given to modern composers. No one could possibly find in the
HebridesOverture that subtle descriptive fancy or that wealth
of orchestral coloring which exists in Debussy’s marvellousSea
Pieces; and yet the Mendelssohn composition is a genuine re-
flection of nature in terms of music and can still be heard with
sustained attention. Wagner[206] praises highly its orchestral
effects; and a modern scholar, Cecil Forsyth,[207] considers the
tone-painting quite irresistible. A sincere tribute of admiration
should also be paid to Mendelssohn’sConcerto for Violin and
Orchestra. Written in the most idiomatic style for the solo in-
strument and containing realviolin melodies it is still one of
the few great works in its class. Any final critical estimate of
Mendelssohn—no matter how earnest the effort to be absolutely
fair—is inevitably involved with personal prejudices. If his mu-
sic appeals to any one, it is liked extremely and no one need
be ashamed of enjoying it, for it is sincerely felt and beautifully
expressed. Mendelssohn, himself, doubtless knew perfectly well
that he was not Bach, Beethoven or Schubert. For those whose
natures crave a more robust message, more fire and a deeper
passion, there are the works of those other composers to which
they may turn.
[Footnote 205: Several of these were constantly played by both
Paderewski and De Pachman, two of the greatest virtuosi of our
day: surely a convincing tribute!]
[Footnote 206: See theOxford History of Music, Vol. VI, pp. 80-
- Anyone who cares to see what Wagner owed to Mendelssohn
may compare the opening theme, and its treatment, of theFair
MelusineOverture with the music of the Rhine Maidens in the
Rheingold.]
[Footnote 207: See his treatise on Orchestration, p. 194.]
Let us now analyze theMidsummer Night’s DreamOverture,[208]
“his first and highest flight” to quote Schumann. In this work
we do not find a characterization by musical means of the emo-
tions of the dramatis personae, as in theCoriolanusOverture;
and there is little specific correspondence between the type of
theme and definite incidents, except possibly at the beginning of
the Recapitulation, where the low tones of the Bass Tuba[209]
may be thought to represent the snores of Bottom, as the fairies
hover about him. Anyone familiar with Shakespeare’s play—
and such a knowledge is indispensible for a complete enjoyment