Scottish locations and settings have been vital to many a novel and
film. Think of Rosslyn Chapel (Da Vinci Code), Glenfinnan Viaduct
(Harry Potter), Megginch Castle (Rob Roy), Forth Bridge (The39
Steps), Riemore estate (The Last Great Wilderness), Doune Castle
(Monty Python & the Holy Grail).
(For a more complete list see www.ScotlandtheMovie. com)
And, of course, there is the Big Tree Country film on
YouTube.
However, there is nothing new in this. In the early 19th century
every free spirit in Europe wanted to visit the haunting hills,
woodlands, caves and cataracts of Scotland immortalised by Sir
Walter Scott and the bard, Ossian. Few then had the means, even
although the most common form of transport with which to view the
sights would have been Shanks’s Pony.
One such literary pilgrim was Felix Mendelssohn (1809 –
1847).
He visited Scotland in 1829. At an age when kids today are just
finishing a gap year he was already a prolific composer, fresh from
a musical triumph in Berlin. And from this tour would come three of
his most popular works: the ‘Hebrides Overture’ (aka
‘Fingal’s Cave’), the ‘Scottish
Symphony’, and ‘Incidental Music to A Midsummer
Night’s Dream’.
The intermezzo from the latter wins hands down as the most
frequently played piece of classical music. Hammered out on church
organs over and over again every day of the week, the Wedding March
is, for most of us, the last music we hear as a free man.
High on young Felix’s must-do list was a visit to Scott at
Abbotsford, near Melrose. By all accounts the meeting was not too
successful, as Wally answered the door with the time honoured
Scottish greeting to the in-laws, ‘Ye’ll have had yer
tea, then?’
But indubitably one of the highlights of Mendelssohn’s tour,
travelling by coach but often walking up to 20 miles a day, was his
visit to Perthshire. He and his companion visited Perth, then
walked to Dunkeld to see Birnam Wood, and Ossian’s Hall (the
Hermitage). They also visited Rumbling Bridge and the Falls of
Moness (Birks of Aberfeldy) before taking the Road to the Isles.
A measure of the enduring popularity of the Hebrides Overture,
which Mendelssohn had begun composing during his tour but before
visiting Fingal’s Cave, is that an autograph manuscript of
the score fetched over $1 million at auction in 2002.
This cache is inspired by Mendelssohn’s music and the
Romantic Movement that inspired him.
It also celebrates another literary, and geocaching, pilgrimage
from Germany. By natala. And memories that can never be
auctioned.
The cache contains swaps on a musical theme. Please swap
fairly.