Rossini’s “William Tell” Overture
Notes by TŌN cellist Hannah Brown
What do The Princess Diaries, The Lone Ranger, Bugs Bunny, Indiana University’s basketball team, and the video game “Just Dance” all have in common? The answer may surprise you: opera.
Rossini’s William Tell is a classic early-19th-century opera: an Italian composer writing a French libretto about a Swiss hero in a German-speaking region. As the legend goes, William Tell is a skilled archer and rebel in the 14th century Uri canton of Switzerland. Under oppression by the Habsburgs, with the region’s appointed leader, Albrecht Gessler, Tell actively defies the foreign rulers by not bowing down to Gessler’s hat on the village Linden tree. Gessler calls for the execution of both Tell and his son, with a caveat: should Tell be able to shoot an apple off his son’s head, both Tell and his son would be spared. Undaunted, Tell splits the apple, but admits to taking out two arrows, the second one to kill Gessler in case his apple attempt was unsuccessful. Enraged, Gessler sentences Tell to life imprisonment. Tell boards a ship that traverses Lake Lucerne during a tumultuous storm. Panic stricken, the guards plead to release Tell so he can steer the ship. He’s released and steers to shore, then leaps from the boat to seek his own freedom. Pursued by Gessler, they face off at the Hohle Gasse, where Tell successfully shoots Gessler with his second arrow, ends aristocratic rule, and begins the Swiss Confederacy.
In Rossini’s opera, he summarizes this legend in the delightful overture, which Berlioz described as a mini “symphony in four parts.” Dawn begins with a gorgeous five-part cello solo, describing the sun peeking over the Swiss mountains. The second part is a storm sequence, recalling the ship on which Tell is aboard. Then we’re relieved by a pastoral third movement featuring the English horn and flute evoking simple shepherd life in the valleys around Lake Lucerne. Finally, the infamous fourth movement begins, the March of the Swiss Soldiers (or, in colloquial terms, the Lone Ranger theme), symbolizing Tell fleeing from the grasp of Gessler and ultimately conquering aristocratic rule.
Between the captivating cello soli lines, gentle melodies in the woodwinds, and cowboy march, it’s not hard to see why Tell has become a fan favorite worldwide. We hope you enjoy Rossini’s William Tell!