Faust Overture Faust Overture The Faust Overture is a concert overture by German composer Richard Wagner. Wagner originally composed it between 1839 and 1840, 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 between 1843 and 1844, incorporating ideas from the other planned movements, and creating instead a single-movement concert overture. He made a final revision in 1855. The work is one of Wagner's few compositions intended for the concert hall, rather than the theatre.
Aotearoa (overture) His Majesty's Theatre in London. It was not performed in New Zealand until 1959, but it has since entered the standard orchestral repertory there. Typical of Lilburn's early work, the overture features idiomatic writing for winds, especially flutes, and vigorous dynamic contrasts. At least two recordings of "Aotearoa" have been made, one of which is "Symphony of Sails" performed by Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya in 2002. (Universal CD 99172) Continuum NZ, "New Zealand Composers". New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Young. Aotearoa (overture) Aotearoa is a concert overture written for orchestra by New Zealand composer Douglas Lilburn in