overture

noun

• 1an orchestral piece at the beginning of an opera, play, etc.: the overture to Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’ Overture and Incidental Music for ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
• an independent orchestral composition in one movement: Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812 Overture’

• 2an introduction to something more substantial:the talks were no more than an overture to a long debate

• 3 (usually overtures) an approach or proposal made to someone with the aim of opening negotiations or establishing a relationship:he began making overtures to British merchant banks