Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture

E677576

Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture is a famous orchestral piece best known for its rousing finale, widely used in popular culture as musical shorthand for high-speed chases and heroic action.

All labels observed (5)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf concert overture ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Guillaume Tell Overture ⓘ
Overture to William Tell ⓘ
associatedWork opera William Tell by Gioachino Rossini ⓘ
basedOn Friedrich Schiller’s play William Tell ⓘ
linked to: Wilhelm Tell (play)
composer Gioachino Rossini ⓘ
countryOfOrigin France ⓘ
culturalUse musical shorthand for heroic action ⓘ
musical shorthand for high-speed chases ⓘ
featuresInstrument brass ⓘ
solo cello ⓘ
strings ⓘ
timpani ⓘ
woodwinds ⓘ
firstPerformanceContext premiere of the opera William Tell in Paris ⓘ
follows Italian overture tradition ⓘ
genre classical music ⓘ
hasFamousExcerpt Finale (March of the Swiss Soldiers) ⓘ
hasPart Dawn (first section) ⓘ
Finale (March of the Swiss Soldiers) ⓘ
Ranz des Vaches (third section) ⓘ
Storm (second section) ⓘ
influenced use of classical music in film chase scenes ⓘ
key E major (finale) ⓘ
language instrumental ⓘ
movementCount 4 ⓘ
narrativeTheme Swiss struggle for independence ⓘ
notableUseInMedia theme for The Lone Ranger radio and television series ⓘ
orchestration full symphony orchestra ⓘ
originalMedium opera house orchestra performance ⓘ
partOf opera William Tell ⓘ
period Romantic era ⓘ
premiereDate 1829 ⓘ
publisher Troupenas (early French publisher of the opera) ⓘ
recordingAvailability widely recorded by major symphony orchestras ⓘ
sectionFunction Dawn section depicts sunrise in the Swiss Alps ⓘ
Finale section depicts heroic cavalry charge ⓘ
Ranz des Vaches section evokes Swiss pastoral life ⓘ
Storm section depicts a violent thunderstorm ⓘ
styleCharacteristic brilliant orchestration ⓘ
dramatic contrasts ⓘ
heroic martial character in finale ⓘ
programmatic depiction of nature ⓘ
tempoCharacteristic very fast in the finale ⓘ
typicalDuration approximately 12 minutes ⓘ
usesMusicalForm through-composed multi-section structure ⓘ
workTitleInItalian Guglielmo Tell: Sinfonia ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Band Concert → musicFeature → Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture ⓘ
William Tell Overture → alsoKnownAs → Guillaume Tell Overture ⓘ
linked to: Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture
William Tell Overture → alsoKnownAs → Overture to William Tell ⓘ
linked to: Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture
English horn → isFeaturedInWork → Gioachino Rossini: William Tell Overture ⓘ
linked to: Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture
Spike Jones → notableWork → William Tell Overture (comedic arrangement) ⓘ
linked to: Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture