- (1) An orchestral piece preceding an opera, oratorio or play; (2) Since Mendelssohn's Hebrides of 1832, the overture also describes a one movement orchestral piece composed for the concert hall with a non-musical subject. This is also called the concert overture; (3) In the 17th and 18th centuries the French overture (preceding an opera, etc.) was in three movements, slow-quick-slow, and the Italian overture (a precursor of the symphony) also in three movements was quick-slow-quick.?