The ''Faust Overture'' is a

concert overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which were ...

by German composer

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

. Originally composed between 1839 and 1840, Wagner intended it to be the first movement of a ''Faust Symphony'' based on the ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' legend and

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

by German playwright

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

. Eventually, Wagner abandoned writing the planned

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

and composed instead a single-movement concert overture, incorporating ideas from the other sketched movements. He made a final revision to the score in 1855. The ''Faust Overture'' is one of the few compositions by Wagner which was written for the concert hall, rather than the theatre.

References

*Westernhagen, Curt von. ''Wagner: A Biography''. Cambridge University Press: New York, NY 1978. *Culshaw, John. ''Wagner: The Man and His Music''. Dutton: New York, NY 1978. *''Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music'', 1996 ed. Chief editor Michael Kennedy. *Everett, Derrick. , 2004. *Wagner, Irmgard. , American Goethe Society 2004.

External links

* Compositions by Richard Wagner Concert overtures Music based on Goethe's Faust 1844 compositions 1855 compositions {{classical-composition-stub

See also

References

External links