18 November: William Tell Overture

Today is William Tell Day. William Tell has been covered already, here, so today here are 10 facts about the overture:

1. It was written by Gioachino Rossini and was the overture for the last of his 39 operas, William Tell.
2. The opera was first performed in 1829.
3. The Overture is divided into four distinct sections, although there are no pauses between them. The Overture in its entirety lasts about 12 minutes.
4. The first section is Dawn, a slow passage in E major, scored for five solo cellos accompanied by double basses. There is a hint of a storm to come in the form of two quiet timpani rolls which sound like distant thunder.
5. The next section represents the storm. It's in E minor and is played by the whole orchestra. The section ends with a flute solo.
6. The third section is Call to the Cows. It's a pastorale section in G major signifying the calm after the storm featuring the cor anglais (English horn). It's often used in film and TV to signify daybreak.
7. The last section is called March of the Swiss Soldiers. It's in E major and played by the full orchestra. It alludes to the final act, the Swiss soldiers' victorious battle to free their homeland from Austrian repression. This is the bit that probably springs to mind when you hear or read the words "William Tell Overture"; the part that was used as the theme to the Lone Ranger. It's often associated with Horses and riding, although there are no cavalry charges or even any horses in the opera.
8. Hector Berlioz, who wasn't a fan of Rossini's work as a rule, actually liked this one. He described it as "a symphony in four parts."
9. It has been used a lot in cartoons (The Band Concert, Bugs Bunny’s Overtures to Disaster, Yankee Doodle Daffy, and The Flintstones), films (Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, where an electronic rearrangement of the finale accompanies a fast motion orgy scene, and Princess Diaries), and advertising (including a hip-hop version for the 2001 advertisement campaign for Reebok athletic shoes and an electronic version for a 2008 Honda Civic advert). Psychologist Joan Meyers-Levy has suggested it's especially suitable for targeting male viewers.
10. Mike Oldfield released a single version of the final section in 1977, played more slowly than the original. It wasn't a massive hit.

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