The first edition in a series of titles licensed from The Decca Record Company.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) was a German composer, pianist, conductor, and musical prodigy of the Romantic era. Born into a wealthy and culturally influential family in Hamburg, Mendelssohn showed remarkable musical talent from an early age. He received thorough musical training and flourished as both a performer and a composer.
Mendelssohn‘s compositions span various genres, including symphonies, concertos, chamber music, piano works, and oratorios. His music is characterised by its lyrical melodies, classical forms infused with Romantic expression, and masterful orchestration.
Scotland has always exerted a considerable pull on the German mind and imagination. In the eighteenth century the poems of Ossian inspired Herder and the young Goethe; in the nineteenth, two musicians, Mendelssohn and Max Bruch were moved to commemorate their feelings about the country. When Mendelssohn visited the country in 1829 he was overwhelmed. “Few of my Switzerland reminiscences can compare to this; everything looks so stern and robust, half-enveloped in haze or smoke or fog.”
Mendelssohn went out to meet Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford and to the Hebrides. Here he was so fascinated by the sound of the sea that it turned in his head into music and became the first phrase of the Hebrides Overture. One of the letters which he wrote from the islands includes a sketch of these bars. In Edinburgh the idea of a Scotch Symphony came to him, only to be abandoned for the next twelve years or more. When it was finished it was dedicated with gracious permission to Queen Victoria. Fingal’s Cave was written in 1830, at the same time as the Reformation Symphony. It so faithfully captures the spirit of the romantic place that it has become a universal favourite. The Scottish countryside and towns are of an austere beauty which appealed readily to a sentimental German, seemingly uniting the past and the future in the timeless present. Mendelssohn paid only a short visit to this romantic country and in return for the imaginative experience that she gave him he gave to the world two works of great value.
Peter Maag (1919–2001) was a Swiss conductor known for his insightful interpretations, meticulous attention to detail, and elegant conducting style. Born in St. Gallen, Switzerland, Maag showed musical promise from a young age, studying piano and composition before focusing on conducting. He began his conducting career in the 1940s, making his professional debut with the Winterthur Symphony Orchestra in 1943.
Cut directly from the original analog master tapes, through our unique all valve 1965 Ortofon / Lyrec vinyl cutting system in stereo. No equalisation, compression or another processing was added during the cutting process.
All sleeve artwork authentically letter-pressed and hand made.
This edition of 300 copies is priced at £395.00 UK pounds. Order here.
Original master tapes.
Original master tape (A side).
Original sleeve.
