Overture The Hebrides Op. 26 (1832)

Felix Mendelssohn  (1809-1847)

Felix Mendelssohn was the son of a wealthy banker. Perhaps the first true musical prodigy, he produced the first of his considerable output aged only 11. A gifted soloist and conductor, Mendelssohn also championed the rescue of Bach’s music. On the first of several overseas trips, he visited Scotland where Fingal’s Cave on the rugged island of Staffs in the Hebrides made a deep impression. In a letter home he sketched the first 20 bars of what was to become, after much revision, this concert overture. The music artfully captures the ebb and flow and changing moods of the restless ocean, from the surging waves of the opening, through crashing breakers to the calm of the final bars.

Performed: 24 March 2019