The Hebrides (overture) overture state the theme Mendelssohn wrote while visiting the cave, and is played initially by the violas, cellos, and bassoons. This lyrical theme, suggestive of the power and stunning beauty of the cave, is intended to develop feelings of loneliness and solitude. The second theme, meanwhile, depicts movement at sea and "rolling waves". The piece is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings. Performances of the overture typically last between 10½ and 11 minutes. The autograph manuscript of the work is held in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. The Hebrides (overture)
Overture of the arias are quoted. In 19th-century opera the overture, "Vorspiel", "Einleitung," Introduction, or whatever else it may be called, is generally nothing more definite than that portion of the music which takes place before the curtain rises. Richard Wagner's "Vorspiel" to "Lohengrin" is a short self-contained movement founded on the music of the Grail. In Italian opera after about 1800, the "overture" became known as the "sinfonia". Fisher also notes the term "Sinfonia avanti l'opera" (literally, the "symphony before the opera") was "an early term for a sinfonia used to begin an opera, that is, as an overture as