This concert transports us, metaphorically, to the shade of a leafy forest in the heart of the natural wild and powerful world. On the one hand, we will enjoy music inspired by the captivating landscapes of Scotland and its infinite crags; on the other, we will hear a tale of druids and spirits that unfolds in the rugged mountains of Harz, the highest mountain range in northern Germany. These are the youthful works of the German composer Felix Mendelssohn, pieces that are best understood when heard together, and which speak of a past woven with magic and ancestral legends.
We can trace the origin of Symphony No. 3, the “Scottish”, to Mendelssohn’s first trip to the British Isles in 1829. One of the places he visited during his stay was the ruins of Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh, where Mary Queen of Scots “lived and loved”. Deeply moved, the composer himself wrote “the broken altar is overgrown with grass and ivy”: thus, he contemplated the ruined building “gaping open to the sky.” Twelve years later he used this romantic image to compose a score consisting of four linked movements: the first is dark and stormy; the second is more cheerful and brief, drawing on the typical melodies and rhythms of Scottish folk music; there follows a slow movement representing the struggle between love and destiny, and a final movement resounding with Scottish folk dances.
Die erste Walpurgisnacht is based on a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe which recounts how a group of heathens intend to celebrate the arrival of spring and fine weather with a sacred ritual. It is the month of May and the cold weather is over, giving rise to joy. However, a women’s chorus warns them that such festivities are forbidden by Christianity, the new regime of their despotic and intolerant conquerors. But they eventually find a solution: arming themselves with pitchforks, they use the figures of the devil and monsters out of hell to scare the guards with their cries and bonfires. All this is splendidly captured in the large-scale cantata of nine movements, first performed in 1833 and finally published in 1843, which remains deeply appealing today. Although it is set in a remote past, the work reflects the present-day reality of many oppressed peoples and encourages the audience to open their eyes and espouse tolerance.
Concerts:
- San Sebastián-Donostia, August 24, 2025
- Philharmonie de Paris, October 13, 2025
- L’Auditori, Barcelona, October 14, 2025
