at the start of the 1800s, beethoven wrote a pastoral symphony, symphony no. 6 "pastorale", which describes the peaceful life in the countryside. this way of making music describe things became very popular with romantic composers. mendelssohn wrote "concert overtures" which had nothing to do with an opera but were simply short pieces of music for orchestra which told a story. "hebrides overture", for example, describes the feel of the sea lapping into fingal's cave in the scottish inner hebrides.