Main content

The Hebrides Overture: Mendelssohn's melodious cave

Tom Service explores the story behind the very first orchestral tone poem and one of the best-loved pieces in classical music: Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture.

Tom Service explores the story behind the very first orchestral tone poem and one of the best-loved pieces in classical music: Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture. Cave expert Prof Stuart Jeffrey shares his insights into Fingal's cave (which inspired Mendelssohn to write his overture), from its many famous visitors over the years to its extraordinary - and sometimes disconcerting - acoustic.

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Fri 28 Oct 2022 16:30
±«Óătv Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Musical Time Travel: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams

Next

Steve Reich's Different Trains: Minimalism and Memory

See all episodes from The Listening Service

Music Played

  • Pipes and Drums of The Black Watch

    Traditional: Sleep Deaire, Sleep

    • SCOTDISC.
    • 191018051402.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Conductor: Kurt Masur.
    • BERLIN CLASSICS.
    • 0002452CCC.

  • James MacMillan

    The Confession of Isobel Gowdie for orchestra

    Performer: ±«Óătv Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Osmo VĂ€nskĂ€.
    • BIS.
    • BIS CD-1169.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Conductor: Kurt Masur.
    • BERLIN CLASSICS.
    • 0002452CCC.

  • Pipes and Drums of The Black Watch

    Traditional: Sleep Deaire, Sleep

    • SCOTDISC.
    • 191018051402.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • 0765.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Thomas Dausgaard.
    • BIS.
    • 2166.

  • Richard Wagner

    Der Fliegende Hollander - opera in 3 acts

    Performer: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Daniel Harding.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMM 90225051.

  • Johannes Brahms

    7 Fantasies Op.116 for piano

    Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMM 902365.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • 0765.

  • Pipes and Drums of The Black Watch

    Traditional: Sleep Deaire, Sleep

    • SCOTDISC.
    • 191018051402.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • 0765.

  • Rebecca Hickey

    Beata viscera - monophonic conductus

    • NAXOS.
    • 8.557340.

  • Pipes and Drums of The Black Watch

    Traditional: Sleep Deaire, Sleep

    • SCOTDISC.
    • 191018051402.

  • Niels Wilhelm Gade

    Echoes from Ossian - overture Op.1

    Performer: Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Dmitri Georgievich Kitayenko.
    • CHANDOS.
    • CHAN-9422.

  • Hamish MacCunn

    Land of the mountain and the flood - overture Op.3

    Performer: ±«Óătv Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins.
    • HYPERION.
    • CDA 66815.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Thomas Dausgaard.
    • BIS.
    • 2166.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Pablo Heras‐Casado.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • 2325DI.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
    • WARNER.
    • 4769012.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Mendelssohn/X-Dance: Hebridean Fantasy

    Performer: X-Dance.
    • BALLO E MUSICA.
    • (unknown).

  • James MacMillan

    The Confession of Isobel Gowdie for orchestra

    Performer: ±«Óătv Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Osmo VĂ€nskĂ€.
    • BIS.
    • BIS CD-1169.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Thomas Dausgaard.
    • BIS.
    • 2166.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • 0765.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 23 Oct 2022 17:00
    ±«Óătv Radio 3
  • Fri 28 Oct 2022 16:30
    ±«Óătv Radio 3

Why do we call it 'classical' music?

Tom Service poses a very simple question (with a not-so-simple answer).

Six of the world's most extreme voices

From babies to Mongolian throat singers: whose voice is the most extreme of all?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How Schoenberg opened a new cosmos for composers and listeners to explore.

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Bass is everywhere, but why do we enjoy it? Join Tom Service on a journey of discovery.

Watch the animations

Join Tom Service on a musical journey through beginnings, repetition and bass lines.

When does noise become music?

We like to think we can separate “noise” from “music”, but is it that simple?

Podcast