Midnight Summer Dream : Intermezzo

About this work

The Intermezzo from the incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream begins in urgency. The strings launch an anxious motion, the woodwinds add their calls, then the tension turns into a more rustic march. Mendelssohn does not merely place two pieces side by side: he shifts the same theatrical episode from light agitation towards a more grounded presence, with a very precise sense of orchestral colour.

The strings should practise their passagework as directed cells, keeping the upbeats supple and the accents brief. Speed must not erase the inner lines. Flutes, clarinets, oboes, bassoons and horns should prepare their exchanges like replies on stage: the same pulse in a different colour. When the march appears, change weight and articulation without slowing enough to interrupt the narrative.

The conductor can rehearse the transition as a loop, taking a few bars before and after it until the new character emerges without an exaggerated external signal. Keep some dynamic reserve at the opening; agitation needs perspective, not a permanent forte. In the rustic section, the bass provides the footing while the upper voices retain some mobility. The theatre continues even when the music seems to have found its heavy boots.

What the document containsOne 9-page full score and ten separate orchestral parts.11 PDF documents in an archive, with one MIDI file.The LilyPond source files in a separate collection.The material corresponds to Intermezzo No. 5 of Op. 61.