Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream; Smetana: The Moldau; Bizet: Symphony in C major
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Overture
Mendelssohn composed this work as a teenager, under the spell of Shakespeare's work. The themes in this overture represent various characters in the play. The opening chords, which appear at the recapitulation and also bring the piece to a marvelously effective ending, represent the entrance of Oberon and Titania. The light allegro that follows is the music of the spirits, elves and fairies that rule the night.
Real Audio: 28k | 56k
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Essential Classics
Smetana: The Moldau
The impetuous flute lines that intermingle at the beginning, slowly joined by the rest of the orchestra and broadening out to the main theme create an unmistakable picture of rivulet joining brook and stream joining river. By the end, the river has become a majestic body of water flowing through the city of Prague; Smetana creates this image with equal effectiveness.
Real Audio: 28k | 56k (Opening)
Real Audio: 28k | 56k (Theme in full form)
Bizet: Symphony in C major, IV: Allegro Vivace
This youthful piece shows Bizet's command of both form and orchestration. It was evidently admired by Stravinsky (see his Symphony in C for a twentieth century approach to the genre). The exuberance of this final movement is reminiscent of Mendelssohn.
Real Audio: 28k | 56k
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