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Eroica
In April of 1805, Ludwig Van Beethoven finished his third symphony. It was the time of the French Revolution and Napoleon.
Beethoven, a poor, lower-middle class musician living in Bonn, Germany, was affected by the Revolution, as was the rest of
European citizens. Napoloen as looked up to during these times. Beethoven believed Napoleon to be Unique among leaders in
his concern for oridnary people. The idea of composing a heroic symphony to honor Napoleon was first suggested in 1789.
Despite the fact that Beethoven has a growing dissatisfaction with the course of the Revolution, he began the composition of the symphony.
Beethoven composed the symphony during May and November of 1803. At this time, the symphony was still to be dedicated in honor of Napleon,
but it soon evolved into a symphony not about Napoleon's heroism, but it developed into a symphony about heroism in a Promethean sense. While composing
this symphony, Beethoven was beginning to become aware of his hearing problems. The frustration that was caused with the hearing loss served only to reinforce
the revolutionary aspects of his artistic personality.
On May 18, 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor. By this time, the symphony had already been completed and was ready for shipment to Paris, when a friend
presented the news that Napoleon had crowned himself Emperor. When Beethoven was told, he went into a rampage, crying out, Is he then too nothing more than an ordinary
human being? Now he too will trample on the rights of man and indulge only his ambition. He will exalt himself above all others and become a tyrant! Beethoven went
to the table, took his neatly printed copy of his heroic sumphony and tore the title page in two then threw it on the floor. He then began to rewrite the symphony, then titleing
in Sinfonia Eroica.
Eroica was first performed in February of 1805 in E flat. Players, listeners, and critics found the work extraordinarly difficult. It was clear from the beginning that this
was no ordinary symphony. The first movement was twice as long as any other piece of music written before. In classical symphonys it was unusual to find a funeral march in place of a song-like slow
movement. The third movement was no different than traditional minuets. The last movement was a set of variations on a theme from Beethoven's bellet The Creatures of Prometheus.
Never before in history of music had a composers produced such a revolutionary work. It hasbeen said that words cannot describe the symphony. Fourteen years after the work was premiered,
a close friend of Beethoven's asked Beethoven which of the eight sumphonies at the time was his favorite. He unhesitantingly replied, The Eroica.
Word Count: 452
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