Overture

Overture (French ouverture; German Ouvertüre, Vorspiel; Italian overtura; i.e. opening) in music is the term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn began to use the term to refer to independent, self-existing instrumental, programmatic works that presaged genres such as the symphonic poem. These were at first no doubt intended to be played at the head of a programme.