Hebrides Overture
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The Hebrides Overture, 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.<ref name="Galveston">Rita Junker Pickar (2002). Galveston Symphony Program Notes. Retrieved on 2006-11-03.</ref> 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.<ref name="OPO">David R. Glerum (2006-09-30). Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Program Notes (PDF) pp. 4-5. Retrieved on 2006-11-08.</ref> 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."<ref name="OPO"/>
The work was completed on December 16, 1830<ref name="lasr">Geoff Kuenning. Program Notes: Mendelssohn: "Hebrides" Overture. Retrieved on 2006-11-03.</ref> and was originally entitled Die einsame Insel, or The Lonely Island.<ref name="Galveston"/> However, Mendelssohn later revised the score, completing it by June 20, 1832,<ref name="lasr"/> and retitled the music Die Hebriden, or The Hebrides.<ref name="Galveston"/> 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.<ref name="OPO"/> The overture was premiered on May 14, 1832 in London,<ref name="lasr"/> 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.<ref name="Hartford">Dr. Richard E. Rodda. Program Notes: Overture, "The Hebrides" ("Fingal's Cave"), Op. 26. Hartford Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved on 2006-11-03.</ref> 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.<ref name="musicwithease">Overture to "Fingal's Cave". Music With Ease. Retrieved on 2006-11-03.</ref> 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".<ref name="OPO"/> The overture uses a standard form, and has a coda at the end, where the piece recapitulates to the original theme.<ref name="musicwithease"/>
The piece uses standard orchestration and lasts approximately twelve minutes. The autograph manuscript of the work is held in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
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