A Midsummer Night's Dream No. 1 from Op. 61 MWV M 13

SKU: PR.164002950

ISBN 9781491114568. UPC: 680160633449. 9 x 12 inches.

Dan Welcher’s fascinating work for soprano sax is both a refraction of Mendelssohn’s music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and his own incidental music to Shakespeare’s comedy. The work’s title, AS LIGHT AS BIRD FROM BRIER, quotes from Oberon (King of the Fairies) invoking revelry at the play’s climactic wedding scene. Welcher’s fantasy skips among the most beloved themes of Mendelssohn’s Midsummer – giving the saxophonist quite a workout, and the listener a midsummer delight.
AS LIGHT AS BIRD FROM BRIER is loosely based on Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which has haunted me since I was nine years old. My parents subscribed me to The Children’s Record Guild, and every month a new 78rpm vinyl record would arrive in the mail. They were mostly fairy tales and “kids lit,” but in this case it was a very condensed performance of the actual play, with Mendelssohn’s music. I loved it immediately, and still do – I saw a performance in 2014 at the Stratford Festival that literally stalks my dreams.When I was commissioned by saxophonist Stephen Page to compose a work for soprano saxophone and piano two years later, I channeled Mendelssohn as an inspiration: specifically, the Overture, the Scherzo, the Intermezzo, the fairy’s song “You spotted snakes with double tongue,” and the Rustics’ Dance. But it’s not a pastiche – most of the music is completely my own, though attentive listeners will detect snatches of Mendelssohn’s haunting score throughout.This piece joins MILL SONGS and FLORESTAN’S FALCON among works honoring my favorite 19th-century composers (in those cases, Schubert and Schumann) without ripping them off. As Stravinsky did in his ballet Pulcinella, I have borrowed fragments of melody from a much-loved composer, and made a fabric of harmonies and scales that are genetically related to Mendelssohn, but unmistakably Welcher.In this work, the saxophonist is Puck – skittish, dazzlingly fast, and brilliant in the outer parts, and a mischievous Cupid in the long, central Love Song. (Remember how Puck anoints Titania’s eyes with the juice from a magic flower, which causes her to fall in love with Bottom the weaver, who has been bewitched and wears a donkey’s head?) The music traces Puck’s magic flight, the finding of the flower, Titania’s love-scene with Bottom and her fairies, and the rustic players – whose rehearsal of the funniest play-within-the-play in literature is interrupted by Puck’s dirty tricks.I greatly enjoyed the process of writing this piece, and often found myself quite moved even as I was writing it... which rarely happens. Stephen Page, who commissioned the work, is a consummate artist (and a bit of a Puck himself). The title comes from Oberon’s final speech in the play:Through the house, give glimmering light,By the dead and drowsy fire.Every elf and fairy spriteHop as light as bird from brier,And this ditty, after me,Sing, and dance it trippingly.

SKU: BR.OB-5364-27

Christian Martin Schmidt is laying bare to musical practice the original form of Mendelssohn's epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

ISBN 9790004337424. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Autograph lays bare Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream To this day, Mendelssohns epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream has been performed on the basis of a more than dubious transmission. Neither the first edition of the parts (1832), and certainly not the print of the score based on these parts (1835) go back directly to the autograph of the 17-year-old composer, which is now located in Krakow. No wonder, since Mendelssohn had breezily given away his original at an early date. The result: during his lifetime, versions were published with his authorization, even though they were full of unintended inconsistencies. Yet the autograph of 1826 is unequivocal: it is clear, practically free of irregularities and diverges considerably from the corrupted printed version. Christian Martin Schmidt comes up with occasionally differing musical passages, but above all with logical and compositionally compelling performance instructions, laying bare to musical practice the original form buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

Christian Martin Schmidt is laying bare to musical practice the original form of Mendelssohn's epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

SKU: BR.OB-5364-15

Christian Martin Schmidt is laying bare to musical practice the original form of Mendelssohn's epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

ISBN 9790004337387. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Autograph lays bare Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream To this day, Mendelssohns epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream has been performed on the basis of a more than dubious transmission. Neither the first edition of the parts (1832), and certainly not the print of the score based on these parts (1835) go back directly to the autograph of the 17-year-old composer, which is now located in Krakow. No wonder, since Mendelssohn had breezily given away his original at an early date. The result: during his lifetime, versions were published with his authorization, even though they were full of unintended inconsistencies. Yet the autograph of 1826 is unequivocal: it is clear, practically free of irregularities and diverges considerably from the corrupted printed version. Christian Martin Schmidt comes up with occasionally differing musical passages, but above all with logical and compositionally compelling performance instructions, laying bare to musical practice the original form buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

Christian Martin Schmidt is laying bare to musical practice the original form of Mendelssohn's epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

SKU: BR.OB-5364-16

Christian Martin Schmidt is laying bare to musical practice the original form of Mendelssohn's epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

ISBN 9790004337394. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Autograph lays bare Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream To this day, Mendelssohns epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream has been performed on the basis of a more than dubious transmission. Neither the first edition of the parts (1832), and certainly not the print of the score based on these parts (1835) go back directly to the autograph of the 17-year-old composer, which is now located in Krakow. No wonder, since Mendelssohn had breezily given away his original at an early date. The result: during his lifetime, versions were published with his authorization, even though they were full of unintended inconsistencies. Yet the autograph of 1826 is unequivocal: it is clear, practically free of irregularities and diverges considerably from the corrupted printed version. Christian Martin Schmidt comes up with occasionally differing musical passages, but above all with logical and compositionally compelling performance instructions, laying bare to musical practice the original form buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

Christian Martin Schmidt is laying bare to musical practice the original form of Mendelssohn's epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

SKU: BR.OB-5364-30

Christian Martin Schmidt is laying bare to musical practice the original form of Mendelssohn's epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

ISBN 9790004337431. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Autograph lays bare Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream To this day, Mendelssohns epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream has been performed on the basis of a more than dubious transmission. Neither the first edition of the parts (1832), and certainly not the print of the score based on these parts (1835) go back directly to the autograph of the 17-year-old composer, which is now located in Krakow. No wonder, since Mendelssohn had breezily given away his original at an early date. The result: during his lifetime, versions were published with his authorization, even though they were full of unintended inconsistencies. Yet the autograph of 1826 is unequivocal: it is clear, practically free of irregularities and diverges considerably from the corrupted printed version. Christian Martin Schmidt comes up with occasionally differing musical passages, but above all with logical and compositionally compelling performance instructions, laying bare to musical practice the original form buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

Christian Martin Schmidt is laying bare to musical practice the original form of Mendelssohn's epoch-making Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream buried beneath layers of falsified material for the first time.

SKU: HL.49019126

ISBN 9790001180979. UPC: 841886018211. 9.0x12.0x0.058 inches.

A wedding without a famous wedding march - unimaginable! Wagner's 'Bridal Chorus' from 'Lohengrin' and Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March' from the incidental music of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' vie for the favour of bridal couples and wedding parties. If, however, the music shall be festive, Mendelssohn's background music for the wedding ceremony remains first choice. In order that the march cannot only be performed with the organ but also with a melodic instrument with piano (or organ) accompaniment, the present editions provide easy-to-play arrangements.