‘Die Entführung aus dem Serail’ ( ‘The Abduction from the Seraglio’) is a ‘singspiel’ in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's ‘Belmont und Constanze, oder Die Entführung aus dem Serail’. The plot concerns the attempt of the hero Belmonte, assisted by his servant Pedrillo, to rescue his beloved Constanze from the seraglio of Pasha Selim. The work premiered on 16 July 1782 at the Vienna ‘Burgtheater’, with the composer conducting.
Belgium arranger Yorick De Bruycker now transcribed the overture of ‘Die Entführung aus dem Serail’ for Symphonic Band.