William Tell Overture Essay

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William Tell Overture was written by Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868). It is the overture to the opera William Tell (Guillaume Tell in French originally), was premiered in 1829, and was Rossini's last and longest opera. It is based on Friedrich Schiller's play, the opera portrays the story of William Tell- a legendary Swiss hero, who was determined to free his people from the cruel Austrian. He provoked the Austrian governor- Gessler, whom arrested William Tell and told him he would be freed if he successfully shoots the apple off his son's head otherwise he would be chained up again. Eventually William Tell was freed and gathered forces to kill Gessler. The Overture is played by a piccolo, a flute, two oboes,…show more content…
The Prelude (marked Andante) is in E minor and is introduced by 5 solo cellos, accompanied by the double basses. It is a virtuosic moment from the lower string section, yet peaceful, a sense of yearning. A distant storm is hinted by quiet timpani drum rolls depicting the thunder and at the end of this scene, the principal cello has a high sustained E making the audiences wonder what is going to happen next. The second scene, storm ( marked Allegro) begins with 2nd violins and violas playing repetitive scalely figures in pianissimo depicting the swirl of wind and the woodwinds articulating in between phrases hinting the raindrops. The texture becomes thicker and thicker as more instruments are joining in, the syncopation in the woodwinds also helps the storm to get more violent. Suddenly the storm breaks out with the woodwinds crying out loud in descending chromatics and the brasses answer back in ascending chromatics. The volume and texture gradually drop off depicting the storm is calming down, at the very end of this scene, the flute plays fragmented leaps depicting the birds
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