An overture is a piece of music for the opening of a concert. For a considerable period, overtures existed only in the form of a short instrumental introduction to an operatic work. Lully was the first to develop the overture to dimensions of importance, and the form originated by him was still further enlarged by Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel, and others. Christoph Willibald Von Gluck was the earliest of the operatic composers who wrote the overture in a form which portrays the dramatic action of the work it proceeds; in overtures belonging to this class that to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Magic Flute is second only to the greatest of all - Ludwig van Beethoven's Leonara No. 3. Some operatic overtures consist entirely of subject-matter contained in the following work; in this form Weber and Wilhelm Wagner have left unrivalled examples. The title is also given to orchestral productions written solely for concert use. Research Overture
Abbreviations
Music
Research Overture