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William Tell Overture (the gallop)
By Gioachino Rossini, 1829. This is the end of the music that starts the opera William Tell. It sounds like horses galloping as fast as they can.
What to listen for in William Tell Overture (the gallop)
Tap Play the map and follow the stops. It lasts about 53 seconds. Tap any stop to start from there.
- Off we gallop. Listen, the horses are galloping!
- Over the hill. A new tune, a little darker.
- Gallop again. The galloping tune is back, louder!
- Tiny quick steps. Listen to the tiny quick steps going down.
- The big finish. Faster now, and then it stops, stops, stops!
For grown-ups: the composition is in the public domain (written 1829). Peabody’s band plays it from notes read out of a published score, simplified to one tune line with chords, and some stops are played by a different band so the change is easy to hear. Read from: https://abcnotation.com/tunePage?a=abc.sourceforge.net/NMD/nmd/reelsu-z.txt/0023 (Nottingham Music Database: Rossini arranged by Hugh Barwell, with chords). C major down a fourth to G; the source writes every note twice as long, so its quarter notes are eighths here and two of its bars make one; the pickup notes moved to the end of the bar before; repeats written out once (the gallop twice, then once); chords from the source, harmonised here in the bars it leaves bare.