Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides was inspired by the sights and sounds of the Hebrides Isles off the west coast of Scotland. Mendelssohn visited with a childhood friend in 1829. He found himself so entranced by the view of waves crashing against the shore while traveling to the isles by ferry, that he immediately wrote to his sister, notable composer Fanny Mendelssohn, to detail the melody that had taken root in his mind.