Fingal's Cave is a sea cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, part of a National Nature Reserve owned by the National Trust for Scotland. It is formed entirely from hexagonally jointed basalt columns, similar in structure to (and part of the same ancient lava flow as) the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and those of nearby Ulva. In both cases, the cooling surface of the mass of hot lava cracked in a hexagonal pattern in a similar way to drying mud cracking as it shrinks, and these cracks gradually extended down into the mass of lava as it cooled and shrank to form the columns, which were subsequently exposed by erosion.

Its size and naturally arched roof, and the eerie sounds produced by the echoes of waves, give it the atmosphere of a natural cathedral. The cave's Gaelic name, An Uaimh Bhinn, means "the melodious cave."

The cave was brought to the attention of the English-speaking world by 18th-century naturalist Sir Joseph Banks in 1772. It became known as Fingal's Cave after the eponymous hero of an epic poem by 18th-century Scots poet-historian James Macpherson. It formed part of his Ossian cycle of poems claimed to have been based on old Scottish Gaelic poems. In Irish mythology, the hero Fingal is known as Fionn mac Cumhaill, and it is suggested that Macpherson rendered the name as Fingal (meaning "white stranger") through a misapprehension of the name which in old Gaelic would appear as Finn.The legend has Fionn or Finn building the causeway between Ireland and Scotland.

Fingal (from Irish: Fine Gall meaning "foreign tribe") is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. Its name is derived from the medieval territory of Scandanavian foreigners (Irish: gaill) that settled in the area. Fingal County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 239,992 according to the 2006 census.

Fingal is one of three counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. Swords is the county seat. Large urban centres include Blanchardstown, Swords, Balbriggan, Castleknock, Howth, Malahide and Portmarnock. Small rural settlements exist in the northern and western parts of the county. The motto of the arms of Fingal reads "Flúirse Talaimh is Mara" meaning "Abundance of Land and Water". The motto reflects the strong farming and fishing ties historically associated with the area. It also features a Viking longboat, which represents the arrival of the Norse in Fingal, where they became integrated with the existing Irish. Fingal is bordered by counties Meath to the north, Kildare to the west and by Dublin city to the south. At the Strawberry Beds, the River Liffey separates the county from South Dublin.

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (German pronunciation: [ˈjaːkɔp ˈluːtvɪç ˈfeːlɪks ˈmɛndl̩szoːn baʁˈtɔldi]), born, and generally known in English-speaking countries, as Felix Mendelssohn (3 February 1809 – 4 November 1847) was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period.

The grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family, although initially he was raised without religion and was later baptised as a Lutheran Christian. Mendelssohn was recognised early as a musical prodigy, but his parents were cautious and did not seek to capitalise on his talent.

Early success in Germany, where he also revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, was followed by travel throughout Europe. Mendelssohn was particularly well received in Britain as a composer, conductor and soloist, and his ten visits there – during which many of his major works were premiered – form an important part of his adult career. His essentially conservative musical tastes, however, set him apart from many of his more adventurous musical contemporaries such as Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner and Hector Berlioz. The Leipzig Conservatoire (now the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig), which he founded, became a bastion of this anti-radical outlook.

Emmanuel Krivine (born 7 May 1947, Grenoble) is a French conductor, the son of a Polish mother and a Russian father. He studied the violin as a youth and was a prize-winner at the Paris Conservatoire. He later studied at the Queen Elisabeth School in Brussels.

Inspired by a meeting with Karl Böhm, Krivine began to develop an interest in conducting. He was principal guest conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France from 1976 to 1983. From 1987 to 2000, he was music director of the Orchestre National de Lyon. He has also served as music director of the Orchestre Français des Jeunes for 11 years.

In 2004, Krivine established the orchestra La Chambre Philharmonique. In 2006, he became music director of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra (OPL), with an initial contract of 3 years, after becoming the orchestra's principal guest conductor in 2002. In May 2009, Krivine extended his contract with the orchestra through the 2014-2015 season.

Krivine has conducted recordings for the Deutsche Grammophon, Warner Classics, Timpani, and Naive labels.