Composer of the Week: Mendelssohn

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Wandering Britain

Wandering Britain

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), Wandering Britain

Mendelssohn's travels as a tourist of Scotland and Wales in the summer of 1829.

Mendelssohn sets off for Edinburgh with his trusty companion Karl Klingemann on a great Scottish Adventure, keen to see the naked knees of all those kilted Celts.

Donald Macleod explores the journey to Scotland and Wales that Mendelssohn undertook in the summer of 1829, on his first trip to Britain, and some of the pieces that arose from these weeks of wandering.

Mendelssohn’s relationship with Britain began when he was 20 years old, when London became the first stop of his Grand Tour.  This week Donald Macleod explores the composer's experiences in Britain, considering the mark he left on musical life in these islands, the works he wrote here, and what he got up to in the course of the ten visits he made across his lifetime.  Mendelssohn took inspiration from the scenery, but he also got his first professional engagements in Britain, and in return, by the end of his life, Britain lionized him.

After a very successful few weeks in London at the beginning of his Grand Tour of Europe, Mendelssohn set off north for Edinburgh with his trusty companion Karl Klingemann, on a great Scottish Adventure. Donald Macleod looks at the trip that would inspire some of his most celebrated works.

Fantasie in F# minor (Mvt 1)				
Maximilian Schairer, piano

Symphony No 3 in A minor 'Scottish' (Mvt 1)		
Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

3 Fantasies (or Caprices) Op. 16				
Peter Donohoe, piano

String Quartet in E flat Major (Mvt 1)						
Consone Quartet

Organ Sonata No 3 (Mvt 1)							
William Whitehead, organ	

Symphony No 3 in A minor 'Scottish' (Mvt 4)		
Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Composer of the Week: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores German composer Felix Mendelssohn's experiences in Britain.

This week Donald Macleod explores German composer Felix Mendelssohn's experiences in Britain, considering the mark he left on musical life in these islands.

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