Sax Choir

Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave)

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, arr. Ben Tordoff

Composed:
1830 Arranged:
2022 Grouping:
sSSAAATTTBBb Duration:
11:00

During a Scottish tour in 1829 Mendelssohn visited the island of Staffa and the cave known as Fingal's Cave. Inspired by the sea and the cave with its dark basalt pillars, he is said to have immediately noted down the main theme for what would later become The Hebrides Overture, sending it in a letter to his sister:

"In order to make you understand how extraordinarily the Hebrides affected me, I send you the following, which came into my head there."

When published this stand-alone concert overture was titled "The Lonely Island", but was later revised with the new title "The Hebrides Overture". Strangely the score bore yet another title, "Fingal's Cave", a name that is used widely today. Much like the later tone poems the overture aims to set the scene and explore the mood and sensations of that dramatic coast and cave rather than telling a story. As such there is a lot of texture underneath the main themes, from sudden building waves to gently rocking or murmuring ripples.

This arrangement was put together over the last two years and first tried at our Autumn gathering in November 2022. Part of the attraction of this work is that many of the fast, technical passages are in the lower parts with the upper parts often taking slower or more thematic material. This is a piece to give the lower saxes a real workout! Optional parts for soprillo, C Melody, and Contrabass are also included.

If you enjoyed this piece, have comments or corrections, we'd love to hear from you.

This music is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.