Mendelssohn Bartholdy – Symphony No. 3, ‘Scottish’ | Maxim Emelyanychev | WDR Symphony Orchestra

Mendelssohn Bartholdy – Symphony No. 3, ‘Scottish’ | Maxim Emelyanychev | WDR Symphony Orchestra
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156 views hour ago, Jul 25, 2026 KÖLNER PHILHARMONIE
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Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Symphony No. 3, the “Scottish”, performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maxim Emelyanychev. Recorded live at the Cologne Philharmonie on 12 June 2026.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy – Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, ‘Scottish’

00:00:00 I. Andante con moto
00:16:42 II. Vivace non troppo
00:21:07 III. Adagio
00:29:13 IV. Allegro vivacissimo

WDR Symphony Orchestra
Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor

Programme notes:
Straightforwardness with detours – there is hardly any other composer to whom this phrase applies more than to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. He is known for his youthful strokes of genius, such as the ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Overture or the String Octet. Far more often, however, he wrestled with his works: he pondered, refined, discarded, revised, set them aside, brought them back out, started afresh and developed them – in short, he underwent an intensive creative process. This is nowhere more evident than in his ‘Scottish’ Symphony. In the summer of 1829, Mendelssohn and his close friend Carl Klingemann set off on a journey through Scotland and Wales. The two stopped off in Edinburgh for a few days. There they visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the British monarch’s residence in Scotland. Mendelssohn wrote to his family in Berlin: “In the deep twilight we went to the palace today, where Queen Mary lived and was loved […]. The chapel next to it is now roofless; grass and ivy grow thickly inside, and it was at the broken altar that Mary was crowned Queen of Scotland.” And he continued: “I believe I found the beginning of my Scottish Symphony there today.”
Indeed, the composer sketched out a passage there which would later find its place in the symphony’s slow introduction. Yet the euphoria was initially followed by disillusionment. It would ultimately take a good twelve years before the symphonic souvenir from Scotland was completed. Folk-inspired motifs – for example in the second movement – austere timbres and a blend of contemplation and energy lend the symphony its unmistakable sound. When Mendelssohn finally conducted the world premiere himself in Leipzig, it proved a
resounding success.
Text: Otto Hagedorn

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