Overture, Op. 21, of Midsummer Night’s Dream Social and Cultural Contexts and Contribution

FINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT: CLOSE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
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Final paper Assignment: Close Performance Analysis
Introduction
Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture, Op. 21, is an astounding piece of music from Felix Mendelssohn primarily because it is both a musical genre and a musical expression that represents Shakespeare’s literary work. The concert Overture has had a particularly successful afterlife and continues to be a mainstay of orchestral programs as well as film adaptations of Shakespeare’s comedy. Mendelssohn constructed a modified traditional sonata to mirror the play’s narrative by peopling it with numerous motifs that suited the choice of the cast from ordinary to supernatural and from high to low. The Overture is a dazzling summation of the play, entailing a mysterious opening, the recreation of scurrying fairies, the long brays after Bottom transforms into an ass, and the Duke’s hunting horn, among other subtle evocations. This final paper will analyze the Overture, Op. 21, of Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Dromgoole in relation to its social and historical contexts as well as its contribution to the performance of the play. The thesis of this paper is: Overture, Op. 21, is an example of program music with a rich social and cultural context that skillfully transforms the ideas of character, theme, and plot into a work of instrumental music.
Body
The Overture’s Social and Cultural Context
Mendelssohn grew up in an affluent and cultured family that afforded the most intellectually stimulating opportunities imaginable. The family household was a hub of academic and cultural activity and this helped further Mendelssohn’s prodigious talent as an artist. Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture, Op. 21, was composed by Felix Mendelssohn at the tender age of 17 years after reading the German translation of the play in 1826. From the rich poetic imagery of the Germanic translation of the play, Mendelssohn recognized the work’s musical potential and began composing the overture. Mendelssohn would begin scribbling the chords of his musical instruments to express the magical forest and the cast in Midsummer Night’s Dream. Initially conceived as a piano duet, a fully orchestrated version of the Overture was first publicly performed in Stettin at a concert led by the composer Carl Loewe. This was Mendelssohn’s maiden public appearance as both soloist and composer, and his musical extravaganza propelled him to the forefront of German musicians. The King of Prussia, Frederick William IV, who enjoyed drama and Mendelssohn’s music would help cement Overture, Op. 21, as a mainstay of orchestral programs together with the composer’s other contributions including the Scherzo, Intermezzo, Nocturne, and Wedding March, which all come between the play’s acts.[Marin Alsop, “Marin Alsop’s Guide to Mendelssohn’s ‘a Midsummer Night’s Dream,’” Npr.org, 2014, /sections/deceptivecadence/2014/05/23/315246245/marin-alsops-guide-to-mendelssohns-a-midsummer-nights-dream.] [Georg Kinsky and W. Oliver Strunk, “Was Mendelssohn Indebted to Weber? An Attempted Solution of an...