Circle City Clarinerd

I was first introduced to Mendelssohn's "Scottish" Symphony a few years ago when I had to play the second movement clarinet solo for a summer program audition tape. While learning the fingerings, attempting to perfect the articulation patterns and drilling the section with a metronome to train myself to play it more quickly, I repeatedly listened to the recording of the peppy, folk-like second movement. This lively section consists of a rousing dance theme and bouncy woodwind staccatos and includes a stirring, but not haunting, minor section. As I listened to this movement and practiced the folksy clarinet solo, I pictured a young Felix Mendelssohn strolling through the Scottish countryside, reclining in a grassy field and musing on ideas for his next composition in his serene, natural environment.

The upbeat second movement

It was not until last year, when I had to listen to the entire symphony for a class assignment, that I realized my romantic visions of Mendelssohn’s inspirational foray into the Scottish countryside were a bit naïve. In fact, when I first heard the introduction – a slow, dark-sounding section in the minor mode – I had to check the screen on my iPod to make sure I was listening to the correct piece. I was surprised to hear that the dramatic tone of the introduction continues throughout the first movement and gives way to an even more somber second theme, much of which is played at a chilling pianissimo dynamic. Although the jaunty Scherzo in the second movement reflects a striking departure from the solemnity of the first movement, the third movement once again evokes a sense of mournfulness. The Finale contains a fast-paced, warlike section and elements of a Scottish dance but ultimately ends with a triumphant, heroic-sounding coda.

The somber introduction of the symphony

Startled by the surprising complexity of what I was hearing, I conducted some research and learned that many scholars believe Mendelssohn was first moved to write this symphony when he visited the ruined Holyrood Abbey near Edinburgh in 1829. The abbey was damaged by a mob during the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and the structure’s stone roof collapsed in 1768. Wrote Mendelssohn in a letter, “This evening in the deep twilight, we went to the palace where Queen Mary lived and loved; there is a small room with a winding staircase leading up to it…The adjacent chapel has lost its roof; grass and ivy grow thickly within; and on the broken altar Mary was crowned Queen of Scotland. Everything there is in ruins and ramshackle, open to the blue sky. I think I have today found the opening of my Scottish Symphony.” He also referenced experiencing a “Scottish fog mood.”

Holyrood Abbey Ruins


More Abbey ruins

Premiered 13 years later in 1842 in Leipzig and ultimately dedicated to Queen Victoria, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in A Minor (“Scottish”) does not simply represent a perky portrayal of the Scottish landscape, but also evokes a sense of anxiety about destruction, war and Scotland’s troubled history. Perhaps Mendelssohn was not mindlessly laying in the grass as he happily envisioned this symphony, but rather perching on a Scottish hillside, engaging in a deep, personal reflection that would spur his composition of this emotional work.

Join the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra this weekend to hear the sounds of Scotland - both sprightly and somber - and delve into the mind of Mendelssohn. Also on this weekend's program is the ISO premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis' Musica Celestis and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3, performed by soloist Jeffrey Kahane.