Faust Overture

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The Faust Overture is a concert overture composed by German composer Richard Wagner. Wagner originally composed it from 1839-40, intending it to be the first movement of a Faust Symphony based on the play Faust by German playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Realizing that he would not finish the planned symphony, Wagner revised the piece from 1843-44, incorporating ideas from the other planned movements, and creating instead a single-movement concert overture. He made a final revision in 1855.

[edit] References

  • Westernhagen, Curt von. Wagner: A Biography. Cambridge University Press: New York, NY 1978.
  • Culshaw, John. Wagner: The Man and His Music. Dutton: New York, NY 1978.
  • Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music, 1996 ed. Chief editor Michael Kennedy.
  • Richard Wagner: Chronology web page [1]
  • Wagner, Irmgard. Where is Wagner's Faust? American Goethe Society 2004. Web page[2]

[edit] See also