A Midsummer Night's Dream: Complete (Ein Sommernachtstraum): Conductor Score & Parts

This score captures Shakespeare's magic through pure orchestration, and Mendelssohn's writing for strings is particularly luminous. The combination of soloists, women's chorus, and full chamber orchestra gives conductors room to shape texture and drama while the famous overture and incidental numbers provide repertoire your ensemble will genuinely enjoy learning.

A moonlit forest alive with mischief, romance, and magic. The music shimmers with supernatural lightness in the fairy scenes, swells into lyrical warmth for the lovers' moments, and erupts with comic energy in the mechanicals' interludes. There's an orchestral sparkle throughout that feels both crystalline and deeply human.

Conductors leading advanced chamber orchestras or youth orchestras ready for substantial dramatic works, particularly those seeking to pair theatrical storytelling with sophisticated orchestral writing. This score serves ensembles that include strong string sections and can field soloists and chorus alongside the main body.

• Balance the string soloists carefully against the full ensemble, especially in passages where the two merge; the Edwin F. Kalmus edition clarifies these relationships well.
• Mendelssohn's rhythmic vitality depends on precision in the lighter passages; maintain forward momentum without rushing even when the texture thins.
• Coordinate closely with your soprano soloists and women's chorus regarding diction and phrasing; they anchor the programmatic moments that define each scene.
• Attend to the percussion parts (especially the fairy music moments) as delicate color rather than punctuation; they shape atmosphere as much as rhythm.

Program this as the centerpiece of a concert celebrating Romantic orchestral theater, or use it as a season anchor that draws audiences and gives your ensemble a sustained artistic challenge. The work's fame means audiences arrive with expectations; meeting them dramatically rewards both players and listeners.

• Balancing soloists and small groups against full ensemble texture
• Conducting theatrical timing and dramatic pacing in extended programmatic works
• Coordinating singers (soloists and chorus) with instrumental ensemble
• Executing rapid dynamic changes and rhythmic precision in lighter textures
• Sustaining lyrical phrasing through longer melodic arcs