Coriolan Overture - Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the greatest composers of all time was not very successful in writing music for the stage. He had no difficulty in writing a purely abstract overture, but once beyond this point, his powers seemed to elude him. The five-act tragedy 'Coriolan', for which Beethoven wrote in 1807 only an overture, has been forgotten for so long that many erroneously assume it is Shakespeare's play rather than one by Heinrich Joseph von Collin. That Beethoven provided no other music for the drama and may have been inspired only by the character marks the work as perhaps the first purely abstract overture and an archetype for similar works to follow by Wagner, Liszt, Dvorák, and others. Italian arranger Marco Tamanini transcribed the 'Coriolan Overture' for Symphonic Band.