Mendelssohn composed the overture and other incidental music for A Midsummers Night Dream in 1843. The music however was not long enough for choreographer, George Balanchine to work with. He studied Mendelssohns work intensively for 20 years before selecting the remaining music for the ballet he was to create. Balanchine finally finished and premiered the ballet in 1962. It was his first wholly choreographed ballet in the United States. Balanchines ballet is based on Shakespeares A Midsummers Night Dream, a comedy about the quarrels and reunitings between a set of human lovers and the Queen and King of the Fairies.

