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 (he continued to compose cantatas, sacred music and secular vocal music). The overture is in four parts, each following without pause.
31-480: There has been repeated use (and sometimes parody) of parts of this overture in both classical music and popular media. It was the theme music for The Lone Ranger in radio, television and film, and has become widely associated with horseback riding since then. Two different parts were also used as theme music for the British television series The Adventures of William Tell , the fourth part (popularly identified in
62-416: A TAG Heuer stopwatch . Another recent exception is Body of Proof which has no theme song, and barely even has a title sequence. In most television series, the theme song is played during the opening sequence. One exception to this rule is Regular Show , the theme music of which is played only during its ending credits in most episodes. In lieu of its theme music, its opening sequence instead features
93-452: A piccolo , a flute , two oboes (first or second oboe doubles a cor anglais ), two clarinets in A, two bassoons , four natural horns in G and E, two trumpets in E, three trombones , timpani , triangle , bass drum and cymbals , and strings . The overture, which lasts for approximately 12 minutes, paints a musical picture of life in the Swiss Alps , the setting of the opera. It
124-589: A dancing teacher of Prague, danced the polka at the Odéon Theatre in 1840. In Australian bush dance , the dance is often called galopede . An even livelier, faster version of the galop called the can-can developed in Paris around 1830. The galop was particularly popular as the final dance of the evening. The " Post Horn Galop ", written by the cornet virtuoso Herman Koenig, was first performed in London in 1844; it remains
155-496: A feature of the majority of television programs since the medium's inception. Programs have used theme music in a large variety of styles, sometimes adapted from existing tunes, and with some composed specifically for the purpose. A few have been released commercially and become popular hits. Other themes, like the music for The Young and the Restless , Days of Our Lives , and Coronation Street have become iconic mostly due to
186-591: A lively country dance, introduced in the late 1820s to Parisian society by the Duchesse de Berry and popular in Vienna, Berlin and London. In the same closed position familiar in the waltz , the step combined a glissade with a chassé on alternate feet, ordinarily in a fast 4 time. The galop was a forerunner of the polka , which was introduced in Prague ballrooms in the 1830s and made fashionable in Paris when Raab,
217-417: A national scandal when broadcaster CBC Television lost the rights to use the theme in 2008. Most television shows have specific, melodic theme music, even if just a few notes (such as the clip of music that fades in and out in the title sequence for Lost , or the pulsing sound of helicopter blades in the theme music for Airwolf ). One exception is 60 Minutes , which features only the ticking hand of
248-402: A solo cello which is in turn 'answered' by the remaining cellos and the double basses. An impending storm is hinted at by two very quiet timpani rolls (1st on E, 2nd on B) resembling distant thunder. The section ends with a very high sustained note played by the first cello. The duration of the prelude is about three minutes. 2. Storm This dynamic section in E minor and in an A-B-A structure,
279-507: A tone played on a synthesizer overlaid with a ticking sound effect. Notable is the theme for the game show The Price Is Right , reimagined as Crystal Waters 's " Come On Down " which marked the first time that lyrics were added to The Price Is Right theme song and was the first song based on a television theme song (and the first to come from a game show) to reach number 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart on
310-486: Is often used to introduce each segment, and the music (usually popular music of some sort) will often relate to the topic being discussed. John Batchelor is noted for his use of highly dramatic orchestral scores leading in and out of each segment of his weekly show. Many video games feature a theme song that is distinctive to the series. A popular one to date is the " Prelude Theme " from the Final Fantasy series, which
341-424: 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 and 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 an electronic rearrangement by Wendy Carlos of
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#1732830067221372-469: Is played by the full orchestra. It begins with the violins and violas . Their phrases are punctuated by short wind instrument interventions of three notes each, first by the piccolo , flute and oboes , then by the clarinets and bassoons . The storm breaks out in full with the entrance of the French horns , trumpets , trombones , and bass drum . The volume and number of instruments gradually decreases as
403-401: Is played on most, if not all, of the title screens of the original games, most notably Final Fantasy I to Final Fantasy IV . The newer ones also feature the theme, albeit usually modernized, and played during the ending credits. Galop In dance , the galop , named after the fastest running gait of a horse (see Gallop ), a shortened version of the original term galoppade , is
434-703: Is quoted by Johann Strauss Sr. in his William Tell Galop (Op. 29b), published and premiered a matter of months after the Paris premiere of the original, and by Dmitri Shostakovich in the first movement of his Symphony No. 15 . 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
465-431: Is usually played during the title sequence , opening credits , closing credits , and in some instances at some point during the program. The purpose of a theme song is often similar to that of a leitmotif . The phrase theme song or signature tune may also be used to refer to a signature song that has become especially associated with a particular performer or dignitary, often used as they make an entrance. From
496-574: The Olympic Games ) and the theme to ESPN 's sports highlight show, SportsCenter . A notable theme that was once associated with a sport, but because of its popularity, spread network-wide was the NFL on Fox theme, which was used for Major League Baseball on Fox (2010–2019) and NASCAR on Fox (2011–2015) and Fox UFC (2012–2018) and Premier Boxing Champions (December 2018 to July/August 2019) and Jr. NBA Championships (unknown-2018) broadcasts, and
527-406: The 1950s onwards, theme music, and especially theme songs also became a valuable source of additional revenue for Hollywood film studios, many of which launched their own recording arms. This period saw the beginning of more methodical cross-promotion of music and movies. One of the first big successes, which proved very influential, was the theme song for High Noon (1952). Theme music has been
558-562: The Day , Grandstand and The Big Match theme tunes), cricket (" Soul Limbo " by Booker T. & the M.G.'s ), motorsport (Roger Barsotti's Motor Sport and the bassline from Fleetwood Mac 's " The Chain "), tennis ( Keith Mansfield 's "Light and Tuneful"), snooker (" Drag Racer " by the Doug Wood Band), skiing ( Sam Fonteyn 's "Pop Looks Bach", the theme to Ski Sunday ) and gaelic games ("Jägerlatein" by James Last ). Themes in
589-535: The Indiana pep band and cheerleading squad perform 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". Theme music Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming , television shows , video games , or films and
620-502: The US with The Lone Ranger ) in the UK, and the third part, rearranged as a stirring march, in the US. 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. The overture is scored for:
651-579: The United States that have become associated with a sport include Johnny Pearson 's " Heavy Action " (used for many years as an intro to Monday Night Football ), " Roundball Rock " (composed by John Tesh ) as the theme for the NBA on NBC during the 1990s and early 2000s, and for Fox College Hoops (from 2018–19 to present) and Jr. NBA Championships (2019–present), " Bugler's Dream " (used in ABC and NBC's coverage of
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#1732830067221682-472: The finale is played during a 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, 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 television time-out of every second half at Indiana University basketball games,
713-555: The flute, culminating in a duet with the triangle accompanying them in the background. The melody appears several times in the opera, including the final act, and takes on the character of a leitmotif . Call to the Cows lasts a little more than two minutes. This segment is often used in animated cartoons to signify daybreak or bucolic beauty, most notably in Walt Disney 's The Old Mill and Marv Newland's Bambi Meets Godzilla , which uses
744-516: 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 ; that usage has become so famous that some notable writers have defined an "intellectual" as "a man who can listen to the William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger". The Finale
775-480: 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 specially written lyrics by Daffy Duck in Yankee Doodle Daffy . 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
806-476: The shows' respective longevities. Unlike others, these serials have not strayed from the original theme mix much, if at all, allowing them to be known by multiple generations of television viewers. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, iconic sports shows have such strong associations with their theme music that the sports themselves are synonymous with the theme tunes, such as association football (The Match of
837-408: The storm subsides. The section ends with the flute playing alone. Part 2, Storm, also lasts for about three minutes. 3. Ranz des vaches This pastorale section in G major and in an A-B-A-Coda form, signifying the calm after the storm, begins with a Ranz des vaches or "Call to the Cows", featuring the cor anglais (English horn) . The English horn then plays in alternating phrases with
868-782: The tune as its main musical score before Godzilla stomps on Bambi. 4. 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 it 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. The segment, in an Intro-A-B-A-Coda form, lasts for about three minutes. Although there are no horses or cavalry charges in
899-525: The week of December 29, 2001. Radio programs with notable theme music include Just a Minute , which uses a high-speed rendition of the Minute Waltz by Frédéric Chopin ; The Archers , which has Barwick Green ; Desert Island Discs which has By the Sleepy Lagoon , and The Rush Limbaugh Show , which uses the instrumental from " My City Was Gone ." In talk radio , a different theme song
930-425: Was described by Hector Berlioz , who usually loathed Rossini's works, as "a symphony in four parts". But unlike an actual symphony with its distinct movements , the overture's parts transition from one to the next without a break. 1. Prelude: Dawn The prelude is a slow section in E major and in an A-B-A-Coda structure, scored for five solo cellos accompanied by double basses . It begins in E minor with
961-528: Was regarded as the network's single theme by October 2010. CBS's longtime March Madness theme is considered one of the masterpieces of Americans sports theme music, said to deliver a euphoric feeling to many sports fans. In Canada, the soaring backbeats of the Hockey Night in Canada theme, " The Hockey Theme ", became so iconic that the piece was sometimes called Canada's second national anthem. It became something of