Overture (
French ouverture, "opening";
German Ouvertüre,
Vorspiel, i.e., "prelude", lit. "play before") in
music is the term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera. During the early Romantic era, composers such as
Beethoven and
Mendelssohn began to use the term to refer to independent, self-existing instrumental, programmatic works that presaged genres such as the
symphonic poem. These were "at first undoubtedly intended to be played at the head of a programme".