Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)

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Eroica Symphony Title Page
Eroica Symphony Title Page

The Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (Op. 55) by Ludwig van Beethoven (known as the Eroica, Italian for "heroic") is a work sometimes cited as marking the beginning of musical Romanticism and the end of the Classical Era.

Contents

[edit] Dedication and premiere

Beethoven had originally conceived of dedicating the symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte. The biographer Maynard Solomon relates that Beethoven admired the ideals of the French Revolution, and Napoleon as their embodiment, but in the autumn began to have second thoughts about that dedication, which would have deprived him of a fee if he would instead dedicate the work to Prince Franz Joseph Maximillian Lobkowiz. Still, he considered giving the work the title of Bonaparte. Later, the composer became disgusted when Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor of the French in May 1804, and went to the table where the completed score lay, took hold of the title-page and scratched the name Bonaparte out so violently that he created a hole in the paper. He later changed the title to Sinfonia eroica, composta per festeggiare il sovvenire d'un grand'uomo ("heroic symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man"). His assistant Ferdinand Ries tells the story in his biography of Beethoven:

“ In writing this symphony Beethoven had been thinking of Buonaparte, but Buonaparte while he was First Consul. At that time Beethoven had the highest esteem for him and compared him to the greatest consuls of ancient Rome. Not only I, but many of Beethoven's closer friends, saw this symphony on his table, beautifully copied in manuscript, with the word "Buonaparte" inscribed at the very top of the title-page and "Ludwig van Beethoven" at the very bottom. …I was the first to tell him the news that Buonaparte had declared himself Emperor, whereupon he broke into a rage and exclaimed, "So he is no more than a common mortal! Now, too, he will tread under foot all the rights of man, indulge only his ambition; now he will think himself superior to all men, become a tyrant!" Beethoven went to the table, seized the top of the title-page, tore it in half and threw it on the floor. The page had to be re-copied and it was only now that the symphony received the title "Sinfonia eroica."[1] ”

However, the road to titling of the work Eroica had further turns. After completing the work, Beethoven wrote to his publisher in the summer of 1804 that "The title of the symphony is really Bonaparte." The final title was not applied to the work until the parts were published in October, 1806.

Beethoven wrote most of the symphony in late 1803 and completed it in early 1804. The symphony was premiered privately in summer 1804 in his patron Prince Lobkowitz's castle Eisenberg (Jezeri) in Bohemia. The first public performance was given in Vienna's Theater an der Wien on April 7, 1805 with the composer conducting.

[edit] Instrumentation

The symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B flat, 2 bassoons, 3 horns in E flat and C, 2 trumpets in E flat and C, timpani and strings.

[edit] Form

The piece is in four movements:

  1. Allegro con brio
  2. Marcia funebre: Adagio assai
  3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace
  4. Finale: Allegro molto

Performances run between 40 and 60 minutes, but typically around 50.[citation needed]

In the first movement, Beethoven indicates that the exposition is to be repeated. This repeat, generally omitted in performances before the late 1950s, is nowadays usually observed.

[edit] Critical reception

The work is a milestone in the history of the classical symphony for a number of reasons. The piece is about twice as long as symphonies by Haydn or Mozart — the first movement alone is almost as long as many Classical symphonies. The work covers more emotional ground than earlier works had, and is often cited as the beginning of the Romantic period in music.[citation needed] The second movement, in particular, displays a great range of emotion, from the misery of the main funeral march theme, to the relative solace of happier, major key episodes. The finale of the symphony shows a similar range, and is given an importance in the overall scheme which was virtually unheard of previously[citation needed] — whereas in earlier symphonies, the finale was a quick and breezy finishing off, here it is a lengthy set of variations and fugue on a theme Beethoven had originally written for his ballet music The Creatures of Prometheus.

Music critic J. W. N. Sullivan writes[2] that the first movement is an expression of Beethoven's courage in confronting his deafness, the second, slow and dirgelike, depicting the overwhelming despair he felt, the third, the scherzo, an "indomitable uprising of creative energy" and the fourth an exuberant outpouring of creative energy.

[edit] Horn solo anecdote

In the first movement, the solo horn enters with the main theme four measures before the "real" recapitulation. Beethoven's disciple Ferdinand Ries recounted:[3]

“ The first rehearsal of the symphony was terrible, but the hornist did in fact come in on cue. I was standing next to Beethoven and, believing that he had made a wrong entrance, I said, 'That damned hornist! Can't he count? It sounds frightfully wrong.' I believe I was in danger of getting my ears boxed. Beethoven did not forgive me for a long time. ”

[edit] Modern usage

[edit] References

  1. ^ Eroica, Napoleon Series.
  2. ^ Eroica Symphony, Wiſdom Portal.
  3. ^ Ries, Ferdinand; Franz Wegeler; Frederick Noonan, trans. (1987). Beethoven Remembered: The Biographical Notes of Franz Wegeler and Ferdinand Ries. Arlington, Va.: Great Ocean Publishers, 69. ISBN 0-915556-15-4. 

[edit] External links


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Ludwig van Beethoven
Biography  · Life and work · Musical style and innovations · Beethoven and his contemporaries · List of works  · Beethoven Category · Historical Sites
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Symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven
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