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 the beginning of musical Romanticism and the end of the Classical Era.

Contents

[edit] Dedication and Premiere

Beethoven originally dedicated the symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven admired the ideals of the French Revolution, and Napoleon as their embodiment, but the composer was so disgusted when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French in May 1804, that he 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 (see picture). 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, exaggerating it:

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 "Luigi 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."[citation needed]

It is also believed that "Eroica" was finally dedicated to Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, who later became Charles XIV of Sweden, after Beethoven became disillusioned in Napoleon.

Beethoven wrote most of the symphony in late 1803 and completed it in early 1804. The symphony was premiered privately in summer 1804 in Count Lobkowitz's castle Eisenberg. 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 the standard four symphonic movements:

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

A typical performance lasts about 50 minutes. 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] Technical analysis of the first movement: Allegro con brio

? This technical analysis may contain original research or unattributed claims.
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This movement is in sonata form. The 'development' is twice as large as the exposition, and the 'recapitulation' includes a similarly large coda:

[edit] Exposition

The exposition runs as follows:

  • First subject area: 1-83

The Eroica is the first of Beethoven’s symphonies to start without a slow introduction. Instead, there are two hammerstroke chords. Such a dramatic beginning is not unusual for the period—Mozart used similar gambits.

The first two bars clearly establish both the tonality and the rhythmic pulse; they act as a two-bar upbeat to the four-bar "macro rhythm" that is about to be established. Bars 3-6 confirm the metre, but as only one chord (E flat major) has been stated, the tonality has still not been confirmed. The opening theme is stated in the cellos, but it consists only of a broken chord rocking around the note of E flat, which falls on the strong beat of each bar.

In bar 7, the cello and bass move down to C sharp, a surprisingly early interjection of chromaticism in the piece, which has wide-reaching repercussions for the structure of the movement: not only does it unsettle the rhythm through the use of syncopation in the violins, but it introduces the three-note chromatic figure E♭-D-C♯ which is used at various pitches and in inversion at important cadences throughout the work. Indeed, C sharp is used (in its enharmonically equivalent form of D flat) as a tonal centre later, particular near the beginning of both the recapitulation and the coda. In the short term, the C sharp in bar 7 serves as a springboard back to D, which becomes the basis for the first dominant chord in the piece in bar 10. A stronger cadence follows in bars 13-15, which firmly establishes the key. The harmony in bars 7-15 is referred to by Tovey as a "cloud", which resolves in "sunshine".

The first subject area within itself contains a movement from I to V to I. Bars 1-22 are in the tonic, 23-36 the dominant, and 37-45 the tonic again. The effortless movement into the new key is achieved via an augmented sixth chord in bar 22 (note the three-note chromatic figure transposed to C-C♭-B♭ and inverted to A♭-A-B♭). In bar 25, just after the tonic has given way to the dominant, so too the meter crumbles. The sforzandos of bars 25-34 create syncopation and multiple bars of hemiola (in 2/4), interspersed with single beats, and finishing with three bars of 3/4 which cross the bar lines (b.32-35).

Bar 37 sees the return of both the tonic and the "correct" meter, with a fortissimo tutti return of the main theme. Despite the triumphant scoring, the tonic still cannot hold its place, but the alteration of the flute and oboe parts in bars 38-39 looks forward to the eventual mutation of the main theme that will allow the tonic to hold strong in the recapitulation. The A flat chord in bar 43 avoids what would have been a hidden false relation between the E flat (bass) of b.42 and the E natural (treble) of b.44; and the G (treble) of b.42 and the G flat (bass) of b.44.

In bar 44, an augmented sixth chord--which led us into the dominant area in bar 22--here leads into a transitional episode from bars 45-83.

Bars 57-64 contain four bars of thematic material (57-60), which are repeated in variation (61-64). A significant feature of these eight bars is the contrary motion between the outer parts.

Bars 65-83 are important due to the introduction of a rhythmic figure of new intensity.

  • Second subject area: 83-147

The second subject area contains a large amount and variety of material. Philip Downs states that "the creating of a second group of similarly enormous proportions and differences by means of an organic process is not accomplished until the Ninth Symphony."

At bars 109-121 the meter is again disrupted; this time the second beat of the bar is emphasized by sforzando chords in every bar except 117-118.

Bars 123-131 are the climax of both the second subject area culminating in six sforzando chords. These striking chords both look back to the opening of the movement, and signal the close of the exposition. A. Peter Brown calls the material in bars 132-147 closing gestures.

Bars 148-154 forms a transitional passage that links the end of the second subject group with the repeat/development.

[edit] Development

It is worth noting that if the exposition repeat is not played, the development is almost 100 bars (two thirds) longer than the exposition.

Bars 154-160 take us into the principal key of the development (C major/minor).

In bars 166-174, the rhythmic pattern that caused metrical disruption in bars 45-56 reoccurs with similar scoring, and again leading from dominant to principal key (here, G to C major).

At bar 182, a sequential development of the opening theme begins. This is the first time in the movement where the whole harmony is moved up by a semitone, but it shall not be the last. This reflects the descending chromatic (melodic) phrase of bars 6 & 7. Bars 182-184 are in C minor; 185-188 in C♯ minor, and at bar 190 the key moves to D minor.

Again, an augmented sixth chord resolving to the dominant is used at a point of structural articulation, bar 223. Philip Downs tells us that ‘the peculiar force of the progression lies in the way it appears to change the harmonic flow very suddenly, giving the effect of the sleight of hand that brings the rabbit out of the hat.’

Beginning at bar 224, Beethoven transposes material previously heard.

Bar 240-251 use the same rhythmic figure found in the preceding sixteen bars, combined with a fugato development.

The climax of the development begins with the forte chords in bar 252, and again incorporating syncopation and harmonic instability.

Following this, we get the infamous ‘new theme’ played by the oboe in bars 288-296 in E minor. This is the most distant key from the tonic in the whole movement. One could ask, however, whether this is really a ‘new theme’ at all. Research into the Beethoven sketchbooks has shown that the melody in the second violin and cello was composed before the oboe melody; the oboe melody was written as counterpoint. If the compare the second violin/cello melody is compared with the opening theme, a striking resemblance can be found. This theme is not new at all – it is clearly derived from the opening. Yet for nearly two centuries, even some of the most revered scholars have called the oboe part the theme, and paid little heed to the second violin and cello.

The E minor episode is repeated in A minor, before the first key of the development, C major, is reached at bar 304. Here the opening theme returns in a familiar form, before being developed sequentially. Eventually, the E minor episode is repeated in E♭ minor (bars 324-335).

The final section of the development starts on bar 342. Here, the opening theme is presented in a new form; one which will finally allow it to escape its tonal instability. Whereas before the theme stagnated on E flat, leading to chromatic harmony to regain forward motion; here the theme finishes on the dominant note – a feature that will finally allow it to return to the tonic. Concurrently, the bass is moving in duple meter, yet it fits in perfectly with the theme in triple meter, and the harmonic progression is moving towards the tonic with piano dynamics in bar 377 and pianissimo in bar 388.

At bars 398 the horn entry provides what is perhaps one of the most debated moments in all of symphonic history. The opening of the main theme is played in the tonic, but over dominant harmony.

[edit] Recapitulation

  • First subject area: 398-448

The recapitulation starts with the main theme with original scoring, and, as in the exposition, falls down to C♯ (b.402), but resolves in a different direction. This is one Tovey has called ‘one of the most astonishing and subtle dramatic strokes in all music’. Unlike in the exposition, the harmony moves to the dominant seventh of the supertonic.

  • Incorporating secondary development: 408-429

Although the music seems to be moving to the closely related key of F minor, an A natural appears, and a secondary development starting in F major appears in bars 408-429. What has happened with this modulation is that the music has moved to the supertonic, which is up two keys from the tonic in the circle of fifths. The music then moves abruptly from F major to D flat major, which is down two keys from the tonic in the circle of fifths. The harmony then resolves in a conventional manner via the subdominant to the tonic.

Bars 448-486 repeats the transitional episode which prepares for the second subject area that arrives at bar 486, this time in the tonic key. There are exceptionally few modifications, bar the small orchestration changes forced by the change of key and register.

  • Coda: 551-672

The coda begins by looking back to some of the core tonal centers of the development and recapitulation: E♭, D♭ and C.

In bar 580, the ‘new theme’ is repeated in F, then in E flat minor. The tension of this theme being in the remote E minor has finally resolved.

The coda finishes with a giant composed-out perfect cadence, which is disrupted in bar 677, just as in bar 15, with a sudden piano. Three final chords (bars 689-691) close the movement, mirroring the two chords heard right at the outset.

[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.[original research?] The finale of the symphony shows a similar range[original research?], 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[citation needed] 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] 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:[citation needed]

"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

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[edit] External links


Ludwig van Beethoven
Life and work • Musical style and innovations • Beethoven and his contemporaries • List of works
Symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven
First - Second - Third ("Eroica") - Fourth - Fifth - Sixth ("Pastoral") - Seventh - Eighth - Ninth ("Choral")
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