This overture was commissioned by Radio Geneva for a joint international broadcast planned for December 1956 to mark the end of the Mozart bicentenary year.

The composer had no intention of making this the occasion for any kind of pastiche of Mozart: instead, he tried to express, in his own musical idiom, his admiration for the master. Hence the title, Overture in Homage to Mozart: tradition might have suggested "The Tomb of Mozart", but that title would have struck too sombre a note. There is, of course, something inherently impossible about any enterprise of this nature – such projects are undertaken only by direct invitation and, as it were, as a matter of obligation. The overture, then, should not be considered in any way presumptuous, but seen as the simple expression of a love and admiration that the passing years can only increase.

From: A propos de… Commentaires de Frank Martin sur ses œuvre