141
use a theme-and-variation form as
its closing movement, Beethoven
broke with tradition by failing to
start with the theme itself. Instead,
the movement begins with a bass
line, from which Beethoven builds
the orchestral texture until we
finally reach the theme melody. He
was turning the form on its head by
effectively writing variations before
he had even got to the theme. Also,
rather than the variations being
based on a single melody, the whole
orchestra is involved in exchanging
and developing interweaving lines
of material, ending in an elaborate
fugato that brings the music firmly
and finally to the home key.
Beethoven had created a four-
movement journey through keys,
themes, and ideas, cleverly andsubtly interlinked. He was to
venture even further in his later
symphonies, and by the time he
reached the Ninth, in 1824, what
had once been four separate units
linked only by a common title,
had become a musical narrative
brilliantly interwoven across the
old sonata structure.
Those who witnessed the early
performances of the “Eroica” found
it a difficult work to understand—it
was simply too far from their idea
of how a symphony should work,
both in terms of its length and its
structure. But it was soon accepted
as a work of profound genius and
was to exert a huge influence on
later generations of symphonists,
from Schumann and Brahms to
Bruckner and Mahler. ■CL ASSICAL 1750 –1820
Prominent use
of brasses to
produce “heroic” end.Opens with two
powerful chords.Use of triadic
(three-note) themes.Huge range
of keys.Harmonic tensions
and surprises.An energetic scherzo in
the third movement.A second movement
that opens with a sombre
funeral march in C minor.Expressive grandeur in Beethoven’s “Eroica”
Symphony No. 3 was already known
as the “Eroica” by the time it was
published, as this frontispiece of
the first edition shows.“Eroica” is
revolutionaryMore developed first movement
than any symphony to date,
and longer than many
entire symphonies.US_138-141_Beethoven_Eroica.indd 141 26/03/18 1:00 PM