Music with Ease > Classical Music > Concert Guide: Classical Era > Overture to "La Clemenza di Tito" - Mozart

"La Clemenza di Tito" was the last operatic work of Mozart and is founded upon a drama by Metastasio. It was written in eighteen days to celebrate the coronation festivities of the Emperor Leopold at Prague. The overture is made up almost entirely of melodies, and opens with majestic phrases in full orchestra followed by a beautiful theme and a succession of scale passages, the basses keeping up the figure of the introduction. After a pause, the second subject appears in the violins and at the close leads to a unison passage, whereupon the first theme reappears. The remainder to the overture is occupied with the development of this material, a spirited Coda bringing it to a close.