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The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), Op. 26

183010 min

This guide follows Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), Op. 26 (1830) in one part (sonata form).

Recording: London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Eliot Gardiner

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AnalysisComments
Sonata form0:00–9:51

Violas, cellos and bassoons begin with a rising and falling figure in B minor, over rocking strings that suggest the swell of the sea. The , a broad D major melody for cellos and bassoons, arrives next, and a ends the . The brings calls between brass and woodwinds and a storm of rising and falling scales. Then the starts, with the on a quiet clarinet. In the a clarinet echoes the opening figure and a flute rises over low plucked strings.

  1. :
  2. :

Section boundaries in music are not always sharp; a transition may be felt over a pause or a held chord.

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BachTrio Sonata No. 1 in E-flat major, BWV 5251730HaydnSymphony No. 1 in D major, Hob. I:11759HaydnHorn Concerto in D major, Hob. VIId:31762HaydnPiano Sonata in A-flat major, Hob. XVI:461770HaydnPiano Sonata in C minor, Hob. XVI:201771HaydnString Quartet in A major, Op. 20 No. 61772HaydnString Quartet in C major, Op. 20 No. 21772HaydnString Quartet in D major, Op. 20 No. 41772HaydnString Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 20 No. 11772HaydnString Quartet in F minor, Op. 20 No. 51772

In listening paths

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Path 05

Understanding sonata form

The form behind most first movements, heard twelve times, from a small sonata to a symphony.

Mozart → Haydn → Beethoven → Schubert → Mendelssohn → Brahms → Prokofiev

12 works · 4 h 43 min

Path 07

Ten minutes or less

Short, complete works for a single sitting.

Bach → Mozart → Haydn → Beethoven → Schubert → Mendelssohn → Saint-Saëns → Sibelius → Ravel → Debussy → Gershwin → Copland

12 works · 1 h 26 min

In the catalog

Felix MendelssohnOrchestral worksRomantic periodSonata form

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