Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A major, II Allegretto
Beethoven’s 7th symphony premiered on December 8th, 1813 in Vienna. The event was a charity concert for soldiers wounded in the Battle of Hanau, a battle between the Austro-Bavarian corps and Napoleon's retreating French during the War of the Sixth Coalition. Beethoven himself conducted all of his works, and the concert also included Wellington’s Victory. To Beethoven’s irritation, the symphony was introduced as a “Companion piece” to Wellington’s Victory.
The symphony is in four movements, Poco sostenuto, Allegretto, Presto, and Allegro con brio. The symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in A, 2 trumpets in D, timpani, and strings. The orchestra that premiered the symphony was considered by Beethoven to be an all star group, led by his good friend and preferred concertmaster Ignaz Schuppanzigh.
The second movement, Allegretto, was by far the most popular portion of the symphony, and one of the most popular compositions by Beethoven during his lifetime. At its premiere, the symphony received a standing ovation and was performed again before the orchestra moved on to the rest of the symphony. The movement was so popular, in fact, that it would sometimes replace the slow moments of earlier Beethoven symphonies when they were performed.
The movement is in A minor and is in “Double Variation” form. In this form, a type of theme and variations form, the first theme is stated, followed by the second theme. The two themes are then put through a series of variations in an alternating fashion (A,B,A,B…). The A theme in particular is interesting due to its lack of melodic or harmonic movement. The violas and cellos begin the movement with an ostinato on an inverted A minor chord. The theme is much more rhythmically interesting than melodically, changing harmonies only twice. The two themes are then elaborated on with variations, before entering a fugal section on the A theme.
Sources:
http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/music/symphony-no-7-ludwig-van-beethoven
http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics4/beethovenseventh.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._7_(Beethoven)
I really could not imagine playing 2 symphonies and then another work. I could imagine that being very exhausting!
ReplyDeleteIt is neat to know that he was able to conduct these symphonies without too much trouble, seeming as though it was over 10 years after his heiligenstadt testament. I imagine it was nothing like his 9th symphony when he was completely deaf with the orchestra being instructed not to pay any attention to him.
ReplyDeleteIt is super interesting that the 2nd movement was so popular and well-received that they had to perform it again before finishing the symphony. I remember Dr. M-E saying that audiences often demanded encores of beloved works, which is something I initially never expected from audiences of the time. However, it is a reminder that peoples' consumption of music was not too different from our present day style. We often listen to things we like over and over to satisfy our desire.
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