Ouvert. Schöne Melusine op.32

A visit to the opera whetted the composers creative appetite to explore the fairy-tale-like theme of Knight Raimunds love for the beautiful mermaid Melusine, which provided the basis for Mendelssohns fourth concert overture. As usual, Mendelssohn worked out the composition in his mind before committing it to paper, a task he most likely began towards the end of March 1833. The works premiere performance took place in London on 7 April 1834; the revised version was given its first account in Leipzig on 23 November 1835. Its ranking as No. 4 of the concert overtures was assigned around 1857 in a posthumous edition. (Ralf Wehner in the Study Edition of the Mendelssohn Work Catalogue)