Main content

Making Overtures

Tom Service explores the rise and fall of the musical curtain-raiser.

Tom Service explores the rise and fall of the musical curtain-raiser.

From the birth of the opera with Monteverdi, to the lavish cinematic releases of the 20th century, the overture has had an important place in music history, priming audiences for the characters and atmospheres they'll encounter in the action that follows. So how did the overture develop, and how did it become greater than just a device to signal the start of a show? And why has it largely disappeared from concerts and cinemas?

With guest Matthew Sweet, from Radio 3's Sound of Cinema.

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Fri 7 Jan 2022 16:30
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Handel's Messiah: Hallelujah!

Next

Playing at sight and playing from memory

See all episodes from The Listening Service

Music Played

  • Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky

    Colas Breugnon - opera in 3 acts Op.24

    Performer: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Eugene Ormandy.
    • EMI.
    • 7243 575127 2 5.

  • Arthur Sullivan

    The Gondoliers, or The King of Barataria - comic opera in 2 acts

    Performer: D'Oyly Carte Opera Orchestra. Conductor: John Pryce-Jones.
    • THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT RECORDS.
    • CDVIR8316.

  • Michel Legrand

    Michel Legrand: Ice Station Zebra: Overture

    Performer: Studio Orchestra.
    • Music for Pleasure.
    • CDMFP-5915.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    La Forza del destino - opera in 4 acts

    Performer: La Scala Philharmonic. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • Decca.
    • 478 3559.

  • Jerry Goldsmith

    Jerry Goldsmith: Ilia's Theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture

    Performer: Studio Orchestra.
    • Columbia.
    • 9833812.

  • Cole Porter

    High society - music for the film

    Performer: John Wilson Orchestra. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 82564 6276806.

  • Claudio Monteverdi

    L' Orfeo - favola in musica in a prologue and 5 acts

    Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIV.
    • 419 2502.

  • Alfred Newman

    20th Century Fox fanfare

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Williams.
    • BMG.
    • 09026687722.

  • Jean‐Baptiste Lully

    Acis et Galatee - pastorale heroique in 3 acts LWV.73

    Performer: Les Musiciens du Louvre. Conductor: Marc Minkowski.
    • ARCHIV.
    • E453 4972.

  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Armida al campo d'Egitto - opera [incomplete] RV.699

    Performer: Concerto Italiano. Conductor: Rinaldo Alessandrini.
    • NAIVE.
    • OP 30492.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony no.32 in G major K.318 [Overture]

    Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • LINN.
    • CKD 350.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Le Nozze di Figaro - opera in 4 acts K.492

    Performer: Musica Aeterna Orchestra. Conductor: Teodor Currentzis.
    • SONY.
    • 88883 709262.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Don Giovanni - opera in 2 acts K.527

    Performer: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Carlo Maria Giulini.
    • EMI Classics.
    • CDS 7472608.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Fidelio (Leonore) - opera Op.72 final vers. [1814] in 2 acts

    Performer: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • Teldec.
    • 0630131402.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Fidelio (Leonore) - opera Op.72 vers. 2 [1806] in 2 acts

    Performer: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • Teldec.
    • 0630131402.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Fidelio (Leonore) - opera Op.72 final vers. [1814] in 2 acts

    Performer: Cornel Frey. Performer: Christina Landshamer. Performer: Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Marek Janowski.
    • PENTATONE.
    • PTC 5186880.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - overture Op.26

    Performer: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski.
    • HYPERION.
    • CDA 67795.

  • Cole Porter

    Anything goes - musical

    Performer: 1989 London Cast Recording.
    • First Night Records.
    • CAST CD18.

  • Dimitri Tiomkin

    Dmitri Tiomkin: Overture from 'The Alamo'

    Performer: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Paul Bateman.
    • Silva Screen.
    • FILM XCD 315.

  • Richard Rodgers

    The Sound of music - musical

    Performer: Studio Orchestra.
    • RCA Victor.
    • RB-6616.

  • GyΓΆrgy Ligeti

    Atmospheres

    Performer: Vienna Philharmonic.
    • EMI.
    • CDP 793302-2.

  • Maurice Jarre

    Lawrence of Arabia - music for the film

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Williams.
    • Sony Classics.
    • SMK 62788.

  • Richard Wagner

    Tristan und Isolde - opera in 3 acts

    Performer: Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Mariss Jansons.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 0724358699654.

  • Ennio Morricone

    The Hateful eight - music for the film

    Performer: Studio Orchestra.
    • DECCA.
    • 00602547888464.

  • Leonard Bernstein

    West Side story - musical in 2 acts

    Performer: Studio Orchestra.
    • Hollywood Records.
    • D003694602.

  • Leonard Bernstein

    West Side story - musical in 2 acts

    Performer: "West Side Story" Orchestra. Conductor: Johnny Green.
    • Sony Masterworks.
    • SK 48211.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Festive Overture Op.96

    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme JΓ€rvi.
    • CHANDOS.
    • CHANX 100882.

  • Gioachino Rossini

    Il Barbiere di Siviglia - opera in 2 acts

    Performer: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • DECCA.
    • 414 407-2.

  • Gioachino Rossini

    La Gazza ladra [The thieving magpie] - opera in 2 acts

    Performer: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 431 653-2.

  • Johann Strauss II

    Die Fledermaus - operetta in 3 acts

    Performer: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Seiji Ozawa.
    • PHILIPS.
    • 468 9992.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 2 Jan 2022 17:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • Fri 7 Jan 2022 16:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

Why do we call it 'classical' music?

Tom Service poses a very simple question (with a not-so-simple answer).

Six of the world's most extreme voices

From babies to Mongolian throat singers: whose voice is the most extreme of all?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How Schoenberg opened a new cosmos for composers and listeners to explore.

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Bass is everywhere, but why do we enjoy it? Join Tom Service on a journey of discovery.

Watch the animations

Join Tom Service on a musical journey through beginnings, repetition and bass lines.

When does noise become music?

We like to think we can separate β€œnoise” from β€œmusic”, but is it that simple?

Podcast