ouvertures

An overture is an orchestral work that serves as an introduction to a larger stage or vocal work, most commonly an opera, ballet, or suite of incidental music. The plural ouvertures refers to multiple such pieces, or to the French plural term used in music history. In practice, an overture may function as a prologue to the drama or as an independent concert piece performed before the main work.

The form originated in the 17th-century French operatic tradition, where the overture—often called the French overture—introduced the mood and character of the forthcoming drama. It typically features a two-part structure: a slow, dignified opening in a dotted rhythm, followed by a faster, more energetic section that can resemble a fugue. From the Baroque era, composers across Europe adopted and adapted the concept, leading to two main strands: the opera or stage overture, and the concert overture, a self-contained one-movement piece intended for concert performance.

In the repertoire, overtures to operas are tied to the works they introduce, while concert overtures stand alone as programs or moods. Notable examples include Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture, Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture, and Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy. The term is also used for shorter introductory pieces within a larger orchestral program. Today, ouvertures remain a common vehicle for composers to present themes, set dramatic tones, and showcase orchestral color in a compact, stand-alone form.