Overture |

French ouverture, from lat. apertura – opening, beginning

An instrumental introduction to a theatrical performance with music (opera, ballet, operetta, drama), to a vocal-instrumental work such as a cantata and oratorio, or to a series of instrumental pieces such as a suite, in the 20th century. Also for movies. A special kind of U. – conc. a play with some theatrical features. prototype. Two basic type U. – a play that has an introduction. function, and are independent. prod. with a definition figurative and compositional. properties—they interact in the process of genre development (starting from the 19th century). A common feature is more or less pronounced theater. the nature of U., “the combination of the most characteristic features of the plan in their most striking form” (B. V. Asafiev, Selected Works, vol. 1, p. 352).

The history of U. dates back to the initial stages of the development of opera (Italy, the turn of the 16th-17th centuries), although the term itself was established in the 2nd half. 17th century in France and then became widespread. The toccata in the opera Orfeo by Monteverdi (1607) is considered to be the first one. The fanfare music reflected the old tradition of opening performances with inviting fanfares. Later Italian. opera introductions, which are a sequence of 3 sections – fast, slow and fast, under the name. “symphonies” (sinfonia) were fixed in the operas of the Neapolitan opera school (A. Stradella, A. Scarlatti). The extreme sections often include fugue constructions, but the third more often has a genre-domestic dance. character, while the middle one is distinguished by melodiousness, lyricism. It is customary to call such operatic symphonies Italian U. In parallel, a different type of 3-part U. developed in France, the classic. samples of a cut were created by J. B. Lully. For the French U. is typically followed by a slow, stately introduction, a fast fugue part, and a final slow construction, concisely repeating the material of the introduction or resembling its character in general terms. In some later samples, the final section was omitted, being replaced by a cadenza construction at a slow pace. In addition to the French composers, a type of French. W. used it. composers of the 1st floor. 18th century (J. S. Bach, G. F. Handel, G. F. Telemann and others), anticipating with it not only operas, cantatas and oratorios, but also instr. suites (in the latter case, the name U. sometimes extended to the entire suite cycle). The leading role was retained by the opera U., the definition of the functions of a swarm caused many conflicting opinions. Some music. figures (I. Mattheson, I. A. Shaibe, F. Algarotti) put forward the demand for an ideological and musical-figurative connection between opera and opera; in the department In some cases, composers made this kind of connection in their instruments (Handel, especially J. F. Rameau). The decisive turning point in U.’s development came in the 2nd floor. 18th century thanks to the approval of the sonata-symphony. principles of development, as well as the reforming activities of K. V. Gluck, who interpreted U. as “enter. review of the contents of the opera. Cyclic. the type gave way to the one-part U. in sonata form (sometimes with a brief slow introduction), which generally conveyed the dominant tone of the drama and the character of the main. conflict (“Alceste” by Gluck), which in the department. cases is concretized by the use of music in U. correspondingly. operas (“Iphigenia in Aulis” by Gluck, “The Abduction from the Seraglio”, “Don Giovanni” by Mozart). Means. The composers of the Great French period made a significant contribution to the development of opera opera. revolution, primarily L. Cherubini.

Exclude. L. Beethoven’s work played a role in the development of the genre of wu. Strengthening the musical-thematic. connection with the opera in 2 of the most striking versions of W. to “Fidelio”, he reflected in their muses. development of the most important moments of dramaturgy (more straightforward in Leonora No. 2, taking into account the specifics of the symphonic form – in Leonora No. 3). A similar type of heroic drama. Beethoven fixed the program overture in music for dramas (Coriolanus, Egmont). German Romantic composers, developing the traditions of Beethoven, saturate W. with operatic themes. When selecting for U. the most important muses. images of the opera (often – leitmotifs) and in accordance with its symphony. As the general course of the operatic plot develops, W. becomes a relatively independent “instrumental drama” (for example, W. to the operas The Free Gunner by Weber, The Flying Dutchman, and Tannhäuser by Wagner). In Italian. music, including that of G. Rossini, basically retains the old type of U. – without direct. connections with the thematic and plot development of the opera; the exception is the composition for Rossini’s opera William Tell (1829), with its one-piece-suite composition and generalization of the most important musical moments of the opera.

European achievements. Symphony music as a whole and, in particular, the growth of the independence and conceptual completeness of operatic symphonies contributed to the emergence of its special genre variety, the concert program symphony (an important role in this process was played by the works of H. Berlioz and F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy). In the sonata form of such U., there is a noticeable tendency towards an extended symphony. development (previously operatic poems were often written in sonata form without elaboration), which later led to the emergence of the genre of symphonic poem in the work of F. Liszt; later this genre is found in B. Smetana, R. Strauss, and others. In the 19th century. U. of an applied nature are gaining popularity – “solemn”, “welcome”, “anniversary” (one of the first examples is Beethoven’s “Name Day” overture, 1815). Genre U. was the most important source of symphony in Russian. music to M. I. Glinka (in the 18th century, overtures by D. S. Bortnyansky, E. I. Fomin, V. A. Pashkevich, in the early 19th century – by O. A. Kozlovsky, S. I. Davydov) . Valuable contribution to the development of decomp. types of U. were introduced by M. I. Glinka, A. S. Dargomyzhsky, M. A. Balakirev, and others, who created a special type of national characteristic U., often using folk themes (for example, Glinka’s “Spanish” overtures, “Overture on the themes of three Russian songs” by Balakirev and others). This variety continues to develop in the work of Soviet composers.

In the 2nd floor. 19th century Composers turn to the W. genre much less frequently. In the opera, it is gradually replaced by a shorter introduction not based on sonata principles. It is usually sustained in one character, associated with the image of one of the heroes of the opera (“Lohengrin” by Wagner, “Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky) or, in a purely expositional plan, introduces several leading images (“Carmen” by Wiese); similar phenomena are observed in ballets (Coppelia by Delibes, Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky). Enter. a movement in opera and ballet of this time is often called an introduction, introduction, prelude, etc. The idea of ​​preparing for the perception of an opera supplants the idea of ​​a symphony. retelling of its content, R. Wagner repeatedly wrote about this, gradually departing in his work from the principle of an extended programmatic U. However, along with short introductions by otd. bright examples of sonata U. continue to appear in the muses. theater 2nd floor. 19th century (“The Nuremberg Meistersingers” by Wagner, “Force of Destiny” by Verdi, “Pskovite” by Rimsky-Korsakov, “Prince Igor” by Borodin). Based on the laws of sonata form, W. turns into a more or less free fantasy on the themes of an opera, sometimes like a potpourri (the latter is more typical of an operetta; the classic example is Strauss’ Die Fledermaus). Occasionally there are U. on independent. thematic material (ballet “The Nutcracker” by Tchaikovsky). At the conc. stage U. is increasingly giving way to symphony. poem, symphonic picture or fantasy, but even here the specific features of the idea sometimes bring to life a close theater. varieties of the genre W. (Bizet’s Motherland, W. fantasies Romeo and Juliet and Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet).

In the 20th century U. in sonata form are rare (for example, J. Barber’s overture to Sheridan’s “School of Scandal”). Conc. varieties, however, continue to gravitate towards sonata. Among them, the most common are nat.-characteristic. (on folk themes) and solemn U. (a sample of the latter is Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, 1954).

References: Seroff A., Der Thcmatismus der Leonoren-Ouvertère. Eine Beethoven-Studie, “NZfM”, 1861, Bd 54, No 10-13 (Russian translation – Thematism (Thematismus) of the overture to the opera “Leonora”. Etude about Beethoven, in the book: Serov A. N., Critical articles, vol. 3, St. Petersburg, 1895, the same, in the book: Serov A. N., Selected articles, vol. 1, M.-L., 1950); Igor Glebov (B. V. Asafiev), Overture “Ruslan and Lyudmila” by Glinka, in the book: Musical Chronicle, Sat. 2, P., 1923, the same, in the book: Asafiev B.V., Izbr. works, vol. 1, M., 1952; his own, On the French classical overture and in particular on the Cherubini overtures, in the book: Asafiev B.V., Glinka, M., 1947, the same, in the book: Asafiev B.V., Izbr. works, vol. 1, M., 1952; Koenigsberg A., Mendelssohn Overtures, M., 1961; Krauklis G. V., Opera overtures by R. Wagner, M., 1964; Tsendrovsky V., Overtures and introductions to Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas, M., 1974; Wagner R., De l’ouverture, Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris, 1841, Janvier, Ks 3-5 the same, in the book: Richard Wagner, Articles and Materials, Moscow, 1841).

G. V. Krauklis