A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Overture op. 21

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Overture op. 21

Set in Athens, A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy consisting of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta written ca. 1595/96 by William Shakespeare (1564–1616). The story takes place in Fairyland, a forest inhabited by fairies who manipulate the human characters while engaging in their own intrigues among themselves. It has been one of Shakespeare’s most popular and widely performed plays for centuries and thus attracted the attention of the famous German composer, pianist, organist, and conductor Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47).
Mendelssohn began writing his overture in E major, Op. 21 in 1826 when he was only 17 years old and originally designed it as an independent piece that was not intended to serve as musical accompaniment for A Midsummer Night's Dream or any other preexisting work. However, he had read a German translation of the play earlier in the year and it must have subconsciously influenced his composition, which he returned to in 1842. The incidental music, Op. 61, incorporated the overture with the new compositions and was created at the behest of King Frederick William IV of Prussia (1795–1861). Among the incidental music, the “Wedding March” is the most famous and commonly played piece.