Mendelssohn mentioned this work for the first time in a letter written in Scotland to his family Mendelssohn mentioned this work for the first time in a letter written in Scotland to his family   quoting the first 21 bars of this programmatic overture. Over the years it was to receive numerous revisions.

Firstly, there were two “ Rome ” versions, the first of which Mendelssohn played to Berlioz on the piano. These were followed by two “ London ” versions.

Bärenreiter’s new Urtext study score includes the two London versions, following the scholarly-critical edition of all four versions edited by Christopher Hogwood and published in 2004 (BA 9053).