1804 – Beethoven Symphony No. 3 (Eb major) Flashcards
1
Q
1st Movement
1804 – Beethoven Symphony No. 3 (Eb major)
A
- Sonata form hugely expanded and made much more dramatic.
- Beethoven takes a simple arpeggio theme but manages to give it a heroic, weighty feel through both its orchestral presentation and the dramatic journey undergone in the symphony.
- After diatonic opening, unexpected C# in bar 8.
- A horn comes in a few bars before the recapitulation, trying to play the main theme in the tonic against the dominant harmonies (caused one of the first listeners to think the horn had made a mistake).
- Everything in this movement is larger and more dramatic then earlier symphonies.
- In the development there is a moment of extraordinary violence. Neapolitan 6th + major 7th + full orchestra tutti.
- Coda much more extended and is written almost as a second development.
2
Q
2nd Movement
1804 – Beethoven Symphony No. 3 (Eb major)
A
- Very slow and sombre funeral march, (very different in tone to the Andante movements more typical of Haydn and Mozart 2nd movements).
- In extended ternary form with considerable development along the way.
- Dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, but he was still alive in 1804.
Why include a funeral march in an heroic symphony? - The subject of heroism will inevitably encompass the concept of a heroic death. Beethoven would’ve been familiar with the patriotic cantatas often written by French composers to commemorate the deaths of important military figures. One of the sections in such a cantata was devoted to a funeral march, usually characterised by a drumbeat that imitates that of a funeral cortege. Beethoven imitated this familiar gesture in the double bass part at the beginning.
3
Q
3rd Movement
1804 – Beethoven Symphony No. 3 (Eb major)
A
- Fast and aggressive Scherzo (picked up from Haydn’s innovation in the Surprise symphony).