Felix Mendelssohn composed the overture to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1826, at the astonishingly young age of seventeen. Nearly two decades later, in October 1843, he returned to the work, adding a complete set of incidental music for a staged performance in Potsdam, near Berlin. Despite the long interval between the two creative periods, the stylistic unity of the music is remarkable—an eloquent testament to Mendelssohn’s consistency of imagination and refinement of craft. The full cycle of eleven musical numbers was met with immediate and overwhelming success. Among them, the Wedding March soon emerged as the most celebrated. It appears at the conclusion of Act IV, accompanying the joyful resolution of the drama and the simultaneous marriages of three couples. Over time, the piece transcended its theatrical origins and entered everyday musical life, becoming the near-universal symbol of the wedding ceremony. The march opens with a brilliant fanfare, instantly com...
Exploring the World of Music, One Work at a Time.