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Shortly after his
twentieth birthday, Felix Mendelssohn accepted an invitation from
diplomat Klingemann to travel to London. Introduction into the salons
and social life there paved the way for Mendelssohn to appear in four
large scale concerts, including his first Symphony, Op. 11. After the
concert season, he traveled to Edinburgh
where his impressions formed the basis of the Scottish Symphony. On
the way to the Scottish highlands, Mendelssohn visited Sir Walter
Scott in Abbottsford and made a stormy crossing to the island of Staffa.
There, 'Fingal's Cave' was the inspiration for his overture Die
Hebriden (originally called Die einsame Insel, The Lonely Island). In
1830, Mendelssohn, then just 21, was offered the chair of music at the University of Berlin,
but declined, recommending a friend instead. In may of 1830, he began
a journey to Italy as suggested by his friend Goethe. In Rome,
Mendelssohn completed the overture Die Hebriden and began composition
of the Italian Symphony. In the spring of 1832, Mendelssohn returned
to London
where the concert season included performances of Die Hebriden and
Midsummer Night's Dream
overtures.
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Fingal's Cave
Picture by Richard Wood, EMGSO
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