Felix Mendelssohn: The ‘Scottish’ Symphony, symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), the German composer, pianist, organist and conductor is considered as being among the most prominent musicians of the Romantic era.
Mendelssohn was initially inspired to compose this symphony during his first visit to Britain in 1829. Mendelssohn embarked on a walking tour of Scotland with his friend Karl Klingemann. On 30 July, Mendelssohn visited the ruins of Holyrood Chapel at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, where, as he related to his family in a letter, he received his initial inspiration for the piece:
“In the deep twilight we went today to the palace where Queen Mary lived and loved …
The chapel below is now roofless. Grass and ivy thrive there and at the broken altar where Mary was crowned Queen of Scotland.
Everything is ruined, decayed, and the clear heavens pour in.
I think I have found there the beginning of my ‘Scottish’ Symphony”.
Alongside this description, Mendelssohn enclosed in his letter a scrap of paper with the opening bars of what would become the symphony’s opening theme. A few days later Mendelssohn and his companion visited the western coast of Scotland and the island of Staffa, which in turn inspired the composer to start the Hebrides Overture. After completing the first version of the Hebrides, Mendelssohn continued to work on his initial sketches of what would become Symphony No. 3 while touring Italy. However, he struggled to make progress, and after 1831 set the piece aside.
It is not known exactly when Mendelssohn resumed work on the symphony but he was certainly working in earnest on the piece by 1841 and completed the symphony in Berlin in January 1842.
Unusually, Mendelssohn marked the movements to be performed without breaks, and underlined the connection between the symphony’s parts by making them grow from the continual thematic transformation of the original idea he had notated in 1829, presented in the slow introduction to the first movement. Despite this overriding concern for musical unity the emotional scope of the work is wide, consisting of a dark and stormy first movement, a joyous and fairly brief second movement, a slow movement maintaining an apparent struggle between love and fate, and a finale that takes its components from Scottish folk dance.
Paintings have been carefully selected to accompany Mendelssohn’s music in an attempt to ‘paint a picture’ of that which had inspired the composer during his trip to Scotland.
Daguerre’s painting entitled ‘The Ruins of Holyrood Chapel’ ideally serves to accompany the first movement of the symphony. This was painted c. 1824, which was within a very few years of when Mendelssohn visited Holyrood.
In his letters, Mendelssohn noted his thoughts about Mary Queen of Scots, who had “lived and loved …” at Holyrood. Mary met an untimely death as a result of being executed on the order of Elizabeth I. Consequently, three portraits of Mary have been selected to also accompany the first movement of the symphony.
The second movement, a sparkling scherzo, seems to emerge out of the fog. It’s a boisterous, jubilant dance, infused with the ‘Scotch snap’ rhythm. Based on the pentatonic scale, the melody contains echoes of Scottish folk music.
To visualise such a scene as may have been envisaged by Mendelssohn, we have selected the painting entitled ‘A Highland Dance’ by the artist David Allan (1744-1796). Allan was a Scottish painter and illustrator, best known for historical subjects and genre works.
The third movement (Adagio) is an intimate song without words. The shimmering first theme alternates with a solemn, stately march, punctuated with military fanfares. The final statement of the melody begins with a hushed clarinet duet, accompanied by the distant rumble of battle drums in the timpani.
Three paintings have been selected to accompany this third movement to illustrate the splendour of the scenery that Mendelssohn encountered during his visit to Scotland.
The first is ‘A view of Loch Lomond’ by Horatio McCulloch.
Following this is the painting entitled ‘The Falls of Clyde (Corra Linn)’ by Jacob More.
William McTaggart’s painting ‘Spring’ is shown during the conclusion of the movement.
Originally, Mendelssohn gave the Finale the marking, ‘Allegro Guerriero’ (‘fast and warlike’). The development section erupts with vigorous counterpoint. Yet, gradually the energy and forward motion dissipate.
‘A Highland Wedding at Blair Atholl’, another painting by David Allan, together with a sequence of contemporary Scottish dancing paintings are used to visualise the spirited dance-like melodies of the movement.
Out of silence, a transcendent new theme emerges. Beginning in the dark, lower voices, it soon grows into a triumphant, celebratory hymn. Misty, veiled A minor is transformed into bright A major. The ‘Scottish’ Symphony concludes as a declaration of joy and celebration.

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Great video!
I have often wondered what a Scotsman wears under his kilt. This question has been answered by looking at one of the paintings!