In the summer of 1829, Felix Mendelssohn would take a transformative three-week walking tour of Scotland that would untilmately inspire several of his greatest works, including the "Hebrides" Overture and Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, often known as the "Scottish Symphony." The defining moment for the latter came on July 30, 1829, during a visit to the ruins of the Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh. The roofless, ivy-covered chapel—where Mary, Queen of Scots, was crowned—evoked a powerful, atmospheric mood within the 20-year-old composer. Mendelssohn immediately wrote to his family in Germany to describe the scene, adding: "In darkening twilight today, we went to the Palace of Holyrood. Everything there is ruined, decayed and open to the clear sky. I believe that I have found there today the beginning of my Scottish Symphony."
Although he jotted down the sombre opening theme for the symphony right there on the spot that day, Mendelssohn struggled with the orchestration and set the piece aside. He would not complete the work until 1842, nearly 13 years after his initial Scottish visit. In honor of the anniversary of that lightning strike of inspiration, we'll hear Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony—and much more—on Thursday afternoon's Classical Music With Foley Schuler.
You can hear Foley Schuler's musical selections—and stories behind the music—every weekday from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.
