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Which Scottish location inspired the opening music of The Hebrides?
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Felix Mendelssohn
German composer Felix Mendelssohn, painting by Wilhelm Hensel.
The opening melody of Felix Mendelssohn’s concert overture The Hebrides, Op. 26, was inspired by his visit to Fingal’s Cave, a famous sea cave located on the island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides of western Scotland.12
While on a ferry voyage in 1829, the composer was profoundly moved by the misty scenery and the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the basalt columns of the cave. He captured this experience in a letter to his sister, Fanny Mendelssohn, in which he transcribed the initial bars of the melody that would eventually serve as the opening of the work.1