When Felix returned to Berlin, he had grown much, physically as well as mentally.  He was now tall and strong, his curling locks had been clipped, and he seemed at a single bound to have become almost a man.  His happy, boyish spirits, however, had not changed in the least.  About this time the family removed from their home on the Neue Promenade, to a larger and more stately mansion, No. 3 Leipsiger Strasse, then situated on the outskirts of the town, near the Potsdam Gate.  As those who know the modern city realize, this house, now no longer a private residence, stands in the very heart of traffic and business.  The rooms of the new home were large and elegant, with a spacious salon suitable for musicals and large functions.  A fine garden or park belonged to the house, where were lawns shaded by forest trees, winding paths, flowering shrubs and arbors in shady nooks, offering quiet retreats.  Best of all there was a garden house, with a central hall, which would hold several hundred people, having long windows and glass doors looking out upon the trees and flowers.  Sunday concerts were soon resumed and given in the garden house, where, on week days the young people met, with friends and elders, to play, and act and enjoy the social life of the home.  The mansion and its hospitality became famous, and every great musician, at one time or another, came to pay his respects and become acquainted with this art-loving family.

At a family party in honor of Felix’s fifteenth birthday, his teacher Zelter saluted him as no longer an apprentice, but as an “assistant” and member of the Brotherhood of Art.  Very soon after this the young composer completed two important works.  The first was an Octet for strings.  He was not yet seventeen when the Octet was finished, which was pronounced the most fresh and original work he had yet accomplished.  It marked a distinct stage in the gifted youth’s development.  The composition which followed was the beautiful “Midsummer Night’s Dream” music.  He and his sister Fanny had lately made the acquaintance of Shakespeare through a German translation, and had been fascinated by this fairy play.  The young people spent much of their time in the lovely garden that summer, and amid these delightful surroundings the music was conceived.

The Overture was first to spring into being.  When it was written out, Felix and Fanny often played it as a duet.  In this form the composer-pianist Moscheles heard it and was impressed by its beauty.  The fascinating Scherzo and dreamy Nocturne followed.  When all were elaborated and perfected, the complete work was performed by the garden house orchestra for a crowded audience, who abundantly expressed their delight.  Sir G. Macfarren has said of it:  “No one musical work contains so many points of harmony and orchestration that are novel yet none of them have the air of experiment, but all seem to have been written with a certainty of their success.”