found: Harvard dictionary of music, 4th ed.(Overture. 1. A composition for orchestra intended as an introduction to an opera or other dramatic vocal work... 2. A composition of the 19th and 20th centuries similar to a dramatic overture but intended for independent concert performance. A preliminary stage in the development of the concert overture is represented by the overture to a spoken drama and the overture written for a specific occasion (e.g. Beethoven's Coriolan and Coronation of the house overtures). Other composers wrote pieces entitled only "Overture"... The most characteristic concert overtures, however, were works with generalized programs inspired by literature, history, nature, and the like.)
