(From Birmingham)
THE BIRMINGHAM STUDIO ORCHESTRA
Conducted by JOSEPH LEWIS
TWO of Mendelssohn's orchestral works, Fingal's Cave and the Scots Symphony, owed their inspiration to the visit which he paid to Scotland in 1829. The melody which forms the chief tune of the Overture Fingal's Cave, sometimes called ' The Hebrides,' was written down immediately after a visit to Staffa and Iona, and sent home in one of his delightful letters, describing the visit with all his own buoyant enthusiasm.
The Overture begins with lower strings and bassoons, presenting a theme which depicts the long, rolling Atlantic breakers, and later it is the same instruments which give us the second chief tune. The Overture is built up on these singly and together ; a very beautiful instance of their use in combination is heard near the end, where flute and horns join to play them very softly.