Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
began concentrated work on his
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, in 1811, while he was staying in the
BohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic...
n spa town of
TepliceTeplice is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Ústí nad Labem Region.Teplice is situated in the plain of the Bílina river, which separates the Ore Mountains from the Czech Central Mountains , and is a famous spa town.The thermal springs are fabled to have been...
in the hope of improving his health. It was completed in 1812, and was dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries.
The work was premiered in
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
on December 8, 1813 at a charity concert for soldiers wounded in the
Battle of HanauThe Battle of Hanau was fought on between Karl Philipp von Wrede’s Austro-Bavarian corps and Napoleon's retreating French during the War of the Sixth Coalition....
, with Beethoven himself
conductingConducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors.-Nomenclature:...
and double featured with the patriotic
Wellington's VictoryWellington's Victory, or, the Battle of Vitoria, Op. 91 is a minor orchestral work composed by Ludwig van Beethoven to commemorate the Duke of Wellington's victory over Joseph Bonaparte's forces at the Battle of Vitoria in Spain on June 21, 1813...
symphony.
Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
began concentrated work on his
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, in 1811, while he was staying in the
BohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic...
n spa town of
TepliceTeplice is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Ústí nad Labem Region.Teplice is situated in the plain of the Bílina river, which separates the Ore Mountains from the Czech Central Mountains , and is a famous spa town.The thermal springs are fabled to have been...
in the hope of improving his health. It was completed in 1812, and was dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries.
Premiere
The work was premiered in
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
on December 8, 1813 at a charity concert for soldiers wounded in the
Battle of HanauThe Battle of Hanau was fought on between Karl Philipp von Wrede’s Austro-Bavarian corps and Napoleon's retreating French during the War of the Sixth Coalition....
, with Beethoven himself
conductingConducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors.-Nomenclature:...
and double featured with the patriotic
Wellington's VictoryWellington's Victory, or, the Battle of Vitoria, Op. 91 is a minor orchestral work composed by Ludwig van Beethoven to commemorate the Duke of Wellington's victory over Joseph Bonaparte's forces at the Battle of Vitoria in Spain on June 21, 1813...
symphony. The orchestra was led by Beethoven's friend,
Ignaz SchuppanzighIgnaz Schuppanzigh November 20, 1776 – March 2, 1830, was a violinist, friend and teacher of Beethoven, and leader of Count Razumovsky's private string quartet. Schuppanzigh and his quartet premiered many of Beethoven's string quartets, and in particular, the late string quartets. The Razumovsky...
, and included some of the finest musicians of the day: violinist
Louis SpohrLouis Spohr was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Born Ludwig Spohr, he is usually known by the French form of his name outside Germany.-Life:...
, Johann Hummel,
Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German-born opera composer, and the first great exponent of Grand Opera. At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer and producer of opera in Europe, yet is virtually unknown today.-Early years:Meyerbeer was born to a Jewish...
,
Antonio SalieriAntonio Salieri was an Italian composer and conductor from the Republic of Venice. As the Austrian imperial Kapellmeister from 1788 to 1824, he was one of the most important and famous musicians of his time.-Life:...
, Anton Romberg, and the Italian double bass virtuoso,
Domenico DragonettiDomenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti was an Italian double bass virtuoso. He stayed for thirty years in his hometown of Venice, Italy and worked at the Opera Buffa, at the Chapel of San Marco and at the Grand Opera in Vicenza...
, who Beethoven himself described as playing "with great fire and expressive power". It is also said that the Italian Guitar Virtuoso
Mauro GiulianiMauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani was an Italian guitarist and composer, and is considered by many to be one of the leading guitar virtuosi of the early 19th century.- Biography :...
played Cello at the premier. The piece was very well received, and the second movement, the allegretto, had to be encored. Spohr made particular mention of Beethoven's antics on the rostrum ("as a
sforzando occurred, he tore his arms with a great vehemence asunder ... at the entrance of a
forte he jumped in the air"), and the concert would inevitably be repeated due to its immense success.
Instrumentation
The symphony is scored for 2
fluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, 2
oboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, 2
clarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet...
s in A, 2
bassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 1800s, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band, and chamber music literature...
s, 2
hornsThe horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
in A, 2
trumpetThe trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC...
s in D,
timpaniTimpani are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper, and more recently, constructed of more lightweight fiberglass. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick...
in A - E, and
stringsA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones. The most common string instruments in the string family are guitar, violin, viola,...
.
Form
The Seventh Symphony is in four movements:
- I. Poco sostenuto — Vivace
- II. Allegretto
- III. Presto: Assai meno presto (trio
Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:*Three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.*The performance of a song by three people.*The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
)
- IV. Allegro con brio
Performance time lasts approximately 34 minutes.
After a long, expanded introduction in Poco sostenuto, the first movement is in
sonata formSonata form is a musical form that has been used widely since the early Classical period. While it is typically used in the first movement of multimovement pieces, it is sometimes employed in subsequent movements as well...
and is dominated by lively dance-like rhythms.
The second movement, in
A minorA minor is a minor scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The harmonic minor scale raises the G to G...
, is "slow", although the tempo marking is
Allegretto ("a little lively"), making it slow only in comparison to the other three movements. This movement was encored at the premiere and has remained popular since. The
ostinatoIn music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds. Each note always has the same weight in an ostinato. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody...
(repeated rhythmic figure) of a
quarter noteA quarter note or crotchet is a note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note . Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless stem. The stem usually points upwards if it is below the middle line of the stave or downwards if it is on or above the...
, two
eighth notethumb|180px|right|Figure 1. An eighth note with stem facing up, an eighth note with stem facing down, and an eighth rest.thumb|right|180px|Figure 2. Four eighth notes linked together....
s and two quarter notes is heard repeatedly.
The third movement is a
scherzoA scherzo is a piece of music or a movement, in a certain style, that forms part of a larger piece such as a symphony, and the scherzo is often the third movement of a symphony, sonata, or string quartet. The word "scherzo" means "joke" in Italian...
and
trioTernary form is a three-part A–B–A structure in a piece of music. The first and third parts are musically identical, or very nearly so, while the second part contrasts sharply with it. The B section is often known as a trio....
. Here, the trio (based on an Austrian pilgrims'
hymnA hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word hymn derives from Greek , "a song of praise"...
, yet another example of applying poetry to music) is played twice rather than once. This expansion of the usual A-B-A structure of
ternary formTernary form is a three-part A–B–A structure in a piece of music. The first and third parts are musically identical, or very nearly so, while the second part contrasts sharply with it. The B section is often known as a trio....
into A-B-A-B-A was quite common in other works of Beethoven of this period, such as his
Fourth SymphonyLudwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 in B Flat Major, Op. 60, was written in 1806. It was premiered in March of 1807 at a private concert of the home of Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz...
and
String Quartet Op. 59 No. 2The String Quartet No. 8 in E minor by Ludwig van Beethoven, opus 59, no. 2, was the second of three of his "Razumovsky" cycle of string quartets, and is a product of his "middle" style period...
.
The last movement is in
sonata formSonata form is a musical form that has been used widely since the early Classical period. While it is typically used in the first movement of multimovement pieces, it is sometimes employed in subsequent movements as well...
.
Donald Francis ToveySir Donald Francis Tovey was a British musical analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer and pianist. He is best known for his Essays in Musical Analysis.- Career :...
, writing in his
Essays in Musical AnalysisDonald Francis Tovey's Essays in Musical Analysis are a series of analytical essays on classical music.The "essays" actually came into existence as programme notes written by Tovey to accompany concerts given by the Reid Orchestra in Edinburgh. Between 1935 and 1939 they were published in six...
, commented on this movement's "
BacchicIn classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos is the god of wine, the inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy, and a major figure of Greek mythology, and one of the twelve Olympians, amongst whom Greek mythology treated him as a late arrival...
fury". The coda contains an example, rare in Beethoven's music, of the
dynamicIn music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional...
marking
ƒƒƒ (called
fortississimo in Italian).
The work is known for its use of rhythmic devices. It is also tonally subtle, making use of the tensions between the key centres of A, C and F. The second movement is in A minor with episodes in A major, and the scherzo is in F major.
Reception
Critics and listeners have often felt stirred or inspired by the Seventh Symphony. For instance, one program-note author writes:
- ... the final movement zips along at an irrepressible pace that threatens to sweep the entire orchestra off its feet and around the theater, caught up in the sheer joy of performing one of the most perfect symphonies ever written.
Composer and music author
Antony HopkinsAntony Hopkins CBE is an English composer, pianist, conductor, and radio broadcaster.Born in London under the name Ernest William Antony Reynolds , his works include the operas Lady Rohesia , The Man from Tuscany, and Three's Company ; the...
says of the symphony:
- The Seventh Symphony perhaps more than any of the others gives us a feeling of true spontaneity; the notes seem to fly off the page as we are borne along on a floodtide of inspired invention. Beethoven himself spoke of it fondly as "one of my best works". Who are we to dispute his judgment?
Another admirer,
Richard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas...
, referring to the lively
rhythmRhythm is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events.-Rhythm in linguistics:...
s which permeate the work, called it the "
apotheosisApotheosis , refers to the exaltation of a subject to divine level...
of the dance".
The second movement, the allegretto, was requested by
T. S. EliotThomas Stearns Eliot, OM , was a poet, playwright, and literary critic. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Among his most famous writings are The Love Song of J...
to be played at his own funeral.
On the other hand, admiration for the work has not been universal.
Carl Maria von WeberCarl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
considered the chromatic bass line in the coda of the first movement evidence that Beethoven was "ripe for the madhouse" and the 20th century conductor
Thomas BeechamSir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH was a British conductor and impresario. From the early twentieth century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to Neville Cardus, was the first British conductor to have a regular international career.From...
was similarly uncharitable, saying "What can you do with it? It's like a lot of
yakThe yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population. In Tibetan, the word gyag refers only to the male of the...
s jumping about."
Media
External links