The Hebrides (overture) The Hebrides (overture) Felix Mendelssohn's concert overture The Hebrides (; ) was composed in 1830, revised in 1832, and published the next year as his Op. 26. Some consider it an early tone poem. It was inspired by one of Mendelssohn's trips to the British Isles, specifically an 1829 excursion to the Scottish island of Staffa, with its basalt sea cave known as Fingal's Cave. It is not known whether Mendelssohn set foot on the island, the cave being best visible from the water, but the composer reported that he immediately jotted down the opening theme for his composition. He
Tragic Overture (Brahms) Tragic Overture (Brahms) The Tragic Overture (), Op. 81, is a concert overture for orchestra written by Johannes Brahms during the summer of 1880. It premiered on 26 December 1880 in Vienna. Most performances last between twelve and fifteen minutes. Brahms chose the title "tragic" to emphasize the turbulent, tormented character of the piece, in essence a free-standing symphonic movement, in contrast to the mirthful ebullience of a companion piece he wrote the same year, the "Academic Festival Overture". Despite its name, the "Tragic Overture" does not follow any specific dramatic program. Brahms summed up the effective difference in character