Wednesday, April 15, 2015

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015

QUOTE:
"Music, when soft voices die,
  Vibrates in the memory"

AUTHOR:
Percy Bysshe Shelley

MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
"Music resides in your memory

  long after it is heard."




COMPOSER
MENDELSSOHN
Arthur Rackham: Act II, scene II (1908)
A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM
Overture Opus 21
Kurt Masur, Conductor
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, 1997

Arthur Rackham:  A Fairy  from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" 1906
The Overture in E major, Op. 21, was written
in 1826 by Mendelssohn at 17 years and 6
months old near the start of his career. It was
written as a concert overture and originally not
associated with any performance of the play.

midsummer-web.jpg

The Overture was written after Mendelssohn
had read a German translation of the 
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
In 1842, only a few years before his death,
Mendelssohn received a commission from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_William_IV_of_Prussia
to write some music for a Potsdam production of
the play of A Midsummer Night's Dream (the
German title reads "Ein Sommernachtstraum")
to which he wrote incidental music (Op. 61)
into which he incorporated the
earlier existing Overture.

A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM
Overture Opus 21
Incidental Music Opus 61
(Complete)
Arturo Toscanini, Conductor
NBC Symphony Orchestra, 1947
I. Overture (00:10)
II. Intermezzo (11:26)
III. Nocturne (15:06)
IV. Scherzo (20:36)
V. Wedding March (24:56)
VI. Finale (29:41)
Arthur Rackham: King and Queen of the fairies - Oberon and Titania 
23silence:  Charles Sims (1873-1928) - Titania’s awakening, 1896
Charles Sims:
Titania’s awakening, 1896
File:Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing. William Blake. c.1786.jpg
William Blake: Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing, c.1786
The incidental music
includes the world-
famous Wedding March.
A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM
Incidental Music Opus 61
"Wedding March"
Midsummer Night's Dream - Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall: Midsummer Night's Dream
Queen Victoria and her husband Albert
were very fond of Mendelssohn and
loved to spend afternoons playing the
composer's "Songs Without Words"
and singing selections from his oratorios.
Mendelssohn often used to play for the
royal family while on his visits to Britain.
Prince Albert played the organ in the Old Library in Buckingham Palace
in the presence of Queen Victoria and Felix Mendelssohn (1842)
So, on Jan. 25, 1858 the Wedding March
was performed in a royal wedding as a
recessional (commonly performed as the
bridal party files out at the end of the
service) for the marriage of princess
child of Queen Victoria) and Prince
Princess Victoria Royal Marriage January 25, 1858
Even though it was not Mendelssohn's original

intention that this piece be performed for

ceremonial events the use of this music by Victoria was

enough to set a standard for ages to come as a

popular piece to be played at weddings.
Wedding March (Midsummer Nights Dream) 1935 Sheet Music Mendelssohn Sally Foster
Edwin Landseer
Other famous movements included
in "Incidental Music" from A
Midsummer Night's Dream are the
"Scherzo" and the "Nocturne."
Arthur Rackham
A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM
Incidental Music Opus 61
"Scherzo"
Valery Gergiev, Conductor
Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra
SCHERZO LESSON PLAN
CLASSICS FOR KIDS 
A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM
Incidental Music Opus 61
"Scherzo"
Piano Transcription
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Transcriber
Sequeira Costa, Piano
SCHERZO LESSON PLAN
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Warwick Goble
Frank Cheyne Papé ~ Titania and Bottom from A Midsummer Night’s Dream ~ Tales from Shakspeare (title as published) ~ 1923
A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM
Incidental Music Opus 61
"Nocturne"
Michail Jurowski, Conductor
Moscow City Symphony - Russian Philharmonic
Mendelssohn's Music
Set Into a Ballet
A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM
Ballet
(Complete)
George Balanchine, Choreographer

Gustave Doré  “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Gustave Doré:  A Midsummer Night's Dream
LINKS
A Midsummer Night's Dream by Christian Schloe http://www.redbubble.com/people/christianschloe
Christian Schloe: A Midsummer Night's Dream 
A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM
Animaniacs

A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM
Cartoons for Children
A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM
Spark Notes Summary

A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM:
ABRIDGED
A Short, Silly Synopsis
Edward Robert Hughes: Midsummer Eve
http://sbt.blob.core.windows.net/storyboards/adge234/midsummer-night-s-dream.png?utc=130755089400100000
http://sbt.blob.core.windows.net/storyboards/adge234/midsummer-night-s-dream.png?utc=130755089400100000
Bottom. Illus. Lucy Fitch Perkins, 1907.
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/m/a-midsummer-nights-dream/character-map
Henry Meynell Rheam: A Midsummers Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Movie Trailer, 1935