Chapter 32 Felix Mendelssohn, Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a good example of program music because it transforms the ideas of plot and character from Shakespeare’s play into a work of instrumental music
The five themes heard in the overture correspond to the setting and characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Mendelssohn has the full orchestra play loudly for the third theme, representing Theseus, the ruler of the humans
The sections of the sonata form heard in these excerpts are the development and coda
The fairies are represented by which excerpt? Excerpt A
Mendelssohn helped bring to life a long-forgotten work by J. S. Bach
The connection between Shakespeare’s play and Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream was explained by Mendelssohn himself, who wanted a brief account of the play in the printed program
Which of the following is true of program music? It is instrumental music openly linked to an object, idea, or story.
Mendelssohn keeps within sonata form protocol by bringing all themes back in the recapitulation
Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream sets the mood in the opening by setting the winds in a high register
Which of the following characters are represented in Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream? the fairies who live in an enchanted forest and Bottom, a tradesman who is turned into a donkey
Which character(s) is/are represented by a high-pitched, scurrying theme? the fairies
Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream makes sense without prior knowledge of the drama because Mendelssohn knew that not every listener would know the play and composed accordingly
Which character is represented by a loud, braying theme? Bottom, the weaver
As a child prodigy who toured much of Europe at a young age, Mendelssohn was similar to W.A. Mozart
July 9, 2019