A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mendelssohn) form and shaped by regular phrasings and harmonic transitions. The piece is also noted for its striking instrumental effects, such as the emulation of scampering 'fairy feet' at the beginning and the braying of Bottom as an ass (effects which were influenced by the aesthetic ideas and suggestions of Mendelssohn's friend at the time, Adolf Bernhard Marx). Heinrich Eduard Jacob, in his biography of the composer, said that Mendelssohn had scribbled the chords after hearing an evening breeze rustle the leaves in the garden of the family's home. The overture begins with four chords in the winds. Following the first
A Midsummer Night's Dream play within a play, Pyramus & Thisbe, with music written by Rusty Magee. The music for the rest of the show was written by Andrew Sherman. The Donkey Show "The Donkey Show" is a disco-era experience based on "A Midsummer Night's Dream", that first appeared off Broadway in 1999. Other In 1949 a three-act opera by Delannoy entitled "Puck" was premiered in Strasbourg. Progressive Rock guitarist Steve Hackett, best known for his work with Genesis, made a classical adaptation of the play in 1997. Hans Werner Henze's Eighth Symphony is inspired by sequences from the play. The Alexander W. Dreyfoos