# William Tell Ballet Music



## bassClef (Oct 29, 2006)

I have some old music on cassette which is only labelled "Ballet Music from William Tell" - revisiting it now this has confused me, William Tell of course being an opera! It's infectious lively music for full orchestra, and I'd like to find it on CD. But can anyone clarify the source of the music - ie. the ballet/opera connection? 

NB. I haven't listened to the whole opera to see if it includes this orchestral music.


----------



## bassClef (Oct 29, 2006)

Having done some more research,I'll answer my own question:

Rossini's ballet music to his opera William Tell. This comes from a period where opera composers felt it necessary to include a ballet about two thirds the way through. Examples that come immediately to mind are the ballet music to Gounod's Faust; to Verdi's Aida and Othello; and others - even Strauss includes an optional ballet near the end of the second Act of Fledermaus. Here's an LP sleeve-note writer, in 1972, bewailing the practice:

"Any excuse, however far-fetched, was used to bring in a ballet... it was a necessary evil to which an opera often owed its success or failure... The often dramatically inappropriate ballet insertions [which] merely interrupted the course of the action have [since] been eliminated from many operas. In some cases, however, this has meant that music has been forgotten which fully deserves to survive..."

Rossini's William Tell ballet music is a case in point. Although everyone knows the overture to the opera - or at least its second part - who knows the complete work? It's not one of his most popular. And the ballet music is almost completely forgotten. So here we have it: a little, neglected masterpiece.


----------



## JoeGreen (Nov 17, 2008)

Well yeah you seemed to have answered your own question, but there are many composers who include mini ballet within their operas.

and Rossini's Ballet music for William Tell has this really cool flute solo somewhere close to the beginning.


----------

