Well, that’s one aspect of what I was after. The whole surfing thing in music was the sort of thing where titles were meant to convey a surfing scene or setting, I suppose. As such, the relationship between the activity of surfing and the high energy music was pretty forced, as I heard it.
Although much more strained an analogy, the relationship between Westerns and big orchestra sounds (think the soundtrack for The Magnificent Seven which later became the music for Marlboro cigarettes as the big sound associated with the Wild West) carried enough weight that most Westerns had the big sound accompanying them. That was so dominant a relationship that when you had people like Ry Cooder doing a twangy guitar soundtrack to a Western it sounded at first a little out of place.
Personal taste is a big part of how instrumental music affects people and titles may or may not work on a universal scale to convey the feeling individuals will have to it. That was my main point to the thread, but it’s obvious that others see it differently, which is also what I was curious about.
I simply meant to suggest that associating the music with a William Tell storyline is as evocative as associating it with the Lone Ranger. I have yet to see a stage production of William Tell or to hear the entire score. Whenever I hear the overture, my first thought is The Lone Ranger, because that was my first exposure to the music. When I learned its name I wasn’t dismayed because I could imagine the same sort of heroics applying to William Tell that I associated with the Lone Ranger. At least I knew enough about William Tell to know about the apple and his son’s head. I will admit that that’s about all I did know about him, though.
I thought I had explained that descriptive titles were not my quibble and that things like the Fingal’s Cave and William Tell were pieces that went a little beyond pure description, in that their names suggested something beyond the composer and whatever category of composition it was.
I’m not trying to argue that William Tell Overture is not descriptive of the category of piece (overture) it is. I’m just saying that for me the additional words William Tell convey something about the mood or spirit of the music.
For me, William Tell Overture carries a few more connotations of what the music feels like than Webster’s Dictionary does. I don’t generally get a specific feeling by opening the dictionary.
I can get behind that. I guess my point is that the overture is evocative of William Tell because it is part of a vocal work about William Tell, which seemed beyond the scope of the discussion. Fingal’s Cave, for instance, isn’t really properly an overture: it’s a complete piece not associated with anything else, which is why its mention didn’t stand out for me. Your explanation, however, makes sense.
My only other argument would be that there is no piece entitled “William Tell Overture” (merely an overture from a piece entitled "William Tell), but that’s almost too nitpicky even for me.
You’re unlikely, by the way, to see a stage production of William Tell. It’s too long and the tenor part is nigh unsingable.