Mendelssohn: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Overture, Op. 21 (with Score)

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy:
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" Overture, Op. 21, MWV P 3 (with Score)
Composed: 1826

The overture in E major, Op. 21, was written by Mendelssohn at 17 years and 6 months old (it was finished on 6 August 1826). Contemporary music scholar George Grove called it "the greatest marvel of early maturity that the world has ever seen in music". It was written as a concert overture, not associated with any performance of the play. The overture was written after Mendelssohn had read a German translation of the play in 1826. The translation was by August Wilhelm Schlegel, with help from Ludwig Tieck. There was a family connection as well: Schlegel's brother Friedrich married Felix Mendelssohn's Aunt Dorothea.