As his famous Italian Symphony illustrates, Felix Mendelssohn’s vacations inspired him to great musical heights. When he was 20, travels to Scotland gave rise to the Hebrides Overture. And that was not all. On July 30, 1829, he wrote,

We went, in the deep twilight, to the palace [of Holyrod] where Queen Mary lived and loved. There is a little room to be seen there, with a winding staircase leading up to it. That is where they went up and found Rizzio in the little room, dragged him out, and three chambers away is a dark corner where they killed him. The adjoining chapel is now roofless; grass and ivy grow abundantly in it, and before the ruined altar Mary was crowned Queen of Scotland. Everything around is broken and moldering, and the bright sky shines in. I believe I found today the beginning of my Scottish Symphony.

Although Mendelssohn came up with the symphony’s opening melody that very same day, it took him 12 years to finish the work. Completed in Berlin on January 20, 1842, the symphony was premiered six weeks later in the Leipzig Gewandhaus, with Mendelssohn on the podium conducting. (Interestingly, while the composer referred to the symphony as the “Scottish” in his correspondence, the manuscript’s first edition does not bear this title.)

The Scottish Symphony consists of the traditional four movements, which Mendelssohn specified should be performed without pause. The opening Andante con moto begins with the motive Mendelssohn was inspired to write after leaving the ruined chapel that was formerly the site of the coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots. Heard first in the violas and oboes, the melody's first appearance is bleak. It changes mood later when cast in the major mode and continues to dominate throughout the lengthy movement, appearing in several different guises. Interestingly, the coda briefly recalls The Flying Dutchman, which Wagner was composing at the very same time. The ensuing Vivace non troppo is a scherzo; its jocular principal theme—heard first in the solo clarinet over a shimmering backdrop of strings—is reportedly related to an ancient bagpipe melody. The third movement, marked Adagio, begins with a passionate yet restrained theme, gradually giving way to insistent and foreboding music. Breathless dotted rhythms and bold rhythmic attacks dominate the galloping Allegro vivacissimo. Based again on Mendelssohn's opening theme, the concluding coda takes the work to a majestic close.