“William Tell Overture”

The William Tell Overture is the instrumental prelude to Gioachino Rossini’s opera William Tell, premiered in 1829 in Paris. Based on Friedrich Schiller’s play, the opera tells the story of Swiss folk hero William Tell, who resists Austrian oppression. The overture, in four distinct sections, musically depicts the Swiss Alps and Tell’s revolutionary spirit. Its famous finale, with galloping rhythms, became iconic, often associated with adventure and heroism, notably in popular culture like The Lone Ranger. Commonly used as mood music to hustle middle-school students between classes.