SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN E-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 55 (“E ... - InstantEncore

SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN E-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 55 (“EROICA”)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Born December 16, 1770, in Bonn, Germany
Died March 26, 1827, in Vienna, Austria
In 1802, Ludwig van Beethoven wrote, “I am not satisfied with my works up to the present time.
From today, I mean to take a new road.” This decision was concretely realized in his third
symphony. Intimations of a new orientation were hinted at in his preceding symphonies, but now
the revolution was overt.
Beethoven’s “new road” was not immediately appreciated by all who heard it. “I’ll pay another
kreuzer if the thing will only stop,” a gallery wit called out at the premier. (Michael Steinberg)
A contemporary critic noted Beethoven’s “undesirable originality …” and concluded that the new
symphony was “unendurable to the mere music-lover.” Others felt that the work “lost itself in
lawlessness.” It cannot be denied that Beethoven succeeded in giving his audiences a giant shock.
However, passing years have mellowed the response and calmed assessment.
Sir George Grove noted, “The ‘Eroica’ first shows us the methods which were so completely to
revolutionize (symphonic) music – the continuous and organic mode of connecting the second
subject with the first, the introduction of episodes into the working-out, the extraordinary
importance of the coda.” Grove continues to cite more significant innovations: a Funeral March for
the second movement, the title of Scherzo appearing for the first time in the symphonies (a
replacement of the standard Minuet), and the rip-roaring Finale, which he calls “a daring romance.”
Other distinguished musicologists also confirm the “Eroica’s” massive impact. Jonathan Kramer
has written, “Once the ‘Eroica’ existed, no subsequent composer could ignore it. The development
of 19th century symphonic music is traceable more to the ‘Eroica’ than to any other single work,
and it took composers more than a century to exhaust its implications.” Paul Henry Lang wrote,
“The ‘Eroica’ is the greatest single step made by an individual composer in the history of the
symphony and the history of music in general.”
The third symphony is only the second of Beethoven’s instrumental works that he allowed to be
published with a title. “Eroica” means “of a heroic nature.” This was the sentiment guiding the
music to its ultimate grandeur and stature. Richard Wagner’s words (1852) help to illuminate
Beethoven’s intent for the music. Wagner wrote, “If we broadly connote by ‘hero’ the whole, the
full-fledged man, in whom are present all the purely human feelings – of love, of grief, of force – in
their highest fullness and strength, then we shall rightly grasp the subject which the artist lets
appeal to us in the speaking accents of his tone work.” However, the naming of “Eroica” had a
twisted and violent history.
In 1798, General Bernadotte, ambassador from France to Vienna, suggested that a symphony
should be written to honor Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven found the idea a good one at that time.
Napoleon seemed to be a harbinger of the future, a passionate champion of the values Beethoven
cherished, and an embodiment of the Revolutionary ideals – a living Prometheus. Beethoven
personally identified with the defiance of established mores that Napoleon – at that time –
represented. In addition, Beethoven was also contemplating a move to Paris, and perhaps he
thought that such a work would provide a passport into French elite social circles. With all these

issues in mind, Beethoven dedicated the work to the great warrior.
That dedication was short-lived. On May 2, 1804, when Napoleon assumed the title Emperor,
Beethoven flew into a rage, saying, “He is nothing but an ordinary mortal! He will trample all the
rights of men underfoot to indulge his ambition….” After his screams, Beethoven tore the title page
in half and threw it on the ground. Napoleon’s name was thus forever deleted from the original
dedication. The dedication evolved into “Sinfonia Eroica, Composed to Celebrate the Memory of a
Great Man.” Beethoven’s anger against Napoleon was enduring. When he heard of a later
Napoleonic victory, he declared, “It is a pity that I do not understand the art of war as well as I do
the art of music. Then I would conquer him!”
The “new road” Beethoven contemplated in his music begins at once. The first movement plunges
headlong into the substance of the music, eliminating a customary introduction. Two sharp
staccato chords roar from the orchestra, followed by the first rocking theme, outlining the E flat
triad. Its simplicity is momentary; quickly the theme coils into increasing tension through tight
repetitions, seeking a resolution from its first strange landing point on a C sharp. Our sense of tonal
security is immediately at risk. Additional agitation is added when syncopated accents interrupt a
lush cello melody. Only small respites are granted as the music insists on its turbulent course,
shrieking with large discords before the huge development section.
This development section lasts for 250 measures, the size of entire single first movements of
certain classical symphonies! The development continues the behavior of harmonic shocks and
rhythmic syncopations. A recapitulation (hinted at by a horn in another key before beginning proper
in the violins) not only repeats the exposition but introduces even more ideas and more harmonic
adventures. To many contemporaries, the traditional symphonic form seemed to be growing wildly
out of control, but Beethoven was relentless. Finally, a huge coda (140 measures) brings the first
movement to a close.
The second movement is titled Marcia funebre (Funeral March). Heroic grief is held in tight control.
“There is no pessimistic whining, no luxury of self-pity. It is an epic lamentation over heroes slain
in the defense of everyone’s freedom.” (Edward Downes) The march begins in violins. An oboe
repeats the theme, and a melancholy tune emerges again from the strings. A trio led by oboe and
flute prepares us for the stunning conclusion: a giant, dense fugue built on the march theme.
The third movement is marked Scherzo: allegro vivace. The music is bursting with optimism,
energy and a certain madness. The trio offers fine opportunities for beautiful horn playing. Then the
madness is revived, ending in a small coda.
The fourth movement, Finale: allegro molto, continues the liveliness of the preceding music, but it
also marks new ground. Michael Steinberg has observed, “A final and startling newness in the
‘Eroica’ is the way the center of gravity is shifted from the first movement to the last.” First and
second violins pluck a soft angular tune that later is combined with the presentation of Beethoven’s
“Prometheus” theme. (This theme had been used three times previously by the composer: in a
group of contradances, in the finale of the ballet, and in the “Eroica Piano Variations.”) In the final
movement, variations are exquisitely crafted on this theme, ending with a tight fugato (imitative
passage). The music then rushes powerfully to its close, a series of heavy, crunching and affirming
chords.

The third symphony always remained dear to the composer. After completing eight symphonies,
Beethoven was asked by his poet friend, Christoff Kuffner, which symphony was his favorite, and
he answered simply and without hesitation, “The Eroica.”
Jun Märkl conducted the orchestra’s last performances of Beethoven’s third symphony in June
2004.