Felix MeNdelSSohN Born on February 3, 1809, in Hamburg, Germany; died on November 4, 1847, in Leipzig, Germany Overture to Die schöne Melusine [The Fair Melusina], Op. 32 Felix Mendelssohn composed his first version of the Overture to Die schöne Melusine in 1833 and revised the score in 1835. Inspired by the well-known legend of the mermaid who must forsake her human lover, Mendelssohn’s Felix MeNdelssohN piece is a self-contained overture intended for the concert hall. Although Mendelssohn shares traits with the generation of young Romantics of which he was a member, his lucid orchestration and symmetrical form show his affinity for the clarity of Classical masters. First performance: Conductor Ignaz Moscheles led the premiere in London on April 7, 1834; the composer himself conducted the first performance of the revised version in Leipzig in November 1835. First Nashville Symphony performance: This is the Nashville Symphony’s first performance. estimated length: 12 minutes recommended listening: Claudio Abbado’s exquisite account of Die schöne Melusine with the London Symphony includes such other great Mendelssohn overtures as The Hebrides and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Deutsche Grammophon). Mendelssohn’s impulse to write his Overture to Die schöne Melusine is a neat instance of rivalry spurring creative inspiration. As a child prodigy, Mendelssohn was welcomed into the circle of the elderly Goethe, often playing music for him. Quite likely, then, he was familiar with the literary master’s retelling of one of the staple legends of European folklore in his novel Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship. (See the sidebar at right.) The playwright Franz Grillparzer adapted Goethe’s version into a libretto, which he pitched to Beethoven before it was finally set by the composer Conradin Kreutzer. Mendelssohn saw Kreutzer’s opera, Melusina, when it was produced in Berlin and became annoyed by the public’s warm response to what he considered an entirely lackluster score. He determined to write an overture of his own that would contain more genuine feeling. Mendelssohn completed the piece in time for the birthday of his beloved older sister Fanny, who was herself a composer. For the London premiere, he resorted to the title Melusine, or the Mermaid and the Knight. Mendelssohn later lamented how easily the pictorial associations of this widely known story could crowd out the actual musical content of a composition he deemed one of his finest achievements.
the legend of the Melusina Folklore and myth around the world have devised countless variations on the theme of a feminine spirit who interacts with the human realm and falls in love with a mortal. in some versions she is a mermaid, in others a half serpent. eventually, her lover discovers her secret and she must depart. european variants of this legend became especially popular in the 19th century and can be found across all the arts, from sir Walter scott and John Keats (whose beautiful poem “lamia” involves the serpent incarnation) to goethe’s retelling in “the new melusina.” the legend remains popular today. an especially poignant version can be found in the recent irish film ondine.
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