overture

noun. an opening or initiating move toward negotiations, a new relationship, an agreement, etc.; a formal or informal proposal or offer: overtures of peace; a shy man who rarely made overtures of friendship. Music. an orchestral composition forming the prelude or introduction to an opera, oratorio, etc.

: an opening offer : proposal. the enemy made overtures for peace. 2. a. : a musical composition played by the orchestra as the introduction to an opera or musical play.

The overtures served to establish the musical themes that would evolve throughout the opera, and as operetta and eventually musical comedy evolved, most musical theatre overtures became medleys of the key musical numbers that the audience will hear during the course of the show.

From the old French une ouverture, meaning an opening, the film overture frequently signifies an introduction to something more substantial, but it can also mean an approach that establishes a relationship.

The French word for “to open” is ouvrir. From that comes the word “overture,” aptly named, because an overture does indeed start things off – for an opera, a play, a suite of dances played by an orchestra or piano. Most of us think of it as the music heard before the curtain goes up on an opera performance.

Examples of such works include Felix Mendelssohn's Hebrides overture and Elliott Carter's much later Holiday overture. Concert overtures were also written for performance on special occasions, e.g., Johannes Brahms's Academic Festival Overture.

Briefly, the symphony is an orchestral work in 3 or 4 movements, while the overture is one in a single movement. They have quite different origins. The overtures began from approximately 1600 as the instrumental opening of an opera or oratorio, its character in keeping with the drama to follow.

1 (noun) in the sense of introduction. Synonyms. introduction. opening. prelude.

When they were first devised, overtures were a critical piece of a show's marketing. In the days where showtunes and popular music were synonymous, the melodies you left the theatre humming were the songs you would buy at the music shop the next day.

An overture is intended to do the same thing as a fanfare, introduce the movie, play, opera, etc. The first main difference between the two is the length, an overture is longer then a fanfare. Three distinct purposes of overtures have become popular. First and most common is the Melody Overture.

In summary, an overture is an introduction to a piece of music; and an overture demonstrates the main themes that will be explored in the piece of music. Preludes contain: Short introduction of further musical work in an opera or oratorio.

The government has made a significant peace overture by opening the door to negotiation. He was making (romantic/sexual) overtures to her during dinner.