The Mendelssohn on Mull Experience

The Journey

This film, created for us in 2021 by Alasdair Satchel, captures the spirit of Mendelssohn on Mull.

Members of the Doric Quartet, young artists and audience members talk about the things that make the Mendelssohn on Mull week such a special experience.

It includes footage of a boat trip to Staffa, the location of Fingal’s Cave which was part of the inspiration of Mendelssohn’s overture The Hebrides. There was great excitement when our boat was surrounded by porpoises!

RehearsaL

In 2022 we invited Alasdair back to create a short documentary about the experience of musicians coming together to explore compositions and prepare them for performance.

Rehearsal captures the essential purpose of Mendelssohn on Mull; young artists having the opportunity to rehearse and perform alongside highly experienced professionals.

A unique feature of Mendelssohn on Mull is that our Artistic Directors form ensembles with the young artists, rehearsing and playing alongside them in performance.

Although most of the young artists don’t know each other before coming to Mull they come together, under the expert guidance of the Doric Quartet, to form new ensembles to rehearse and perform a wide range of challenging repertoire.

Repertoire

With twelve string players there is a huge choice of chamber music to choose from.

Each year Mendelssohn on Mull features between ten and twelve pieces. These range from the core repertoire of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven through to composers living today.

Our artists enjoy the challenge of extending their repertoire or re-engaging with a piece they already know and now have the opportunity to explore again with new colleagues.

In this Alasdair Satchel film from 2023 we get to see how the artists respond to the chosen repertoire.

The Experience

This film, created for us in 2021 by Alasdair Satchel, captures the spirit of Mendelssohn on Mull.

In 2022 we invited Alasdair back to create a short documentary about the experience of musicians coming together to explore compositions and prepare them for performance.

With twelve string players there is a huge choice of chamber music to choose from.

Alasdair Satchel is a theatre and film maker based of the Isle of Mull.