Path 26
Famous overtures
Twelve overtures from Mozart's Figaro to Bernstein's Candide, each a complete piece in a few minutes.
Mozart → Beethoven → Rossini → Weber → Mendelssohn → Wagner → Berlioz → Offenbach → Brahms → Tchaikovsky → Bernstein
A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture, Op. 21
This guide follows Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture, Op. 21 (1826) in one part (sonata form).
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Four chords in the winds open the work (). The fairy is in E minor, light and scampering, mostly in the strings. A stands for the royal court of Athens, and the lovers' is the , within which the strings 'hee-haw' for Bottom. Hunting music closes the . The is led by the fairies, with the lovers' in a minor . At the the four chords , the themes come back, and the ends with the opening chords once more.
- : / Fairy
Section boundaries in music are not always sharp; a transition may be felt over a pause or a held chord.
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