William Tell Overture Analysis

Born in 1792 Gioachino Rossini wrote a total of thirty-nine operas during his lifetime. He created the opera piece “William Tell Overture” which premiered on August 3, 1829 by the Paris Opéra at the Salle Le Peletieron and was the last piece of his operas . This opera was a four piece act created based on the legend of a Swiss hero named William Tell, who was also known as a legendary bowman.
Rossini considered his last opera piece a masterpiece and thought that he could retire from it, however due to the fact that it glorified a revolutionary figure, the opera turned out to be a disaster. Scholars suggested that he stop creating operas at the age of thirty-seven, reasoning that the pressure from writing too rapidly exhausted him physically …show more content…
The section that includes these instruments is described as peaceful, but the skill level for the low strings segment is very high. Rossini separated the passage into eight separate parts. The sections include “raindrops” from the woodwind section and the blaring brass and drums resembling a violent storm. Following the violent storm created by the brass section and the drums, it changes into a quiet tone created by the English horns and flutes. Rossini based this melody on a Swiss tune played by cowherds on an Alpine horn that was used to call in their cattle from the fields. The last and final part of the work is the well-known trumpet sound that was meant to signify the approaching of the Swiss army to defend their homeland against the French. Today the William Tell Overture opera is greatly remembered for its famous high-energy galloping finale, which premiered as the opening theme song for the 1949 television show “The Lone Ranger”. In present time, the last three minutes & twenty-four seconds of the opera piece has been selected as a dance song title for the Ubisoft created game Just Dance 2016™ for the following gaming consoles: Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PlayStation