Radio – Mendelssohn weekend
Saturday 9 May
10.20-11.30pm BBC RADIO 3
Mendelssohn Weekend: The Great Trip In Words And Music
Mendelssohn’s “Great Trip” – between 1829 and 1832 – was the longest recorded continuous journey undertaken by any known musician of the period. Edward Bennett reads the colourful letters the composer wrote on his European travels.
Mendelssohn’s trip spanned England and Scotland and the cities of Vienna, Rome, Paris and the Swiss Alps. His travels concluded in London, a city where Mendelssohn felt particularly at home. Throughout the trip, Mendelssohn wrote letters to his family about his impressions of the landscape, culture and customs of different countries.
His travels were also a process of self-discovery, where he thought about his future plans and his identity as a German. In London, he sees streets shrouded in fog; in Edinburgh, he scrambles up Arthur’s Seat for a view of the city; and in Vienna he notes that the Viennese seem to do nothing at all.
Highlights include travelling down the Danube by boat and joining in the celebrations for the crowning of the King of Hungary in Pressburg. In London, his final destination, he is overwhelmed by the enthusiastic reception from audiences.
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