Overture

Overture (Fr. ouverture) was originally an instrumental prelude to an opera, oratorio, &c. It first received definite form from the composer Lully (q.v.), whose pattern was followed by most succeeding writers, including Handel, up to the time of Gluck and Mozart. The somewhat different Italian form, styled Sinfonia, was developed by Scarlatti. Modern overtures almost defy classification. Two leading styles may be indicated—the medley form, in which various melodies from the succeeding opera are interwoven, and the finest examples of which are by Weber and Wagner; and the independent concert overture, usually in the form of a first movement of a sonata, without repeat, of which Mendelssohn's are the type. Mozart's Magie Flute overture is a triumph of constructive skill, combining the forms of sonata and fugue. Beethoven's Leonora No. 3 is considered the greatest of all; while foreshadowing the events and music of the opera, it has an individual form of its own, as has also his Egmont overture. Operas—e.g. Wagner's—now usually commence with a short Introduction or Prelude, leading without break into the first scene.