Mendelssohn: Overture “The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave)“, Op. 26 (with Score)

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Overture “The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave)“, Op. 26, MWV P 7 (with Score) Composed: 1830, revised 1832 Conductor: Claudio Abbado Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra Felix Mendelssohn’s concert overture The Hebrides (Die Hebriden) was composed in 1830, revised in 1832, and published the next year as his Op. 26. Some consider it an early tone poem. It was inspired by one of Mendelssohn’s trips to the British Isles, specifically an 1829 excursion to the Scottish island of Staffa, with its basalt sea cave known as Fingal’s Cave. It was reported that the composer immediately jotted down the opening theme for his composition after seeing the island. He at first called the work To the Lonely Island or Zur einsamen Insel, but then settled on the present title. However, in 1834, the year after the first publication, Breitkopf & Härtel issued an edition with the name Fingalshöhle (Fingal’s Cave) and this title stuck, causing