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.
Overture in the French style, BWV 831 extending from the first letter of his name (Bach's "home" key, B, in German is B) to the last letter of his name (B in German is H). The term "overture" refers to the fact that this suite starts with an overture movement, and was a common generic name for French suites (his orchestral suites were similarly named). This "overture" movement replaces the allemande found in Bach's other keyboard suites. Also, there are optional dance movements both before and after the Sarabande. In Bach's work optional movements usually occur only after the sarabande. All three of the optional dance movements