Why Scotland?

In 1829 Felix Mendelssohn was 20 years old; he had those two works of genius from his teenage years behind him: the Octet and the Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and now that he had reached maturity, his parents, Abraham and Lea Mendelssohn, decided that it was time for Felix to undertake what was expected of all young men of means: a Grand Tour of Europe.

Rather than send Felix immediately to the more usual destinations for the Grand Tour – France and Italy – which he was to visit in later years, it was decided that he should begin his tour by visiting England and, from there, to journey to Scotland. 

Why Scotland rather than France or Italy? Firstly, Felix’s parents, and Felix himself, were avid readers of the works of two Scottish writers: Sir Walter Scott whose Waverley novels were all the rage throughout Europe at the time, and the 3rd-century Bard, Ossian, whom the Mendelssohn family had yet to learn was a fake and actually the invention of the 18th-century Scottish writer, James Macpherson. Thus, to send Felix to the land that inspired both of these writers that they so much admired seemed a natural choice, and it was hoped that Felix would meet the great Walter Scott when he was in Scotland.

The second reason for choosing Scotland was that, based in London, was a close friend of the Mendelssohn family, Karl Klingemann, a diplomat stationed in the capital who would be a trusted traveling companion for Felix on his Scottish journey.  Klingemann was an interesting character: he had amorous feelings towards Felix’s sister, Fanny Mendelssohn, which unfortunately for him were never to be fulfilled as she married the artist Wilhelm Hensel later in this same year, 1829. Klingemann was an amateur musician and poet, and from the sometimes zany contributions to Felix’s and his joint letters home, he appears to have had an off-beat sense of humour which must have endeared him to the Mendelssohn family when they knew him back in Berlin, and certainly entertained Felix as he went on his travels with him to Scotland.