Overture (French ouverture, meaning opening) in music is the instrumental introduction to a dramatic, choral or, occasionally, instrumental composition. Allegory of Music on the Opéra Garnier Music is an art form that involves organized and audible sounds and silence. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... A choir or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. ... Musical composition is: an original piece of music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new piece of music // A musical composition A piece of music exists in the form of a written composition in musical notation or as a single acoustic event (a live performance...

Frequently an opening to a larger dramatic work such as an opera, earlier usage of the word also referred to collections of movements, known as suites. Later works, such as Beethoven's overture Leonora No 3 mark a transition between the concept of overture as introduction to a dramatic entertainment, and musical forms such as the symphonic poem, which are free-standing works in their own right. This does not cite its references or sources. ... The Teatro alla Scala in Milan. ... It has been suggested that Suite_de_Danses be merged into this article or section. ... 1820 portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler Beethoven redirects here. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Recreation. ... A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, in one movement, in which some extra-musical programme provides a narrative or illustrative element. ...

History

17th century

The notion of an overture was formulated during the 17th century. The toccata at the beginning of Monteverdi's Orfeo is a barbaric flourish of every procurable instrument, alternating with a melodious section entitled ritornello; and, in so far as this constitutes the first instrumental movement prefixed to an opera, it may be called an overture. As an art form the overture began to exist in the works of J-B Lully. He devised a scheme which, although he himself did not always adhere to it, constitutes the typical French overture up to the time of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Friderich Handel (whose works have made it classical). This French overture consists of a slow introduction in a marked "dotted rhythm" (i.e. exaggerated iambic, if the first chord is disregarded), followed by a lively movement in fugato style. The slow introduction was always repeated, and sometimes the quick movement concluded by returning to the slow tempo and material, and was also repeated (see Bach's French Overture in the Klavierübung). The operatic French overture was frequently followed by a series of dance tunes before the curtain rose. It thus became used as the prelude to a suite; and the Klavierübung French Overture of Johann Sebastian Bach is a case in point, the overture proper being the introduction to a suite of seven dances. For the same reason Bach's four orchestral suites are called overtures; and, again, the prelude to the fourth partita in the Klavierübung is an overture. (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Toccata (Italian for touched) is a piece of classical music for a keyboard instrument, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer. ... Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640, by Bernardo Strozzi. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Ritornello. ... The Teatro alla Scala in Milan. ... Jean-Baptiste Lully, originally Giovanni Battista Lulli (November 28, 1632–March 22, 1687), was an Italian-born French composer, who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. ... Johann Sebastian Bach (pronounced ) (21 March 1685 O.S. – 28 July 1750 N.S.) was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. ... George Frideric Handel, 1733 George Frideric Handel (or Georg Friedrich Händel in German) (February 23, 1685 – April 14, 1759) was a German Baroque composer who was a leading composer of concerti grossi, operas and oratorios. ... An iamb is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. ... For the use of the word in psychology see fugue state In music, a fugue is a type of piece written in counterpoint for several independent musical voices. ... The first two measures of Mozarts Sonata IX, which indicates the tempo as Andante grazioso and the metronome marking as = 120. Andante redirects here. ... A Prelude is something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows after it. ... It has been suggested that Suite_de_Danses be merged into this article or section. ... Johann Sebastian Bach (pronounced ) (21 March 1685 O.S. – 28 July 1750 N.S.) was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. ... For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). ...

Bach was able to use the French overture form for choruses, and even for the treatment of chorales. Thus the overture, properly so called, of his fourth orchestral suite became the first chorus of the church cantata "Unser Mund so voll Lachens"; the choruses of the cantatas "Preise Jerusalem den Herrn" and "Höchst erwünschtes Freudenfest" are in overture form; and, in the first of the two cantatas entitled "Nun komm der Heiden Heiland", Bach has ingeniously adapted the overture form to the treatment of a chorale. A refrain (from the Old French refraindre to repeat, likely from Vulgar Latin refringere) is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the chorus of a song. ... A chorale was originally a hymn of the Lutheran church sung by the entire congregation. ... A cantata (Italian, sung) is a vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement. ...

Sonata style

With the rise of dramatic music and the sonata style, the French overture became unsuitable for opera; and Gluck (whose remarks on the function of overtures in the preface to Alceste are historic) based himself on Italian models, of loose texture, which admit of a sweeping and massively contrasted technique. By the time of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's later works the overture in the sonata style had clearly differentiated itself from strictly symphonic music. It consists of a quick movement (with or without a slow introduction), in sonata form, loose in texture, without repeats, frequently without a development section, but sometimes substituting for it a melodious episode in slow time. Instances of this substitution are Mozart's symphony in G, which is an overture to an unknown opera, and his overtures to Die Entführung and to Lo Sposo deluso, in both of which cases the curtain rises at a point which throws a remarkable dramatic light upon the peculiar form. The overture to Figaro was at first intended to have a similar slow middle section, which, however, Mozart struck out as soon as he had begun it. In Beethoven's hands the overture style and form increased its distinction from that of the symphony, but it no longer remained inferior to it; and the final version of the overture to Leonora (that known as No. 3) is the most gigantic single orchestral movement ever based on the sonata style. Sonata (From Latin and Italian sonare, to sound), in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to cantata (Latin cantare, to sing), a piece sung. ... Christoph Willibald (von) Gluck (July 2, 1714 - November 15, 1787) was a German composer, one of the most important opera composers of the Classical music era, particularly remembered for Orfeo ed Euridice. ... Mozart redirects here. ... Sonata form is a musical form that has been used widely since the early Classical period. ... A symphony is an extended composition usually for orchestra and usually comprising four movements. ...

Modern opera

In modern opera the overture, Vorspiel, Einleitung, Introduction, or whatever else it may be called, is generally nothing more definite than that portion of the music which takes place before the curtain rises. Tannhäuser is the last case of high importance in which the overture (as originally written) is a really complete instrumental piece prefixed to an opera in tragic and continuous dramatic style. In lighter opera, where sectional forms are still possible, a separable overture is not out of place, though even Carmen is remarkable in the dramatic way in which its overture foreshadows the tragic end and leads directly to the rise of the curtain. Richard Wagner's Vorspiel to Lohengrin is a short self-contained movement founded on the music of the Grail. With all its wonderful instrumentation, romantic beauty and identity with subsequent music in the first and third acts, it does not represent a further departure from the formal classical overture than that shown fifty years earlier by Méhul's interesting overtures to Ariodant and Uthal, in the latter of which a voice is several times heard on the stage before the rise of the curtain. Poster from the 1875 premiere of Carmen Carmen is a French opera by Georges Bizet. ... Wilhelm Richard Wagner (Leipzig, May 22, 1813 – Venice, February 13, 1883) was an influential German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or music dramas as he later came to call them). ... Lohengrin is a romantic opera (or music drama) in three acts by Richard Wagner. ... Etienne Henri (or Nicolas) Méhul (June 24, 1763 - October 18, 1817), was a French composer. ...

The Vorspiel to Die Meistersinger, though very enjoyable by itself and needing only an additional tonic chord to bring it to an end, really loses incalculably in refinement by so ending in a concert room. In its proper position its otherwise disproportionate climax leads to the rise of the curtain and the engaging of the listener's mind in a crowd of dramatic and spectacular sensations amply adequate to account for that long introductory instrumental crescendo. The Vorspiel to Tristan has been very beautifully finished for concert use by Wagner himself, and the considerable length and subtlety of the added page shows how little calculated for independent existence the original Vorspiel was. Lastly, the Parsifal Vorspiel is a composition which, though finished for concert use by Wagner in a few extra bars, asserts itself with the utmost lucidity and force as a prelude to some vast design. The orchestral preludes to the four dramas of the Ring owe their whole meaning to their being mere preparations for the rise of the curtain; and these works can no more be said to have overtures than Verdi's Falstaff and Strauss's Salome, in which the curtain rises at the first note of the music. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Master Singers of Nuremberg) is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. ... Falstaff is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeares play The Merry Wives of Windsor. ... This article is about the German composer of tone-poems and operas. ... Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. ...

Broadway musicals

Contemporary Overtures accompanying Broadway Musicals usually contain segments from the more popular songs in the musical. The overture usually is played before the musical starts. However, in the recent revival of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, the overture appears after the opening chorus of "Another Op'ning, another show", with the chorus remaining on stage. (In the original 1948 production, and all other productions of the show up to 1999, the overture to the show appeared in its usual place - before the first song.) The Fantasticks was the longest-running musical in history. ... Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter from Indiana. ... Kiss Me, Kate is a stage musical by Samuel and Bella Spewack (book) and Cole Porter (music and lyrics) that ran for 1,077 performances and was first performed in New York on December 30, 1948. ...

and it smell funny

The Overture and the Symphonic Poem

The other form of overture is intended as an individual concert piece (see also entry on: symphonic poem) and is independent of any libretto, although they are not termed as such due to the composer's own titling and evaluation of the piece and not due to its musical form and nature. A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, in one movement, in which some extra-musical programme provides a narrative or illustrative element. ... A libretto is the complete body of words used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. ...

For example, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture is not classified as a symphonic poem by the composer and the piece is known as a concert overture. His equally well-known Romeo and Juliet is also labelled as a 'fantasy-overture'. Earlier during the development of music of the Romantic era, Felix Mendelssohn wrote his Fingal's Cave (alternatively known as the 'Hebrides Overture') and the Meerestille und Glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage) Overture whereas Hector Berlioz also composed his Roman Carnival Overture without alluding their pieces to any libretto. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский, sometimes transliterated as Piotr, Anglicised as Peter Ilich), (May 7, 1840 – November 6, 1893 (N.S.); April 25, 1840 – October... The 1812 overture complete with cannon fire was performed at the 2005 Classical Spectacular. ... Romeo and Juliet is a musical work by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. ... Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century Western Europe. ... Felix Mendelssohn at the age of 30 Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and known generally as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) was a German composer and conductor of the early Romantic period. ... Hector Louis Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer best known for the Symphonie fantastique, first performed in 1830, and for his Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem) of 1837, with its tremendous resources that include four antiphonal brass choirs. ... Roman Carnival Overture Op. ...

Further, in the age when the symphonic poem has already been developed, Johannes Brahms wrote his Academic Festival Overture op.80 as well as his Tragic Overture op.81 with the latter piece, having a wide range of emotions encapsulated, can also be taken for a symphonic poem but are not titled as such by the composer. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Academic Festival Overture, Op. ... The Tragic Overture, op. ...

Composers like Robert Schumann also wrote overtures based on literature written by Friedrich Schiller, Shakespeare and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe such as the Overtures to 'Die Braut von Messina', 'Julius Caesar' and 'Hermann und Dorothea'. Although these types of overtures derive its musical inspiration from these works, Schumann did not write music for the entire work as he would for an opera and would fall under this category as discussed above. Both Schumann and Tchaikovsky would, in fact, incorporate bits of the French national anthem, La Marseillaise into their overtures 'Hermann und Dorothea' and 'Overture 1812' respectively which indicate the independent nature of this type of overture. Robert Schumann (June 8, 1810 – July 29, 1856) was a German composer and pianist. ... Friedrich Schiller Schiller redirects here. ... Shakespeare redirects here. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. ... A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that is evoking and eulogizing the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nations government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people. ... La Marseillaise (IPA: ; in English The Song of Marseille) is the national anthem of France. ...

Trivia

Musical overtures have also appeared in motion pictures, particularly early and science fiction movies. In the fashion of modern opera, these overtures appear before the opening credits and are accompanied by a black screen or occasionally a starfield. Notable examples include King Kong (1933 film), 2001: A Space Odyssey, Space Battleship Yamato (which had the distinction of a vocal overture instead of instrumental), Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Disney's The Black Hole. In Kenneth Branagh's film Dead Again, the overture accompanies a montage of newspaper articles recounting the murder of Emma Thompson's character. Many people know the William Tell Overture not from Rossini's opera, but from the broadcasts of the Lone Ranger. The 1961 film Judgment at Nuremberg included an overture nearly four minutes long. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... This is about the original movie and novel. ... Space Battleship Yamato ) is a Japanese science fiction anime series created by Leiji Matsumoto, and the name of its eponymous space craft. ... Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Paramount Pictures, 1979; see also 1979 in film) is the first feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series and is released on Friday, December 7. ... The Walt Disney Company (more commonly known as Disney; NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. ... Maximillian from The Black Hole The Black Hole is a 1979 science fiction movie directed for Walt Disney Productions by Gary Nelson. ... Kenneth Charles Branagh (born December 10, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning Northern Irish-born British actor and film director. ... Promotional poster for Dead Again Dead Again is a 1991 thriller film directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Branagh and his then-wife Emma Thompson. ... Thompson in the 1989 film The Tall Guy Emma Thompson (born April 15, 1959) is a two-time Academy Award and BAFTA-winning English actress, comedienne, and screenwriter. ... The overture to the opera William Tell, especially its high-energy finale, is a very familiar work composed by Gioacchino Rossini. ... Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 — November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... The Lone Ranger was an early, long-running radio and television show based on characters created by George W. Trendle of Detroit, Michigan and developed by writer Fran Stryker of Buffalo, New York. ... Maximilian Schell and Richard Widmark in Judgment at Nuremberg Judgment at Nuremberg is a 1961 film which gives a fictionalized account of the post-World War II Nuremberg Trials. ...

Kingdom of Heaven has an overture in its Director's Cut. The film Stargate also has an overture during the opening credits. Kingdom of Heaven is a film released on May 6, 2005, written by William Monahan, and directed and produced by Ridley Scott. ... An activated Stargate, the central object of the fictional Stargate universe, here depicted in the SG-1 television series. ...

Lawrence of Arabia starring Peter O'Toole and Sir Alec Guiness also has an overture.

References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...