Music for a hero

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 "Eroica"
Movement I, Allegro Con Brio
Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Herbert Blomstedt

Listen now

It would be unfair, and inaccurate, to discount all Classical Era (1750-1820) symphonies as merely "pretty melodies and harmonies" but - let's be honest - many of the works of Mozart, Haydn, and composers of that age were just that. And, though the Austrian composer Ludwig van Beethoven is best known to modern ears for booming symphonies full of passion and force, his early compositional style was solidly in the Classical vein. Though many of his early works are fine pieces of music, his Third Symphony was something altogether different, as it ushered in an entirely new era for European music. In fact, three years before composing it, Beethoven declared, "I am not content with my works so far. Henceforth I shall take a new path." And boy did he.

In 1803, at the suggestion of the French Ambassador to Vienna, Beethoven began work on a piece of music to honor Napoleon. Beethoven was an admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte, who he regarded as a heroic vanquisher of royal tyranny. (Beethoven was almost assuredly motivated to compose a piece in his honor so not only by his admiration of the French Consul, but to perhaps ingratiate himself with the notoriously finicky audiences of Paris, where he had a scheduled concert tour.) By 1804, he had finished what he began calling his "Bonaparte Symphony," but it was not to bear that name for long. When, later that year, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France, Beethoven flew into a rage at the news. He ripped the title page from the manuscript, refusing to dedicate the work to one who had, in his eyes, become a tyrant himself. He renamed the work "Eroica" (Italian for "Heroic"), and, when it was published in 1806, dedicated it to one of his most loyal patrons. (His concert tour of Paris, incidentally, was cancelled due to war.)

When the Eroica Symphony premiered in Vienna, Austria on April 7, 1805, it was unlike anything the Viennese musical community had ever heard, and, as such, garnered both ardent praise and bitter sneers. Some considered it far too long. Some saw it as nothing more than an attempt to be original for the sake of originality. But, still, a great many people liked it, including many of Beethoven's contemporaries, and much of the orchestral music of the 19th and 20th century reflects its influence.

With the Eroica Symphony, Beethoven brought a new weight to the status of music as an art form. People of the day regarded music as a form of entertainment, not art. The Romantic revolution was already sweeping the art and literary world, and Beethoven was the first composer to bring Romanticism, and the radical notion that a piece of music, like a great painting or literary work, could express a composer's vision of the world, to music.

The first movement of the four-movement Eroica Symphony is our Classical Song Of The Day (and, indeed, the inaugural CSOTD, of which I hope there are many more). It's tempo designation is "Allegro con brio," which means "Lively and with spirit." It is the first, shining example of what historians call Beethoven's "Heroic" style. Full of vigorous rhythmic activity, large dynamic changes (i.e. getting really loud and then suddenly quiet) and liberal use of "martial" instruments (i.e. drums and horns), it bursts forth with intensity and passion.