Eroica Symphony

Eroica Symphony, symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, known as the Eroica Symphony for its supposed heroic nature. The work premiered in Vienna on April 7, 1805, and was grander and more dramatic than customary for symphonies at the time. It was Beethoven’s largest solely instrumental work.

It has been called the Bonaparte Symphony, called that by no less an authority than Beethoven himself. The occasion was a letter to the Leipzig-based publisher Breitkopf und Härtel, to which he wrote August 26, 1804, about this newest symphony, observing, “I think it will interest the musical public.” Certainly, Napoleon was a name in the news at the time, and Beethoven was favorably impressed by the man’s efforts to reform society so that the working classes would enjoy more equality; Beethoven fully shared the French revolutionary’s apparent commitment to egalitarianism and individual liberty. Writing a symphony inspired by the Corsican’s spirit not only spoke to Beethoven’s heart, but also to that of the general public. Besides, at the time, Beethoven was planning a concert tour to France.

At least, that was the case when the composer completed the symphony and sent that letter to his publisher. But when on December 2, 1804, Napoleon had himself named Emperor of France, Beethoven greeted that news with fury: his hero had become a tyrant “who will think himself superior to all men,” and the composer would not dedicate a symphony to such a person. In disgust, the composer tore the title page from the symphony and cancelled the French tour.

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He gave the symphony a new sub-title, Eroica, implying more of a general heroism than specific deeds. A further inscription added the thought “composed to celebrate the memory of a great man,” seemingly referring to the earlier Napoleon, that idealistic young hero who now lived only in memory. When the work was published in 1806, it was dedicated not to Bonaparte, but to Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz (1772–1816), one of Beethoven’s most loyal patrons. That Lobkowitz had offered to pay handsomely for the privilege even before Beethoven became disenchanted with Napoleon may well have precipitated the composer’s action.

In one particular fashion, Symphony No. 3 remained Napoleonic. It was a hugely ambitious work that refused to stay within boundaries, stunning in its epic scope and emotional impact. The work premiered in Vienna April 7, 1805. Beethoven’s friend and colleague Carl Czerny later recalled hearing an audience member call out, “I’d give another kreutzer if it would stop.” That listener would not have been the only one in the concert hall who was overwhelmed. Audiences that had become accustomed to music being purely for entertainment suddenly faced a radical new idea, that like a literary masterpiece, a symphony could present its creator’s image of the world. That concept lay at the heart of the Romantic revolution, of which Beethoven was one of the early adherents.

Four years later, Beethoven himself conducted the work at a charity concert at Vienna’s Theater-an-der-Wien. By the time of the latter performance, France and Austria had fallen into war. The French had occupied Vienna, and French troops filled the streets. Napoleon was in town, but did not attend the concert. Whether the diminutive ruler ever knew of the work’s connection to himself is uncertain.

With the first movement Allegro con brio, Beethoven starts off with a pair of powerful E flat chords that announce the grand ambitions and scope of the piece. What follows is music of great contrast, with big scenes and gentler ones appearing in turn and with occasional clashes of keys. If he leans more often toward energy and drama, it is, after all, declared to be a “heroic” work, requiring some assertive moods.

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A darker turn arrives with the second movement, which Beethoven himself labeled Marcia funebre (funeral march). The shadowy atmosphere is set by the strings from the first measure; subsequent woodwind solos add sweetness, but not sunlight. Yet this “funeral” is more tearful than anguished, and a strong march beat never develops. As this movement is the longest of the four, it is apparently the concept for which Beethoven wished to make the strongest point.

The third movement Scherzo: Allegro vivace, by far the shortest, is a bright and bouncy antidote to the preceding Adagio. Strings and woodwinds set off in a dancing mood in a very brisk triple meter. In its central pages, one finds a contrasting melody redolent of hunting horns. At last, the first melody returns, somewhat abridged, bringing the festive scene to a close.

With the Allegro molto finale, grand moods and mysterious ones appear in turn. One theme first presented by pizzicato strings and staccato woodwinds broadens, building to bold statements expanded from the rhythms of that earlier pizzicato line. If, as the title declares, this is a “heroic” symphony, then here is the victory parade in a finale unequalled in any of Beethoven’s works until the Ninth Symphony. Again and again in this symphony, Beethoven shows how a melodic idea can be recast into very different moods, with its disunited elements evoking the drama of both the symphony and the history of its intended original subject.