Light Cavalry Overture

{{Short description|Piece of music by Franz von Suppé}}

{{italic title}}

Light Cavalry Overture is the overture to Franz von Suppé’s operetta Light Cavalry (German: Leichte Kavallerie),{{cite web|last=Hamienet|title=Franz von Suppé's Light Cavalry Overture|url=http://www.hamienet.com/score26752-4.html|publisher=Hamienet.com|accessdate=6 December 2011}} premiered in Vienna in 1866.{{cite web|last=Lamar University|title=Lamar Civic Orchestra goes Gershwin with ‘Memorable Music’|url=http://www.lamar.edu/lamar-civic-orchestra-goes-gershwin-with-memorable-music|publisher=Lamar.edu|accessdate=6 December 2011}} Although the whole operetta is rarely performed or recorded, the overture is one of Suppé's most popular compositions, and has achieved a quite distinct life of its own, divorced from the opera of which it originally formed a part. Many orchestras around the world have the piece in their repertoire, and the main theme of the overture has been quoted numerous times by musicians, cartoons and other media.