Beethoven Overtures

SKU: CA.5022500

ISBN 9790007090739.

Rheinberger's concert overtures are completely beholden to the tradition of the genre established at least since the 1820s. The spread of this genre was favored in equal measure by the growth of bourgeois musical culture and the overwhelming model of Beethoven's nine symphonies, which sowed a certain perplexity and discouragement among composers of the next generation and led them to turn increasingly to the smaller single-movement genre in their orchestral music. Soon a generic distinction arose between two types of overture. One was the autonomous overture, whose character results from its specific introductory function. Rheinberger's Academic Overture follows in this same line of tradition. The other type was the overture with subject-matter, in which the romantic inclination to recreate extra-musical material in music found an expecially fruitful field of exploration. Having originated as the opening item of an opera or play, the overture had, after all, long been accustomed to accommodating the contents of the work that followed. The concert overture on an extra-musical subject is in turn associated in particular with the works of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Rheinberger too, closely modeled his opp. 11 and 110 on Mendelssohn's overtures.

SKU: CF.SAS1

ISBN 9781491157718. UPC: 680160916290. 9 x 12 inches.

Written in 1814, the Fidelio Overture was the fourth and final version chosen to open Beethoven's only opera by the same name. Though not as lengthy or grand as its three predecessors (the Leonore Overtures 1 - 3), it served its purpose as an opening statement without overshadowing the music to come. This string arrangement transposes the original key of E Major into the much more playable key of D Major. It retains the original opening which alternates between powerful majestic bursts and lyrical harmonic progressions while finishing with the energetic presto to the end. Rhythms have been simplified but are very much in the spirit of Beethoven's writing. The optional timpani gives this arrangement a symphonic quality that closely resembles the original.
Written in 1814, the Fidelio Overture was the fourth and final version chosen to open Beethoven's only opera by the same name. Though not as lengthy or grand as its three predecessors (the Leonore Overtures 1 – 3), it served its purpose as an opening statement without overshadowing the music to come. This string arrangement transposes the original key of E Major into the much more playable key of D Major. It retains the original opening which alternates between powerful majestic bursts and lyrical harmonic progressions while finishing with the energetic presto to the end. Rhythms have been simplified but are very much in the spirit of Beethoven’s writing. The optional timpani gives this arrangement a symphonic quality that closely resembles the original.