In 1838 Mendelssohn arranged and re-orchestrated his Nocturno for 11 winds (1826-8) for large wind orchestra with 23 instruments plus percussion. The overture, first published by Simrock in 1839 and later issued as part of the Mendelssohn Edition edited by Julius Rietz in the 1860s, has never appeared in a critical edition. Christopher Hogwood has undertaken a critical edition of the overture as part of his Urtext series of Mendelssohn’s Great Overtures.

The new Bärenreiter – Ho gwood edition contains an informative preface (English and German) as well as a detailed description of the sources and critical commentary (English).