MENDELSSOHN FELIX: (1809-1847) German composer, pianist and conductor of the early Romantic ...

MENDELSSOHN FELIX: (1809-1847) German composer, pianist and conductor of the early Romantic period. A.L.S., Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, two pages, 8vo, Berlin, 8^th October 1843, to [Hinrich Lichtenstein], in German. Mendelssohn informs his correspondent that all of his mornings are taken up with rehearsals of A Midsummer Night's Dream and therefore he will not be able to accompany the Souchay family from Manchester to the museum, and he must return two days later to Potsdam and stay there until the performance, further requesting four entrance tickets for one of the official opening days. Some overall uniform age toning and a small area of paper loss to the right edge, and with an archival stamp to the upper left corner. G

Hinrich Lichtenstein (1780-1857) German physician, explorer, botanist and zoologist who was responsible for the creation of Berlin's Zoological Gardens in 1841.

At two separate times Felix Mendelssohn composed music for William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, firstly in 1826, near the start of his career, with the composition of a concert overture (Op. 21). Later, in 1842, only a few years before his death, he wrote incidental music (Op. 61) for a production of the play, into which he incorporated the existing overture. The incidental music, which was commissioned by King Frederick William IV of Prussia and performed in Potsdam on 14^th October 1843, includes the famous Wedding March.