overture
1over·ture
noun \ˈō-və(r)-ˌchu̇r, -chər, -ˌtyu̇r, -ˌtu̇r\Definition of OVERTURE
Examples of OVERTURE
- The government has made a significant peace overture by opening the door to negotiation.
- <the parade down Main Street served as the overture for a weekend of fun and festivities>
Origin of OVERTURE
Related to OVERTURE
- Synonyms
- curtain-raiser, prelude, preamble, preliminary, prologue (also prolog), warm-up
Other Music Terms
Rhymes with OVERTURE
2overture
transitive verbDefinition of OVERTURE
First Known Use of OVERTURE
overture
noun (Concise Encyclopedia)Musical introduction to a larger, often dramatic, work. Originating with Claudio Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607), overtures served as openings for operas. The large-scale two- or three-part French overture invented by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1658) for his operas and ballets was widely imitated for a century. The sinfonia, the standard Italian overture form in the late 17th and 18th centuries, was a principal precursor of the three-part sonata form and thus provided the model for the earliest symphonies, which consisted of three movements. In the 19th century, overtures independent of any larger work usually illustrated a literary or historical theme (see symphonic poem). Overtures to operettas and musicals have traditionally been medleys of their themes.
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