For Bach's suite for harpsichord, see Overture in the French style, BWV 831.
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme – Ouverture
Composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1670), performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra
Suite 2 – Ouverture
Composed by Georg Muffat, performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra
Cello Suite 5, BWV 1011 – Prelude
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed on a viola by Elias Goldstein
Messiah – Overture
Composed by George Frideric Handel, performed by the MIT Concert Orchestra
Concert Suite in D major for orchestra and viola da gamba, TWV 55:D6 – Overture
Composed by Georg Philipp Telemann, performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra with cellist Stephen Balderston
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The French overture is a musical form widely used in the Baroque period. Its basic formal division is into two parts, which are usually enclosed by double bars and repeat signs. They are complementary in style (slow in dotted rhythms and fast in fugal style), and the first ends with a half-cadence (i.e., on a dominant harmony) that requires an answering structure with a tonic ending. The second section often but not always ends with a brief recollection of the first, sometimes even repeating some of its melodic content.[1]
The form is first encountered in Jean-Baptiste Lully's ballet overtures from the 1650s.[1] Later examples can be found as the opening movement of each of Johann Sebastian Bach's orchestral suites, Partita in D major, BWV 828, C minor Cello Suite, BWV 1011, and as an opening to many operas and oratorios by George Frideric Handel (including Messiah and Giulio Cesare). The 16th of Bach's Goldberg Variations is a miniature French overture.
The French overture should not be confused with the Italian overture, a three-part quick-slow-quick structure.
^ abWaterman, George Gow; Anthony, James R. (2001). "French Overture". In Stanley Sadie; John Tyrrell (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan.
Stephen Balderston Problems playing these files? See media help. The Frenchoverture is a musical form widely used in the Baroque period. Its basic formal...
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very similar to that of the gigue from Bach's second French suite and the gigue of the FrenchOverture. This kind of gigue is known as a "Canary", based...
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fate was not recorded.) The Coriolan Overture is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B♭, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns in E♭, 2 trumpets in C, timpani...
of the 18th century, has an "Air" as second movement, following its Frenchoverture opening movement. The suite is composed for three trumpets, timpani...
Royal Fireworks opens with a Frenchoverture and includes a bourrée and two minuets. The work is in five movements: Overture (Adagio – Allegro – Lentement...
suite commonly has these movements: Overture – The Baroque suite often began with a Frenchoverture ("Ouverture" in French), a slow movement followed by a...
829 – Partita in G major BWV 830 – Partita in E minor BWV 831 – Overture in the French Style, in B minor BWV 831a – Earlier version in C minor BWV 832...
a few fugues among his corpus of over 500 harpsichord sonatas. The Frenchoverture featured a quick fugal section after a slow introduction. The second...
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