From '' Blues Theme ''
Label: Tower -- T 5078
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1967
Tracklist
A1 Blues Theme
A2 King Fuzz
A3 Theme From Thunderball
A4 William Tell 1967
A5 Action On The Street
B1 Theme From The Wild Angels
B2 Theme From The Unknown
B3 Fuzz Theme
B4 Sorry 'Bout That
B5 Ghost Riders In The Sky
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The William Tell Overture is the overture to the opera William Tell (original French title Guillaume Tell), whose music was composed by Gioachino Rossini.
William Tell premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he went into semi-retirement, although he continued to compose cantatas, sacred music and secular vocal music.
The overture is in four parts, each following without pause.
There has been repeated use (and sometimes parody) of parts of this overture in both classical music and popular media, most famously as the theme music for The Lone Ranger in radio and television shows.
It was also used as the theme music for the British television series, The Adventures of William Tell.
Franz Liszt prepared a piano transcription of the overture in 1838 (S.552) which became a staple of his concert repertoire.
There are also transcriptions by other composers, including versions by Louis Gottschalk for two and four pianos and a duet for piano and violin.
Structure
Prelude, Dawn
Storm
Ranz des Vaches
Finale, March Of The Swiss Soldiers
The Finale, often called the \"March of the Swiss Soldiers\" in English, is in E major like the Prelude, but is an ultra-dynamic galop heralded by trumpets and played by the full orchestra. It alludes to the final act which recounts the Swiss soldiers' victorious battle to liberate their homeland from Austrian repression. Although there are no horses or cavalry charges in the opera, this segment is often used in popular media to denote galloping horses, a race, or a hero riding to the rescue. Its most famous use in that respect is as the theme music for The Lone Ranger, so famous that the term \"intellectual\" has been defined as \"a man who can listen to the William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger.\"[9] The Finale is also quoted by Dmitri Shostakovich in the first movement of his Symphony No. 15.[10]
Cultural references
Described by David Wondrich as a \"frequent target of plunder by brass bands in the years during which they dominated the American musical landscape\", the overture features prominently in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon, The Band Concert.
It has also been used in cartoons parodying classical music (e.g. Bugs Bunny's Overtures to Disaster in which the overture's finale is performed by Daffy Duck and Porky Pig) or Westerns (e.g. Bugs Bunny Rides Again).
The finale has also been sung with especially written lyrics by Daffy Duck in Yankee Doodle Daffy and by a quartet of singing policemen (as \"Happy Anniversary\") in the Flintstones episode, \"The Hot Piano\".
One of the most frequently used pieces of classical music in American advertising, the overture (especially its finale) appears in numerous ads, with psychologist Joan Meyers-Levy suggesting that it is particularly suitable for those targeting male consumers.
It was used in a hip-hop version by DJ Shadow to accompany the 2001 \"Defy Convention\" advertisement campaign for Reebok athletic shoes, in an electronic version for a 2008 Honda Civic campaign.
Amongst the films which feature the overture prominently is Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange where the Finale is played during the fast motion orgy scene.
The less frequently heard introductory portion of the overture is used as somber mood music later in the film.
The overture is one of several pieces of classical music in the film's sound track which also includes the overture from Rossini's The Thieving Magpie, Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance, and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.
The overture, especially its finale, also features in several sporting events.
It has been used by the Hong Kong Jockey Club for many years.
During the third time-out of every second half at Indiana University basketball games, the Indiana pep band and cheerleading squad performs the overture with cheerleaders racing around the court carrying eighteen flags.
Indiana public address announcer Chuck Crabb said the tradition began in about 1979 or 1980.
Sportscaster Billy Packer called it \"the greatest college timeout in the country.\"
Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads frequently used the finale of the Overture in his improvised solos with Osbourne and Quiet Riot as early as the mid-late 1970's, and can be heard doing so in the Quiet Riot song \"Laughing Gas\" and the bonus track \"RR\" on the 2011 expanded edition of Osbourne's 1980 album Blizzard of Ozz.
