# Writing help?



## Hakinimo (Jan 2, 2013)

Hey everyone, I'm a high school senior and I'm writing an opera for my senior project, because I want to get into composition and singing after my education. But right now I'm stuck. I've written the libretto, and I'm onto writing the actual music. 
Should I let the overture guide the individual songs or let the songs guide the overture? I already have a music map of the overture in my head, but I don't know how I would incorporate some of it into the arias and such.

Any suggestions?


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Welcome to a young and ambitious new member!

I'm no opera composer, but I don't think the overture needs to be specificly linked musically to the material that follows. Actually I kind of prefer it when it isn't - to me it's more about getting people's attention and setting the scene rather than a musical preview. I'm thinking of the Act I prelude to La Traviata, or the entr'actes of Carmen.

Or look at Barber of Seville, where, legendarily, Rossini ran out of time to write an overture and just tacked on one he had written previously for a completely different opera. Yet it works perfectly.


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

Write the overture last. That way you know what themes you are using and how they appear in the work. You can develop them further in the overture. Or you can do what Rossini did and write something totally unrelated to the opera and call it the overture.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Seconding Dr. Praetorius: That, most traditionally, is what was done. Often, a medly-'preview' of some of the themes is done. As also suggested, still compose the whole piece first, but then your overture can be written, knowing what comes after, as a preliminary 'emotional color' set-up, and does not need to refer to any of the themes at all.

Either way, afterwards is the most usual, I expect because composers found it 'worked better for them' that way.


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