Program Notes on Eroica
HLM 213
Program Notes
April 26, 2012
The Eroica Symphony Beethoven’s third symphony was first preformed privately in early August of 1804. One would think that the people of this time period would marvel over anything Beethoven composed. However, Eroica was not as well received or understood, as Beethoven would have liked. Many educated listeners were thrown off by the “false” horn entry halfway through the first movement. It is said that Beethoven’s pupil was surprised by this, and was reprimanded for saying that the “player had come in ‘wrongly’”(Green). Beethoven should have expected such response, though. He had been consciously planning to compose a work of art, a masterpiece of unequaled breadth. Three years before he wrote his third symphony, Beethoven had stated his discontent with his own compositions previously written and “Henceforth [he] shall take a new path.” (Beethoven) In late September of 1802, Beethoven felt compelled to write out a last will and testament. This document that he drafted became known as the Heiligenstadt Testament due to where he was located, the village of Heiligenstadt. Beethoven was never to reveal this document to anyone, except for his brothers, Carl and Johann, to whom it was addressed. The language within this testament is filled with pain. Upon reading it, you can feel the unhappiness that manifested itself within the writer. The Heiligenstadt Testament can explain the sudden, drastic musical changes that occurred around 1803. Beethoven’s music, after writing his will, became much more daring. He cast aside his previous teachings and rules as he developed a new path of music, Eroica as his flagship. These two pieces of Beethoven’s history, Eroica and the Heiligenstadt Testament, are inseparably linked, almost as if they were the same creation (DeWitt). Eroica will forever be connected with Napoleon Bonaparte. In writing this Symphony, Beethoven had been thinking of Bonaparte, but, this was Bonaparte
Program Notes
April 26, 2012
The Eroica Symphony Beethoven’s third symphony was first preformed privately in early August of 1804. One would think that the people of this time period would marvel over anything Beethoven composed. However, Eroica was not as well received or understood, as Beethoven would have liked. Many educated listeners were thrown off by the “false” horn entry halfway through the first movement. It is said that Beethoven’s pupil was surprised by this, and was reprimanded for saying that the “player had come in ‘wrongly’”(Green). Beethoven should have expected such response, though. He had been consciously planning to compose a work of art, a masterpiece of unequaled breadth. Three years before he wrote his third symphony, Beethoven had stated his discontent with his own compositions previously written and “Henceforth [he] shall take a new path.” (Beethoven) In late September of 1802, Beethoven felt compelled to write out a last will and testament. This document that he drafted became known as the Heiligenstadt Testament due to where he was located, the village of Heiligenstadt. Beethoven was never to reveal this document to anyone, except for his brothers, Carl and Johann, to whom it was addressed. The language within this testament is filled with pain. Upon reading it, you can feel the unhappiness that manifested itself within the writer. The Heiligenstadt Testament can explain the sudden, drastic musical changes that occurred around 1803. Beethoven’s music, after writing his will, became much more daring. He cast aside his previous teachings and rules as he developed a new path of music, Eroica as his flagship. These two pieces of Beethoven’s history, Eroica and the Heiligenstadt Testament, are inseparably linked, almost as if they were the same creation (DeWitt). Eroica will forever be connected with Napoleon Bonaparte. In writing this Symphony, Beethoven had been thinking of Bonaparte, but, this was Bonaparte
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