The idea of an instrumental opening toopera existed during the 17th century.Peri'sEuridice opens with a brief instrumentalritornello, andMonteverdi'sL'Orfeo (1607) opens with atoccata, in this case afanfare for mutedtrumpets. More important was the prologue, consisting of sung dialogue betweenallegorical characters which introduced the overarching themes of the stories depicted.[3]
As amusical form, the French overture first appears in the court ballet and operatic overtures ofJean-Baptiste Lully,[4] which he elaborated from a similar, two-section form calledouverture, found in the Frenchballets de cour as early as 1640.[1] This French overture consists of a slow introduction in a marked "dotted rhythm" (i.e., exaggeratediambic, if the first chord is disregarded), followed by a lively movement infugato style. The overture is frequently followed by a series of dance tunes before the curtain rises,[5] and often returns following the Prologue to introduce the action proper. This ouverture style was also used in English opera, most notablyHenry Purcell'sDido and Æneas. Its distinctive rhythmic profile and function thus led to the French overture style found in the works of late Baroque composers such asJohann Sebastian Bach,Georg Friedrich Händel, andGeorg Philipp Telemann. The style is most often used inpreludes tosuites, and can be found in non-staged vocal works such ascantatas, for example in the opening chorus ofBach's cantataNun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61.Handel also uses the French overture form in some of his Italian operas, such asGiulio Cesare.[6]
In Italy, a distinct form called "overture" arose in the 1680s, became established particularly through the operas ofAlessandro Scarlatti, and spread throughout Europe, supplanting the French form as the standard operatic overture by the mid-18th century.[7] Its stereotypical form is in three generallyhomophonicmovements: fast–slow–fast. The opening movement is normally in duple metre and a major key; the slow movement in earlier examples is usually quite short, and sometimes in a contrasting key; the concluding movement is dancelike, most often with rhythms of thegigue orminuet, and returns 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.[7] 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 thesymphony.[8]
Prior to the 18th century, the symphony and the overture were almost interchangeable, with overtures being extracted from operas to serve as stand-alone instrumental works, and symphonies being tagged to the front of operas as overtures.[9] With the reform ofopera seria, the overture began to distinguish itself from the symphony, and composers began to link the content of overtures to their operas dramatically and emotionally. Elements from the opera are foreshadowed in the overture, following the reform ideology that the music and every other element on stages serves to enhance the plot. One such overture was that ofLa Magnifique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry, in which several of the arias are quoted.[10] This "medley form" persists in the overtures to many works ofmusical theatre written in the 20th and 21st centuries.
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'sVorspiel toLohengrin is a short self-contained movement founded on the music of the Grail.[5]
In Italian opera after about 1800, the "overture" became known as thesinfonia.[11] Fisher also notes the termSinfonia avanti l'opera (literally, the "symphony before the opera") was "an early term for a sinfonia used to begin an opera, that is, as an overture as opposed to one serving to begin a later section of the work".[11]
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 theRomantic 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 operaRübezahl of 1805), andJubel-Ouvertüre ('Jubilee Overture', 1818, incorporatingGod Save the King at its climax).
In the age when the symphonic poem had already become popular, Brahms wrote hisAcademic Festival Overture, Op. 80, as well as hisTragic Overture, Op. 81. An example clearly influenced by the symphonic poem is Tchaikovsky's1812 Overture. His equally well-knownRomeo and Juliet is also labelled a 'fantasy-overture'.
In European music after 1900, an example of an overture displaying a connection with the traditional form isDmitri Shostakovich'sFestive Overture, Op. 96 (1954), which is in two linked sections, "Allegretto" and "Presto" (Temperley 2001).Malcolm Arnold'sA 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, additionalbrass instruments, andobbligato parts for fourrifles, threeHoovervacuum cleaners (two uprights in B♭, one horizontal with detachable sucker in C), and an electricfloor polisher in E♭; it is dedicated "toPresident Hoover".[12]
Blom, Eric. 1954. "Overture".Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, fifth edition, edited by Eric Blom. London: Macmillan Publishers; Toronto, Canada: Macmillan Publishers.
Burrows, Donald. 2012.Handel, second edition. Master Musicians Series. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Charlton, David and M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet. n.d. "Grétry, André-Ernest-Modeste."Grove Music Online.Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed March 29, 2016,http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/43361.
Fisher, Stephen C. 2001. "Italian Overture."The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited byStanley Sadie andJohn Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
Larue, Jan. 2001. "Sinfonia 2: After 1700".The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited byStanley Sadie andJohn Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
Taruskin, Richard. n.d. Chapter 10: "Instrumental Music Lifts Off." In hisMusic In The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries (Oxford History of Western Music). New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
Temperley, Nicholas. 2001. "Overture".The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited byStanley Sadie andJohn 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.
