Burlesque Overture

Burlesque Overture (1964) strikes me as a typical curtain-raiser, bright, but with a rather sardonic under-current. Cast in a frankly contemporary jazz style, the music seeks to gain its effects through strongly contrasted episodes. It could be termed a rough fast-slow-fast, A-B-A form. What transpires grows out of the opening thematic idea, partially stated by two trumpets with woodwinds and then extended on to a fuller orchestral canvas. Percussion plays a prominent role throughout, although there are expressive episodes in slower tempose introduced midway in the overture to relieve the tnesion of the faster ones.