Overture

For other uses, see Overture (disambiguation).

Overture (French ouverture; German Ouvertüre, Vorspiel; Italian overtura; i.e. opening) in music is the term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn began to use the term to refer to independent, self-existing instrumental, programmatic works that presaged genres such as the symphonic poem. These were at first no doubt intended to be played at the head of a programme.

History

17th century

The idea of an instrumental opening to opera existed during the 17th century. Peri's Euridice opens with a brief instrumental ritornello, and Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607) opens with a toccata, in this case a fanfare for muted trumpets. More important, however, was the prologue, which comprised sung dialogue between allegorical characters which introduced the overarching themes of the stories depicted.

French overture

As a musical form, however, the French overture first appears in the court ballet and operatic overtures of Jean-Baptiste Lully, which he elaborated from a similar, two-section form called Ouverture, found in the French ballets de cour as early as 1640. 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 overture was frequently followed by a series of dance tunes before the curtain rose, and would often return following the Prologue to introduce the action proper. This ouverture style was also used in English opera, most notably in Henry Purcell's Dido and Æneas. Its distinctive rhythmic profile and function thus led to the French overture style as found in the works of late Baroque composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach. The style is most often used in preludes to suites, and can be found in non-staged vocal works such as cantatas, for example in the opening chorus of Bach's cantata Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61. Handel also uses the French overture form in some of his Italian operas such as Giulio Cesare.

Italian overture

In Italy, a distinct form called "overture" arose in the 1680s, and became established particularly through the operas of Alessandro Scarlatti, and spread throughout Europe, supplanting the French form as the standard operatic overture by the mid-18th century. Its usual form is in three generally homophonic movements: fast–slow–fast. The opening movement was normally in duple metre and in a major key; the slow movement in earlier examples was usually quite short, and could be in a contrasting key; the concluding movement was dance-like, most often with rhythms of the gigue or minuet, and returned to the key of the opening section. As the form evolved, the first movement often incorporated fanfare-like elements and took on the pattern of so-called "sonatina form" (sonata form without a development section), and the slow section became more extended and lyrical. Italian overtures were often detached from their operas and played as independent concert pieces. In this context, they became important in the early history of the symphony.

19th-century opera

In 19th-century 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. Richard Wagner's Vorspiel to Lohengrin is a short self-contained movement founded on the music of the Grail.

Concert overture

Early 19th century

Although by the end of the eighteenth century opera overtures were already beginning to be performed as separate items in the concert hall, the concert overture, intended specifically as an individual concert piece without reference to stage performance and generally based on some literary theme, began to appear early in the Romantic era. Carl Maria von Weber wrote two concert overtures, Der Beherrscher der Geister ('The Ruler of the Spirits') (1811, a revision of the overture to his unfinished opera Rübezahl of 1805, and Jubel-Ouvertüre ('Jubilee-Overture', 1818, incorporating God Save the King at its climax). However the overture A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826) by Felix Mendelssohn is generally regarded as the first concert overture (Temperley 2001). Mendelssohn's other contributions to this genre include his Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage overture (1828), his Fingal's Cave Overture also known as the Hebrides Overture, (1830) and the overtures Die schöne Melusine ('The fair Melusine', 1834) and Ruy Blas (1839). Other notable early concert overtures were written by Hector Berlioz (e.g., Les Francs juges (1826), and Le Corsaire (1828)).

Robert Schumann wrote overtures based on literature written by Friedrich Schiller, William Shakespeare and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe such as the overtures to The Bride of Messina, Julius Caesar, and Hermann und Dorothea. Although these overtures derive their musical inspiration from literary works, Schumann neither composed music for the entire work as he would for an opera nor necessarily intended a spoken performance to immediately follow. Both Schumann and Tchaikovsky would, in fact, incorporate bits of the French national anthem, La Marseillaise into their overtures Hermann und Dorothea and 1812 respectively, which indicates the independent nature of this type of overture.^{citation needed}

Later 19th century

In the 1850s the concert overture began to be supplanted by the symphonic poem, a form devised by Franz Liszt in several works that began as dramatic overtures. The distinction between the two genres was the freedom to mould the musical form according to external programmatic requirements (Temperley 2001). The symphonic poem became the preferred form for the more "progressive" composers, such as César Franck, Richard Strauss, Alexander Scriabin, and Arnold Schoenberg, while more conservative composers like Anton Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky, Johannes Brahms, and Arthur Sullivan remained faithful to the overture.

In the age when the symphonic poem had already become popular, Brahms wrote his Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80, as well as his Tragic Overture, Op. 81. An example clearly influenced by the symphonic poem is Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. His equally well-known Romeo and Juliet is also labelled a 'fantasy-overture'.

20th century

In European music after 1900 the traditional overture was scarcely relevant any longer, though the name continued in use as one of a number of alternatives for describing an orchestral piece, often written for a festive occasion, in one movement of moderate length. A notable late exception displaying a connection with the traditional form is Dmitri Shostakovich's Festive Overture, Op. 96 (1954), which is in two linked sections, "Allegretto" and "Presto" (Temperely 2001). Malcolm Arnold's A Grand, Grand Overture, Op. 57 (1956), is a 20th-century parody of the late 19th century concert overture, scored for an enormous orchestra with organ, additional brass instruments, and obbligato parts for four rifles, three Hoover vacuum cleaners (two uprights in B♭, one horizontal with detachable sucker in C), and an electric floor polisher in E♭; it is dedicated "to President Hoover".

Film

In motion pictures, an overture is a piece of music setting the mood for the film before the opening credits start. For a comprehensive list, see the list of films with overtures.

List of some common overtures

Some well-known or commonly played Overtures:

• Arensky: A Dream on the Volga
• Arnold:
  • Beckus the Dandipratt
  • Peterloo
  • Tam O'Shanter
• Auber: Fra Diavolo
• Barber: Overture to The School for Scandal
• Bax: Overture to a Picaresque Comedy
• Beethoven:
  • Leonora Nr 1
  • Leonora Nr 2
  • Leonora Nr 3
  • Fidelio
  • Coriolanus
  • Egmont
  • Ruins of Athens
• Berlioz:
  • The Corsair
  • Les Francs-Juges
  • Waverley
  • Rob Roy
  • King Lear
  • Benvenuto Cellini
  • Carnaval Roman
• Bernstein: Candide
• Bizet: Carmen
• Borodin: Prince Igor
• Brahms:
  • Academic Festival Overture
  • Tragic Overture
• Copland: An Outdoor Overture
• Dvořák: Carnival Overture
• Elgar:
  • Alassio: In the South
  • Cockaigne
  • Froissart
• Gershwin: Cuban Overture
• Glinka: Ruslan and Ludmilla
• Gomes: Il Guarany
• Josef Haydn: Armida
• Hérold: Zampa
• John Ireland:
  • A London Overture
  • Satyricon Overture
• Lalo: Le roi d'Ys
• Léhar: The Merry Widow
• MacCunn: The Land of the Mountain and the Flood
• Mendelssohn:
  • Hebrides (or Fingal's Cave)
  • Calm Sea and a Prosperous Voyage
  • Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Miaskovsky:
  • Pathetic Overture
  • Salutation Overture
• Mozart:
  • Marriage of Figaro
  • La clemenza di Tito
  • Cosi fan tutte
  • Don Giovanni
  • Idomeneo
  • The Abduction from the Seraglio
  • Magic flute
• Nicolai: The Merry Wives of Windsor
• Nielsen:
  • Maskarade
  • Helios
• Offenbach:
  • Orpheus in the Underworld
• Prokofiev: Overture on Hebrew Themes
• Rezniceck: Donna Diana
• Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture
• Rossini:
  • La cambiale di matrimonio
  • Tancredi
  • Il Signor Bruschino
  • The Italian Girl in Algiers
  • Il Turco in Italia
  • The Silken Ladder
  • The Thieving Magpie
  • La Cenerentola
  • Semiramide
  • Il Viaggio a Reims
  • The Barber of Seville
  • William Tell
• Schubert:
  • Overture in Italian Style, D560
  • Rosamunde
• Schumann:
  • Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Op 52
  • Manfred
  • Genoveva
  • Faust
• Shostakovich: Festive Overture
• Smetana: The Bartered Bride
• Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus
• Sibelius: Overture to the Tempest
• Sullivan:
  • Mikado
  • Gondoliers
  • The Yeoman of the Guard
• Suppé
  • Light Cavalry Overture
  • The Beautiful Galatea
  • Poet and Peasant
• Tchaikovsky:
  • Festival Overture "1812"
  • Hamlet [Overture-Fantasy]
  • Romeo and Juliet [Overture-Fantasy]
  • The Nutcracker Overture
• Verdi: La forza del destino
• Wagner:
  • Faust Overture
  • Polonia
  • Rienzi
  • Flying Dutchman
  • Tannhäuser
• Walton
  • Johannesburg Festival Overture
  • Scapino
  • Portsmouth Point
• Weber:
  • Euryanthe
  • Der Freischütz
  • Invitation to the Dance

References

• Anon. 1957. "Music: Op. I for Vacuum Cleaners" Time (April 22).
• Blom, Eric (ed.), 1954. Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol. VI (N-Q), fifth edition, Toronto, Canada. Macmillan Publishers.
• Burton-Page, Piers. [n.d.] "Malcolm Arnold: A Grand, Grand Overture, Programme Note". Chester-Novello publisher’s website. (Accessed 6 November 2009)
• Fisher, Stephen C. 2001. "Italian Overture." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
• Larue, Jan. 2001. "Sinfonia 2: After 1700". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
• Maycock, Robert. 2009. "What's On/Programme Notes, Malcolm Arnold (1921–2006), A Grand, Grand Overture, Op. 57 (1956)" BBC Proms programme, Prom 76: Last Night of the Proms (Saturday 12 September).
• Temperley, Nicholas. 2001. "Overture". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
• Waterman, George Gow, and James R. Anthony. 2001. "French Overture". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.