The Classical Music Book

138

I LIVE ONLY

IN MY NOTES

SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN E-FLAT MAJOR,

“EROICA,” OP. 55 (1804), LUDWIG

VAN BEETHOVEN

B

eethoven’s “Eroica” broke

boundaries and audience

expectations on its public

premiere in 1805, representing a

radical reworking of what was

understood by a “symphony.” The

composer’s daring expansion of

sonata form, his rebalancing of

musical structure, and even his

ordering of the work’s movements,

met with puzzlement and outrage.

The seeds of the symphony

were sown, surprisingly, with a

dance. In March 1801, a new ballet,

Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus

(The Creatures of Prometheus) had

its first performance at the Vienna

Burgtheater. Beethoven provided

the music, which ended with a jolly

theme in E-flat major. The melody

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Breaking the mold of

the classical sonata

BEFORE

1759 Joseph Haydn writes

his First Symphony—in three

movements.

1793 The German theorist

Heinrich Christoph Koch

is the first to describe how

the sonata form works.

1800 Beethoven completes

his First Symphony.

AFTER

1810 Critic E.T.A. Hoffmann

describes Beethoven as

“a purely romantic composer”

in a review of Symphony No. 5.

1824 Beethoven’s Symphony

No. 9 amazes audiences by

adding voices to a previously

purely instrumental genre.

US_138-141_Beethoven_Eroica.indd 138 26/03/18 1:00 PM