family
fortune. Both of Felix’s parents were highly
educated people and were determined
that their offspring would realize their full
potential. The four children, all bright and
eager students, were given the finest tutors
and books.
As Felix’s musical genius hatched, he
was able to spread his wings into all the
areas that distinguished his adult career. Sunday afternoon musicales at the
Mendelssohn household drew a crowd
of Berlin’s artistic elite, and featured the
youngster as impresario (planning the
concert programs), piano soloist, conductor (the Mendelssohns sometimes hired a
full professional orchestra), and composer.
In 1825 when the family moved to a grand
estate on Berlin’s Leipzigerstrasse, they
converted the summerhouse in the garden
into an auditorium seating more than
200. It was there, probably in the summer
or early fall of 1826, that the 17-year-old
prodigy premiered his Midsumme