HEBRIDES OVERTURE

The 'Hebrides Overture' (German: ''Die Hebriden''), opus 26, also known as 'Fingal's Cave', is a concert overture composed by Felix Mendelssohn. Written in 1830, the piece was inspired by a cavern known as Fingal's Cave on Staffa, an island in the Hebrides archipelago located off the coast of Scotland. Despite its name, the piece serves as a stand-alone musical selection, and has now become part of standard orchestral repertoire.
Mendelssohn first travelled to England at the invitation of a German lord to mark the former's twentieth birthday.^[1] Following his tour of England, Mendelssohn proceeded to Scotland, where he composed his symphony number 3, the ''Scottish Symphony''. During his travels in the country, though, he visited the Hebrides islands during one stormy night and came to the island of Staffa, where he was inspired by Fingal's Cave, a popular tourist attraction. The cave at that time was approximately 35 feet high and over 200 feet deep, and contained colorful pillars of basalt.^[2] He immediately wrote down what would become the opening theme of the overture, and wrote to his sister, Fanny Mendelssohn: "In order to make you understand how extraordinary ''The Hebrides'' affected me, I send you the following, which came into my head there."
The work was completed on December 16, 1830^[3] and was originally entitled ''Die einsame Insel'', or ''The Lonely Island''. However, Mendelssohn later revised the score, completing it by June 20, 1832, and retitled the music ''Die Hebriden'', or ''The Hebrides''. Despite this, the title of ''Fingal's Cave'' was also used: on the orchestral parts, he labelled the music ''The Hebrides'', but on the score, Mendelssohn labelled the music ''Fingal's Cave''. The overture was premiered on May 14, 1832 in London, in a concert that also featured Mendelssohn's ''Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream''.
The music, though labelled as an overture, is intended to stand as a complete work. It does not tell a story and is therefore not programmatic; instead, the piece depicts a mood and "sets a scene", one of the first such musical pieces to do so.^[4] The overture consists of two primary themes; the opening notes of the overture state the theme Mendelssohn wrote while visiting the cave, and is played initially by the violas, cellos, and bassoons.^[5] This lyrical theme, suggestive of the power and stunning beauty of the cave, is intended to develop feelings of loneliness and solitude. The second theme, meanwhile, depicts movement at sea and "rolling waves". The overture uses a standard form, and has a coda at the end, where the piece recapitulates to the original theme.
The piece uses standard orchestration and lasts approximately eleven minutes. The autograph manuscript of the work is held in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

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References

1. Galveston Symphony Program Notes Rita Junker Pickar
2. Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Program Notes David R. Glerum
3. Program Notes: Mendelssohn: "Hebrides" Overture Geoff Kuenning
4. Program Notes: Overture, "The Hebrides" ("Fingal's Cave"), Op. 26 Dr. Richard E. Rodda
5. Overture to "Fingal's Cave"

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