Music with Ease > Classical Music > Concert Guide: Romantic Era > Overture, "Abu Hassan" - Weber

The one-act opera of "Abu Hassan," the text written by Franz Heimer, was finished in 1811, and was first produced in the same year at Munich. The story is based upon a well-known tale in the "Arabian Nights." The opera was written in Weber’s youth, but is full of spirit and delightful melodies. It opens with a sprightly theme, pianissimo, which, after development, is followed by a fortissimo passage. The second theme, also of a vivacious character, follows, and in turn is succeeded by a graceful passage. A third theme, of a grandiose nature, closes the opening section, and is followed by the free fantasia, which leads to the return of the first theme. In the concluding section the first theme is followed by the grandiose theme alluded to above, and a brilliant, sprightly Coda closes the overture.