Your favourite overtures?

I was grooving along the other Saturday to the accompaniment of Beethoven's “Egmont†overture, especially its marvellous finish after the execution of Egmont, when, in typical Beethovian style, it stands up on its hind legs and ROARS, symbolising that freedom and truth continue, even though the individual perish. It made me think of all those marvellous overtures that are in some ways the best introductions of all to classical music, because nowhere else in music is bright, infectious music so concentrated. In some cases, a composer is only remembered by his overtures.

This arose out of the overture's object, to commence a drama and to typify it in some way. In many cases, it gives a précis of the plot – in some cases, too much. Beethoven abandoned the Overture to “Leonora†No.3, because it gave the game of the opera away.

Originally, overtures were just the bit at the beginning. They have always been used in operas. Monteverdi, writer of the world's first true operas, wrote them – the famous overture to “Orfeo†(the first opera to cover the Greek story of Orpheus and Eurydice) was later used for the opening chorus in the famous 1610 Vespers. Overtures became especially formalised in France, and the “overture in the French style†became a standard part of many baroque pieces, even non-theatrical ones. Handel used them quite a lot, e.g., “Messiah†and the Water Music.

With the rise of a paying public for music, they became more substantial, designed as a warning signal to the patrons boozing at the bar that the show was about to start, turning into major pieces of music in their own right. And finally, they became just that – for example, Tchaikovsky's “Romeo and Juliet†is an overture without a theatre piece. It is really more a Liszt-style tone poem, depicting the actions of Shakespeare's drama (in the wrong order!).

So, what are your favourite overtures? Here are some of mine.

BEETHOVEN To me, the greatest of all overture writers – they are grand, eloquent, rugged things with a carved-from-solid feeling. To me, Leonora No.3 is the greatest overture of all, especially the piledriver finale. Why “No.3â€Â? Beethoven only ever wrote one opera, to be called “Leonoraâ€Â, after its heroine. He wrote an overture, didn't like it, wrote another, didn't like that either, wrote a third, decided that gave away the whole plot and scrapped that too. Finally he changed the name of the opera to “Fidelio†and wrote an entirely different overture! Other Beethoven greats, written for various dramas by other people include “Egmontâ€Â, “Coriolan†and “Die Weihe des Hauses†(Consecration of the house).

ROSSINI There isn't a person on the planet who doesn't know “Guillaume Tellâ€Â. Yet the famous galop, which everyone knows as Bill Tell, was a later addition – the thing originally ended with the trilling Alpine melody that abruptly gives way to the famous fanfare. Rossini's operas are splendid, bouncy, bright –he put great efforts into them, so much so that they often weren't ready in time for the opera performance (Bill Tell got its overture three weeks after the opera opened). My personal favourite Rossini overture is “Il Barbiere de Siviglia†(The Barber of Seville), closely followed by “Semiramideâ€Â. Other great ones are “La Gazza Ladra†(The thieving magpie), “La Scala di Seta†(The silken ladder) and the marvellous bow-tapping “Il Signor Bruschinoâ€Â.

VON SUPPÉ Franz von Suppé's operettas have essentially ceased to exist, and only the overtures survive. The most famous are “Dichter und Bauer†(poet and peasant) and “Leichter Kavallerie†(Light cavalry), the latter being particularly well known (dada-dum dada-dum, dada-dum dada-dum, dada-dum dada-da-da-da-daaaaa-dah). There are others that are not so well known, such as “Die schöne Galathea†(beautiful Galathea). And while we're on composers known only by their overtures, nobody remembers a thing about Resnicek, except the one marvellous overture “Donna Dianaâ€Â. And does anyone remember Otto Nicholai for anything apart from the overture to “Die lustige Weibe von Windsor†(The Merry Wives of Windsor – nothing to do with the present incumbents, I believe)?

OFFENBACH Jacques Offenbach wrote operettas, which made fun of serious operas and classical themes. His “Orphée aux enfers†(Orpheus in the underworld, but one critic insisted on translating it as “To hell with Orpheus!â€Â) is a sometimes ruthless burlesquing of Gluck's “Orpheus and Eurydiceâ€Â. The famous overture, with its famous final galop, which everyone knows as THE Can-Can, actually didn't have the can-can originally – it was tacked on later. “La belle Hélèneâ€Â, a send-up of the story of Helen of Troy, also has a great overture.

STRAUSS Johann Jr. “The Waltz King†later produced highly successful operettas, which still get played today. The most famous is “Die Fledermaus†(the bat), which has a great overture, made up from the best melodies of the operetta. Another great overture is that of “Der Zigeunerbaron†(the gipsy baron).

BRAHMS never wrote an opera in his life, but he wrote two “overturesâ€Â, the Academic Festival Overture (full of student songs, including the traditional Gaudeamus igitur), and the Tragic Overture., both great pieces.

TCHAIKOVSKY When most people think of the words “Tchaikovsky†and “overtureâ€Â, they usually insert the number “1812†in between. This outrageously over-the-top bit of patriotism depicting the defeat of Napoleon at Moscow, plays fast and loose with the historical events, putting the Battle of Borodino (the bit with the cannons) after the retreat from Moscow. It was written “without much love†for an open-air performance in front of the Kremlin, in what is now Red Square. The cannons would have been there and the Kremlin bells would have been rung. I don't think it was ever performed in this way, but it has always been a crowd pleaser. Most versions dispense with the choir that sings the hymn “God preserve Thy people†at the start, having it played by the orchestra instead.

In my opinion, 1812 isn't a patch musically on “Romeo & Julietâ€Â. “Francesca da Rimini†is also excellent.

Speaking of Tchaikovsky, many of the Russian composers wrote great, tuneful overtures – Glinka's “Ruslan & Ludmilla†and Borodin's “Prince Igor†are two examples.

WAGNER GrahamN would never forgive me if I omitted his idol! Dickie wrote some very imposing overtures for his operas. My favourite is the magnificent “Die Meistersinger von Nürnbergâ€Â, but the rest are also great, for example “Rienziâ€Â, “Tannhauser†and “Der fliegende Hollander†(The flying Dutchman).

So, what have I left out?

 

Tones, in the immortal words of Arnie I'll be back...

 

Right then, I love overtures. There's nothing like a good one to get your listening going. So what has Tones missed

Can't see anything by Mozart, so Figaro, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and Seraglio don't even get a look in.

Mendehlsson's Fingals Cave overture is well worth a listen, I really like this.

Then we start to get really interesting, because you've missed one of my favourite composers out Berlioz, particularly the Carnival overture. There are quite a few more all well worth seeking out like Corasaire, Les Francs Juges and the Trojans

Then Verdi his best is Forces of Destiny, which I believe is a concert overture, it describes the battle between two ships I think, although I stand to be corrected.

Wagner my personal favourite overture by him is Tannhauser, when the trombones come in with that tune it makes the hairs on my neck stand up, but you mustn't forget the Flying Dutchman.

After this the overture kind of falls into disrepute, even Wagner started writing lots of Preludes like the ones to Tristan and Isolde and Lohengrin.The music becoming more integral to the plot of the opera I guess what with leitmotiv and all that but there are a couple of fantastic Russian ones to mention

There's one by Shostokovitch the festival overture which is absolutely awesome, in fact my mate blew a pair of speakers up listening to that when he was a student, and Kolas Breugnon by Kabalevsky which is a 100mph romp, I love it.

Don't know if it's allowed but there is one piece of British music I'd include and that is Walton's Spitfire Prelude and Fugue. That could well be my fantasy concert starter.

 

Thanks, Your Lordship - curiously, I have lots of Mozart but somehow no overtures that I can think of, therefore no comment on Wolfie. I' have no doubt that they're up to usual Wolfie standard (you know, all that elegance that Graham hates so much!). I have very litle Berlioz. So, you're doing a good job of filling in my gaps! (Could you manage the one between my ears while you're at it?).

 

Well done Tones for including the greatest compser ever (LvB) - and his great admirer (Dickie). You have though missed Wagner's best overtures - because in these cases he actually called them preludes: i.e. Lohengrin (Act 1 - not the overplayed and overbombastic Act III), Parsifal and Tristan. Their only problem in concert performance is the fact that they are so well integrated into the ensuing opera that they do sound rather unfinished by themselves: so the Tristan Prelude really needs its siamese twin - the Libestod - and the wonderful opening of Rheingold makes no sense whatsoever as a stand-alone piece. Actually, thinking about that, that probably helps them work well in a concert environment as they raise your expectations for the ensuing piece (i.e. if the appetiser is so wonderful, the main course must be something pretty special ).

You also missed one of the best overtures ever composed though - Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream". Absolute genius from an 18-year old. The Berlioz "Roman Carnival" is also well worth getting to know - a concert overture extracted from his rather unsuccessful opera "Benvenuto Cellini".

By the time my principal tastes kick in though, the role of the concert overture was rather replaced by the symphonic poem - although Dvorak called his first three symphonic poems overtures (From Natures Realm, Carnival and Othello). Shock, horror - I also think "Romeo and Juliet" is a wonderful piece, despite being by Piotr Ilyich.

 

I also forgot Weber's Der Freischutz. It seems to be played an awful lot but has never held any attraction for me.

Suppose we ought to mention the two English cow pat specials Cockaigne by Elgar, Vaughan Williams the Wasps. I really hate these two

 

Question - given that by mid romantic period we start having overtures w/o theatrical pieces attached.... are we allowed to start including symphonic poems or tone poems into this?

Anyway, sticking to pieces of music that are labelled overtures:
Brahms - Tragic overture.
Tchaikovsky - Hamlet (better IMO that R & J or Francesca)
Beethoven - Egmont or Corialan
Wagner - Tannhauser, Meistersingers, Prelude to act III of Siegfried is my favourite bit of the Ring. Preludes to act I & II of Valkyrie run it close.

Once we get into C.20th things get more difficult, most things labelled overtures are a bit frivolous for me. But Tone poems like Elgars 'In the South' or Strauss's 'Don Juan' feel like overtures to me.

 

Ah - m'lud got in there first with several of my favourites. But Tones, how can you not be bowled over by the "Marriage of Figaro" overture - even I like that one!

Must admit I'm not overimpressed by "Cockaigne", but I'm not having your dissing "the Wasps". :gary:

Then there's Carl Nielsen: the "Maskerade" overture, and the less famous but wonderfully descriptive "Helios". I finally got to hear Sibelius' Karelia overture Op 10 the other day while at Titian's. I now know why it's not played nearly as much as it's more famous brother the Karelia Suite Op 11 - the only interesting bit in Op 10 was the big intermezzo tune from Op 11.

 

I'm afraid very little of the English 'pastorals' do much for me. A few bits of VW, and Waltons big set pieces, Elgar I would consign to room 101 given a chance. So I'll stand by my Wasps statement :moony:

 

Its a shame Brahms didn't do more overtures.... I really think the Tragic is one of the very best, obviously owes a lot to Egmont and Corialan.

But its not a shame he didn't do theatrical music.... having once (hopefully never again ) listened to his oratorio 'Rinaldo' I am quite glad he never did an opera. Its about the only thing by Brahms that definitely isn't a masterpiece.

While we're here, lets hear if for Schumann's Manfred Overture.

 

How could I have possibly forgotten Bernstein's "Candide" overture, and Barber's "School for Scandal" too. And coming even more up to date, I was at a concert last year where they performed Richard Rodney Bennett's overture to "Murder on the Orient Express". Although this may be sneered at as "just film music", listening to it properly for the first time showed what a wonderfully constructed piece it is - it's quite magical the way the main theme creeps in snippet by snippet....very Sibelian.

And just for m'lud - Arnold Bax's Tintagel (OK it's a tone poem and not an overture) but its a truly wonderful piece of music anyway you look at it.

 

Actually Graham I'm now kicking myself for forgetting those two. I rather like Bax, he had grasped the knack of developing material over the long stretch, not like Walton who music I often find static. Mind you maybe Bax is a viola players thing!

 

The Who's Overture for Tommy is excellent and is classical music by any standard.