Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, on his return journey from Scotland in late summer 1829, spent a few sublimely beautiful days with the Taylor family in Wales. The “Trois Fantaisies ou Caprices op. 16” for piano that he wrote there were originally to have been called “Erinnerungen” [Memories], since each was dedicated to one of the three daughters of this English family.

The hand-signed autographs are extant, and – along with several other manuscripts and first editions – serve as the basis for t...