Hebrides Overture

Felix Mendelssohn took a grand tour of Europe in his twenties and visited all the continent’s great cultural centers. However, it was the lonely island of Staffa, off the coast of Scotland that was the inspiration for his melodic Hebrides Overture. In the Overture Mendelssohn entwines two themes: one expressing the majestic beauty of Fingal’s Cave and one reminiscent of the rolling sea. He created the first theme that very day and later wrote Fanny, "In order to make you understand how extraordinary The Hebrides affected me, I send you the following, which came into my head there.” (http://www.orlandophil.org/downloads/program-notes/2006-07/opo-prog-notes-pac1.pdf) Listening to Hebrides Overture the listener is transported to a land of serene beauty, as honored by a man who declared, “It is in pictures, ruins, and natural surroundings that I find the most music.”

From Felix's 1827 letter to his sister Fanny

Listen!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0jxiUq9c4k&feature=related