An introductory performance, event, or action preceding a more important one; a preliminary or preface.
Music A piece or movement that serves as an introduction to another section or composition and establishes the key, such as one that precedes a fugue, opens a suite, or precedes a church service.
Music A similar but independent composition for the piano.
Music The overture to an oratorio, opera, or act of an opera.
Music A short composition of the 15th and early 16th centuries written in a free style, usually for keyboard.