Charles Munch conducts Mendelssohn: Symphonies No. 3 and No. 4

Mendelssohn was a skilled draughtsman and water colourist. He drew and painted all his life, and when he went to Scotlan and Italy in an era before the invetion of the camera, he fixed his memories by drawing his favourite sites. He also recorded his travels in music. He visited Scotland in 1829 when he was twenty years old and in Holyrood Castle, contemplating the chambers of Mary Queen of Scots, he found the beginning of his Scottish Symphony. Paradoxically, this most spontaneous and fluent of composers took thirteen years to finish the symphony.