(From Birmingham)
PATTISON'S SALON ORCHESTRA
Directed by NORRIS STANLEY
Relayed from the Café Restaurant, Corporation
Street
THE melody which forms the chief tune of the Overture, Fingal's Cave, sometimes called The Hebrides, was written down immediately after a visit which Mendelssohn paid to Staffa and Iona, off the west coast of Scotland, 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 the same instruments 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.