When Carl Maria von Weber composed the overture to Der Freischtz in May 1820, it was the last musical building block he needed for his opera. In this respect, Weber was able to perfectly outline and condense the grand dramaturgical plan in the overture. What is more, he had a resounding business card for his concert tour of Northern Germany and Denmark, where he was able to draw attention to Der Freischtz with the overture even before the opera’s premiere. The fact that the introductory orchestral piece has an Italian title fits with the entire Freischtz autograph, in which almost all the other numbers are also titled in Italian. The Urtext edition is based on the autograph and on the first revised and reliable score print of 1867.