Introduction
This program did not air as scheduled. We are performing a major overhaul of our system, and until that is completed, the station will be off the air.
When the program finally airs, it is going to consist of Overtures.
The modern meaning of the word is, of course, something that precedes something else, for instance the opening movement of an Opera, or Broadway show, or whatever. This is how things started off; in the time of King Louis the 14th of France, it was a ceremonial promenade during which the King would make his entrance, after which there would be an evening of Dance. Of course, if new music had been written for the occasion, the Overture would be the opening movement of the set of dances. According to Wikipedia, the French word Ouverture literally means opening.
Later on, during the time of Beethoven and after, an Overture began to be a single-movement work that had some literary foundation: a piece about a person, or a scene, or a story, or some such inspiration from outside the realm of pure music.
But first, we start with some famous overtures from Bach, Handel and Mozart.
Handel: Overture to The Watermusic
This is the overture to Handel’s famous Watermusic. I’m taking the position that famous pieces of music are famous for a reason, so I’m trying to squeeze in as many well-known classics as I can. Quite sincerely, if you start recognizing tunes from the classical repertoire as a result of listening to this program, I shall think I have succeeded.
Bach: Overture to the Orchestral Suite in C major
Bach wrote four grand suites for orchestra, to be played when he was a court musician at Weimar. Weimar is a famous German town, where Liszt was a composer, as well as Wagner, and from where the Weimeraner breed of dog originates. Anyway, this is the introduction to the first of these Suites, and is one of my favorite movements.
Handel: Overture to Messiah
The Christmas Season is approaching, and Messiah is a favorite at holiday time. This is the Overture to Messiah by Handel.
Mozart: Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro has this mad, racing overture that is instantly recognizable. We’re told that Mozart dashed this off in a few minutes the day before opening night. Can you imagine? Furthermore, the overture has absolutely no relationship to the opera musically. Nothing. Not a single musical motif from the opera is present in it. Still, it’s one of the most famous overtures ever written.
Mozart: Overture to the Magic Flute
You should know that the Magic Flute had a lot of references to the Freemasons, which was gaining strength as an organization that provided a home to those who wanted some relief from the overwhelming influence of the Catholic Church. Mozart was a fringe member —or maybe a plain old member— of the Freemasons, certainly one of the most famous members, and there are lots of masonic themes in the music, which I am ignorant of, not being a Freemason myself.
Listen to those three great, crashing chords that begin the overture. This overture is just amazingly beautifully written, especially the orchestration.
Beethoven: Fidelio Overture
Beethoven wrote an opera, which is regarded very highly by some, called Fidelio, about a woman who goes into prison to rescue her husband. Apparently this opera was featured in the movie Eyes Wide Shut, which I have not seen. Anyway, here is an excerpt from the overture to Fidelio, conducted by George Szell
Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night’s Dream
Felix Mendelssohn was interested in Shakespeare, as were lots of Germans and Austrians in the late 19th century, and he wrote Overtures to various Shakespeare plays. He was also into fairies in a big way, and one of his best known overtures is the one to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Here it is, with the London Symphony, conducted by Claudio Abbado. By the way, Claudio Abbado is said to be descended from a Moorish Prince, Abdul Abbad. Obviously that has nothing to do with how good a conductor Mr Abbado was, which was really great. Anyway, Mendelssohn’s fairy music is unsurpassed. Judge for yourself.
Mendelssohn: Fingal’s Cave
Mendelssohn visited a famous tourist spot in Scotland, called Fingal’s Cave. He wanted to celebrate the occasion by writing a short piece of music. It was increasingly becoming common to call these sorts of pieces overtures, and I can’t think of why that particular term would be used, and I don’t have the energy to do an etymological exploration of it. It confuses things a little bit, when a word is used in a new way. This is called generalization, such as when you use the word Xerox to mean any sort of photocopier, and even photocopying, the verb. These days with the Internet, people do this all the time, and they rejoice when they’ve succeeded in introducing a new usage of a word into common parlance. I’m talking softly, because this is early morning, and people in our house are still asleep. So here’s Fingal’s Cave Overture, by Felix Mendelssohn.
Brahms: Academic Festival
So now we know that, by the time Mendelssohn, Schubert and people of that generation were composing, the word Overture had come to mean the musical equivalent of a short story, or even a journal article.
Johannes Brahms had been awarded an honorary degree from (The University of) Breslau. Brahms wrote an overture to be performed during the ceremony, and it was a jolly thing with lots of undergraduate (read: Drinking) songs from Germany and Austria, including a Latin song called gaudeamus igitur, which translates like this:
Let us drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die;I mean, there are a lot of verses, but this is the short version.
let us delight in the pretty girls, and let us praise our Alma Mater, a font of wisdom.
I’m going to fade right into the rowdy ending part. Gaudeamus Igitur is the last big tune in the brass.
Wagner: Overture to Die Meistersinger
We’ve already heard the Meistersinger Overture twice. Some people call it a Potpourri overture. You probably know what potpourri is: a mixture of dried flowers and sweet spices and herbs that you cook in a pot when your house is full of cooking odors. A Potpourri overture is just a mix of songs from a Broadway musical or movie, and the phrase is intended to be a sort of put-down. The Meistersingers overture certainly contains snippets of tunes from the opera, but it is super highly structured, and we know that the last several bars is an amazing combination of three of the themes played simultaneously, combined with counterpoint. So here is a shortened version of the whole thing, just because I love this piece.
Mystery Overture
This one you have to guess.
Wagner: Tannhauser Overture
One of the first pieces of classical music I learned about is the Overture to Wagner’s opera Tannhauser. This overture actually represents, in miniature, the plot of the opera.
First, we hear a softly approaching hymn, which is the song of the Pilgrims, the Pilgrim’s chorus; they’re on their way to Rome, or somewhere. Then the scene shifts to the garden of Venus, which represents the temptations of our hero. The hero enters, and begins a rhapsodic song to Venus, but then the pilgrims are heard in the distance, returning, and their chorus drowns out Venus, and our hero is saved. Wagner was a rather simple fellow, who wrote complex music. He was vilified, about the time of World War 2, because the Nazis loved Wagner’s music. Today, we take the view that if we start a witch-hunt to posthumously persecute anybody who was an inspiration to the Nazis, it would never end. There were lots of people who were associated with the Nazis: Wilhelm Furtwangler, Herbert von Karajan, Konrad Lorenz. They liked the color brown. So, what are we going to do, not wear brown? I hate the Nazis, of that time and of this time, but I wear plenty of brown, so sue me. Anyway, Wagner’s Tannhauser, and the Pilgrim’s Chorus, and I hope you love it as much as I do!
Mystery Overture No. 2
Guess this one too.
Wagner: Prelude to Tristan and Isolde
The story of Tristram and Isolde in the legend of King Arthur is a tragedy. A young knight is sent out to Ireland to bring a princess to marry King Mark of Cornwall. But on the voyage back, the young knight, Tristan, falls in love with the princess. The story ends with the young lovers drinking poison together. The overture to Tristan and Isolde is just a brilliant piece of music by Wagner. I’m just going to play you the opening few seconds, just to put you in a lousy mood for the end of the show! But this is an important piece of music, and you might just find these bars fascinating.
Bernstein: Overture to Candide
The overture of Bernstein’s highly regarded comic opera, Candide. (A theme from it was Dick Cavett’s theme music for his talk show in the eighties.)
Another Mystery Overture
Guess.
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