A Swiss Festival Overture

The overture starts with a noble and spacious fanfare based on a Bb triad. A quieter moment follows with a long theme unfolding from echoes of the fanfare and this builds to a climax where the fanfare returns. Over a stained chord this triad figure echoes in free time and introduces a short euphonium cadenza. This leads back to the opening, which accelerates into a lively Vivo. Percussion hammers out a new rhythm and after a few bars a rhythmic accompaniment starts up over which a perky tune which starts quietly is then taken up by the full band. A short bridge passage on the horns leads to a legato tune from the middle of the band which is again taken up by the full band. After a climax this subsides to a sustained bass note with rhythmic echoes of the first vivo tune. Bit by bit this reappears until the a full-blown recapitulation leads to a short Coda based on the opening fanfare.