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Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No.3, Op. 55 "Eroica"

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• "I'd give another kreutzer if they would stop!" That was the reported response of one weary listener at the 1805 premiere of Beethoven's Third Symphony. It was not, apparently, a comment upon the work's quality, but rather upon its length and perhaps its power, which took many people by surprise, for this composition was highly unusual in both conception and execution. Three years earlier, the composer had declared, "I am not contented with my works so far. Henceforth I shall take a new path," and here, for the first time, he kept his promise. He broke from the mold of Mozart and Haydn to produce a grand symphony, a daring and dramatic work, stunning in its epic scope and emotional impact. Audiences which had become accustomed to the image of music being purely for entertainment suddenly faced a radical new idea, that like a literary masterpiece, a symphony could present its creator's image of the world. That concept lay at the heart of the Romantic revolution, and it was Beethoven who first brought Romanticism into music.

  It is fitting that this piece had such a powerful impact on the public, for it was inspired by one of the most powerful of men of the day. Beethoven had been a great admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte, whose vanquishing of royalty the composer viewed as heroic. Furthermore, with a concert tour to Paris in the works, the composer may have been considering how to smooth his reception with notoriously capricious Parisian audiences. Whatever the initial inspiration, in 1803 Beethoven complied with a suggestion from the French ambassador to Vienna that he begin a symphony honoring the "First Consul.". He described the piece as his "Bonaparte Symphony," and might have published it under that title, had not events taken a different turn.

  In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France, and Beethoven, in a tremendous fury, ripped the title page from the score. According to his friend and student Ferdinand Ries, he stormed that now even his hero had become a tyrant, and that he would not dedicate a symphony to such a person. The symphony's new sub-title, "Eroica," implied more of a general heroism than specific deeds, and its inscription, "composed to celebrate the memory of a great man," seems to refer to the earlier Napoleon, the idealistic young hero who now lived only in memory. When the work was published in 1806, it was dedicated not to Bonaparte, but to Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz, one of Beethoven's most loyal patrons. That Lobkowitz had offered to pay handsomely for the privilege even before Beethoven became disenchanted with Napoleon may well have precipitated the composer's action. Besides, the concert tour to Paris had been cancelled.

  The Eroica Symphony premiered in Vienna April 7, 1805. The Viennese regarded the Lenten season as a popular time for concerts. Thus, numerous Beethoven works were given spring premieres, as had been the case for his predecessor, Mozart. Four years later, Beethoven himself conducted the work at a charity concert at the Theater-an-der-Wien. By the time of the latter performance, France and Austria had fallen into war. The French had occupied Vienna, and French troops filled the streets. Napoleon had been amongst them, but he did not attend the concert. Whether the diminutive ruler ever knew of the work's connection to himself is uncertain.

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