Relayed from the National Museum of Wales.
National Orchestra of Wales

Mendelssohn was an enthusiastic, hard, and conscientious worker, but even he did not always feel inspired by a task. He was asked to write an Overture for Victor Hugo's Ruy Bias, but he disliked the play, and put off writing his music until a few days before it was to be performed. Then he finished the Overture in less than three days.
The opening consists of the alternation of two phrases, one consisting of slow, solemn chords and the other of soft, rapid, detached notes; this latter is an anticipation of the First Main Tune (very quick), which presently arrives. This may reasonably be taken as a suggestion of the bold, fiery character of the hero of the drama. The volume of tone gradually increases to a climax, leading to a recurrence of the solemn phrase, which precedes the Second Main Tune. This starts with a very soft series of detached notes, and is then repeated and continued. A few other tunes appear, but these are the outstanding features.
(to 12.45)