'Moon's fair beam'
Commentary
'Moon's fair beam'
Accession number:
MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn c. 101
Collection:
Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
The German composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy wrote the music for Schilflied (or Reed Song) in 1842 to accompany lyrics by the poet Nikolaus Lenau. During a winter break in the Frankfurt area with his wife, Mendelssohn made a copy in his own hand and illustrated it with a watercolour that refers to the first line: ‘On the lake’s unruffled surface rests the Moon’s fair beam’. He presented the piece to the wife of a Frankfurt wine merchant.
(Frankfurt area, March 1845)