Scherzo from "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Op. 61/1

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was a German pianist, composer, conductor, and teacher, one of the most prominent composers of the early Romantic period.
Born in a Jewish family, Felix, together with his brother and two sisters, was baptized in 1816 as a Lutheran, and in 1822 when the whole family was baptized, the family adopted the surname Bartholdy, following the example of Felix’s maternal uncle, who had chosen to adopt the name of a family farm.
Initially, he studied piano with his parents, then with Ludwig Berger in Berlin where he additionally studied composition with Carl Friedrich Zelter who had enormous influence on his development. Thus Felix exhibited mature qualities as a composer at an unusually early age. During his boyhood years, he composed 5 operas and 11 symphonies, most of which were kept in the Prussian State Library in Berlin and lost during World War II.
At an early age, he became well-received in his travels throughout Europe as a composer, conductor, and soloist throughout Europe.
In 1833 he was appointed musical director in Düsseldorf, which was his first paid post as a musician. However, frustration at his everyday duties in Düsseldorf, and the city's provincialism, led him to resign his position at the end of 1834. In 1835 he accepted the post of musical director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra which helped to revive interest in the music of Schubert and Schumann.
In 1843 Mendelssohn founded a major music school – the Leipzig Conservatory (now Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy") where many prominent musicians were members of the faculty, including R.Schumann, I.Moscheles, J. Joachim to name a few.

Among his most famous works is Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, including the famous "Wedding March" (1826), the Italian Symphony (1833), a violin concerto (1844), two piano concerti (1831, 1837), the oratorio Elijah (1846), and Songs Without Words for piano solo.