https://wiki.sarg.dev/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=2001%3A8F8%3A1D2C%3A642%3A9CB1%3A68FF%3A53FF%3AE228Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]2026-08-14T18:51:24ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.44.2https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=French_overture&diff=200882French overture2025-10-18T07:52:58Z<p>2001:8F8:1D2C:642:9CB1:68FF:53FF:E228: </p>
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<div>{{Short description|Musical form from the Baroque period}}<br />
{{For|Bach's suite for harpsichord|Overture in the French style, BWV 831}}<br />
{{Listen|type=music<br />
| filename = Lully Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - 01. Ouverture.ogg<br />
| title = ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' – Ouverture<br />
| description = Composed by [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]] (1670), performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra<br />
| filename2 = Muffat - Suite 2 - 1. Ouverture.ogg<br />
| title2 = Suite 2 – Ouverture<br />
| description2 = Composed by [[Georg Muffat]], performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra<br />
| filename3 = Bach - Cello Suite No. 5 - 1. Prelude.ogg<br />
| title3 = Cello Suite 5, BWV 1011 – Prelude<br />
| description3 = Composed by [[Johann Sebastian Bach]], performed on a viola by Elias Goldstein<br />
| filename4 = Handel - Messiah, Part 1 (Scherchen) - 01. Sinfony.ogg<br />
| title4 = ''Messiah'' – Overture<br />
| description4 = Composed by [[George Frideric Handel]], conducted by Hermann Scherchen<br />
| filename5 = Telemann - Concert Suite in D major TWV55D6 - 1. Overture.ogg<br />
| title5 = Concert Suite in D major for orchestra and viola da gamba, TWV 55:D6 – Overture<br />
| description5 = Composed by [[Georg Philipp Telemann]], performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra with cellist Stephen Balderston<br />
}}<br />
The '''French overture''' is a [[musical form]] widely used in the [[Baroque music|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 [[Fugue|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.<ref name=Grove>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Waterman|first1=George Gow|last2=Anthony|first2=James R.|year=2001|title=French Overture|encyclopedia=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]|edition=2nd|editor1=[[Stanley Sadie]]|editor2=[[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]]|location=London|publisher=Macmillan}}</ref><br />
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The form is first encountered in [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]]'s ballet overtures from the 1650s.<ref name=Grove /> Later examples can be found as the opening movement of each of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]'s [[Orchestral suites (Bach)|orchestral suites]], [[Partita for keyboard No. 4, BWV 828|Partita in D major, BWV 828]], [[Cello Suites (Bach)#Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011|C minor Cello Suite, BWV 1011]], and as an opening to many [[opera]]s and [[oratorio]]s by [[George Frideric Handel]] (including ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]'' and ''[[Giulio Cesare]]''). The 16th of Bach's ''[[Goldberg Variations]]'' is a miniature French overture.<br />
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The French overture should not be confused with the [[Italian overture]], a three-part quick-slow-quick structure.<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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{{Portal bar|Classical music}}<br />
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[[Category:Baroque music]]<br />
[[Category:Opera terminology]]<br />
[[Category:Musical forms]]</div>2001:8F8:1D2C:642:9CB1:68FF:53FF:E228