2023-09-01 19:37:33
Felix Mendelssohn gets lost in Switzerland
Led astray by a hermit
September 1st, 2023 by Thorsten Preuss
Rapperswil, September 1, 1831. At first, young Felix Medelssohn Bartholdy was angry: someone had shown him the wrong way on a hike in Switzerland! But then he discovered that the landscape that he so unexpectedly got to know had its merits. So anger turned to joy…
Image source: picture alliance / akg-images
The contribution to listen to
“I can hardly speak for anger!” Felix Mendelssohn presses the pen onto the paper until it crunches. “They are skinned rogues, have deceived me, misled me!” You – these are the inhabitants of the Swiss place of pilgrimage Einsiedeln. “The whole nest, how it’s lingered around the bloated monastery, and the praying people on the country road, and the proud priests and the tastelessly decorated church – all that enraged me. But to be led by a hermit like that!”
Outraged at Lake Zurich
So this is the reason for the outburst of anger in Mendelssohn’s diary: a resident of Einsiedeln misled him. Mendelssohn actually wanted to hike today from the city of Schwyz over the Haggenegg Pass to Lake Walen. But then someone in Einsiedeln pointed in the wrong direction. And now he, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, sits fuming on Lake Zurich, where he didn’t want to go at all. The composer takes a deep breath, looks at the setting sun over the water and reviews the day once more. Maybe it wasn’t all bad following all.
Fresh wind and fun springs
“There must be justice, the way over the Haggenegg Pass is magnificent,” writes Mendelssohn. “It’s quite steep and difficult from Schwyz, but the view of Lake Lucerne, the snowy mountains above, the fresh wind and the fun springs, and especially the super myths that you have right next to you, make up for it.”
The “Swiss Song” from Mendelssohn’s String Symphony No. 11
String Symphony No. 11 in F Major “Commodo Schweizerlied”: II. Scherzo
First tourist in music history
The Mythen – two mountain peaks, like two stubborn rock pyramids, here and there overgrown with a bit of green, towering over the pass. For generations of pilgrims, they were simply a dangerous obstacle in their way. But Mendelssohn wanders for pleasure and admires her beauty. And thus becomes the first tourist in music history: “The jolly alphorn, the little white clouds over the lake, the clarity and sharpness of the spikes, the light – nothing was missing!”
what happened today
You can also listen to our series “What happened today” on notable events in music history at 7:40 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:40 p.m. on BR-KLASSIK on the radio. You can find more episodes to listen to here.
Broadcast: “Allegro” am 01. September 2023 from 6:05 a.m. on BR-KLASSIK
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