Beethoven's Heroic Symphony. Beethoven

"In this symphony... for the first time all the immense,
the marvelous power of Beethoven's creative genius"
P. I. Tchaikovsky

Starting the sketches of the "Heroic", Beethoven admitted: "I am not completely satisfied with my previous works, from now on I want to choose a new path."

"Starting with Beethoven, there is no such new music that would not have an internal program" - this is how Gustav Mahler, a century later, outlined the contribution of the composer, who first permeated the symphony with the breath of universal, philosophical ideas.

1. Allegro con brio
2. Funeral march. Adagio assai
3. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
4. Final. Allegro molto

Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

Orchestra National de France, conductor Kurt Masur Beethoven Festival, Bonn, 2008

dir. J. Gardiner, Eroica Movie Supplement, 2003, BBC)

History of creation

The heroic symphony, which opens the central period of Beethoven's work and at the same time - an era in the development of European symphony, was born at the most difficult time in the composer's life. In October 1802, the 32-year-old, full of strength and creative ideas, was a favorite of aristocratic salons, the first virtuoso of Vienna, the author of two symphonies, three piano concertos, a ballet, an oratorio, many piano and violin sonatas, trios, quartets and other chamber ensembles, one name of which on the poster guaranteed a full hall at any ticket price, he learns a terrible verdict: the hearing loss that has been disturbing him for several years is incurable. The inevitable deafness awaits him. Fleeing from the noise of the capital, Beethoven retires to the quiet village of Geiligenstadt. On October 6-10, he writes a farewell letter that was never sent: “A little more, and I would have committed suicide. Only one thing held me back - my art. Ah, it seemed unthinkable to me to leave the world before I had fulfilled everything to which I felt called ... Even the high courage that inspired me in the beautiful summer days disappeared. Oh Providence! Give me just one day of pure joy…”

He found joy in his art, embodying the majestic design of the Third Symphony - unlike any that existed until then. “She is some kind of miracle even among the works of Beethoven,” writes R. Rolland. - If in his subsequent work he moved further, then he never took such a big step right away. This symphony is one of the great days of music. She opens an era."

The great idea matured little by little, over many years. According to friends, the first thought about her was raised by the French general, the hero of many battles, J.B. Bernadotte, who arrived in Vienna in February 1798 as the ambassador of revolutionary France. Impressed by the death of the English general Ralph Abercombe, who died from wounds received in the battle with the French at Alexandria (March 21, 1801), Beethoven sketched the first fragment of the funeral march. And the theme of the finale, which arose, perhaps, before 1795, in the seventh of 12 country dances for orchestra, was then used twice more - in the ballet "The Creations of Prometheus" and in the piano variations of Op. 35.

Like all Beethoven's symphonies, with the exception of the Eighth, the Third had a dedication, however, immediately destroyed. This is how his student recalled this: “Both I and his other closest friends often saw this symphony rewritten in the score on his table; above, on the title page, was the word “Buonaparte”, and below “Luigi van Beethoven” and not a word more ... I was the first to bring him the news that Bonaparte had declared himself emperor. Beethoven flew into a rage and exclaimed: “This, too, is an ordinary man! Now he will trample on all human rights with his feet, follow only his ambition, he will put himself above all others and become a tyrant! “Beethoven went to the table, grabbed the title page, tore it from top to bottom and threw it on the floor.” And in the first edition of the orchestral voices of the symphony (Vienna, October 1806), the dedication in Italian read: “Heroic symphony, composed to honor the memory of one great man, and dedicated to His Serene Highness Prince Lobkowitz by Luigi van Beethoven, op. 55, No. III.

Presumably, the symphony was performed for the first time at the estate of Prince F. I. Lobkowitz, a well-known Viennese philanthropist, in the summer of 1804, while the first public performance took place on April 7 of the following year at the An der Wien Theater in the capital. The symphony was not successful. As one of the Viennese newspapers wrote, “the audience and Mr. van Beethoven, who acted as a conductor, were dissatisfied with each other that evening. For the public, the symphony is too long and difficult, and Beethoven is too impolite, because he did not even honor the applauding part of the audience with a bow - on the contrary, he considered the success insufficient. One of the listeners shouted from the gallery: “I will give a kreuzer so that it all ends!” True, as the same reviewer ironically explained, close friends of the composer claimed that “the symphony was not liked only because the public was not artistically educated enough to understand such a high beauty, and that in a thousand years it (the symphony), however, will action". Almost all contemporaries complained about the incredible length of the Third Symphony, putting forward the First and Second Symphonies as a criterion for imitation, to which the composer gloomily promised: “When I write a symphony lasting a whole hour, the Heroic will seem short” (it runs for 52 minutes). For he loved it more than all his symphonies.

Music

According to Rolland, the first part, perhaps, "was conceived by Beethoven as a kind of portrait of Napoleon, of course, completely different from the original, but such as his imagination painted him and how he would like to see Napoleon in reality, that is, as a genius of the revolution." This colossal sonata allegro is opened by two powerful chords from the entire orchestra, in which Beethoven used three instead of the usual two horns. The main theme entrusted to the cellos outlines a major triad - and suddenly stops at an alien, dissonant sound, but, having overcome the obstacle, continues its heroic development. The exposition is multi-dark, along with heroic images, bright lyrical images appear: in affectionate replicas of the linking part; in comparison of major - minor, wooden - side strings; in the motivic development that begins here, in the exposition. But the development, collisions, struggle are embodied especially brightly in the development, which for the first time grows to grandiose proportions: if in Beethoven's first two symphonies, like Mozart's, the development does not exceed two-thirds of the exposition, here the proportions are directly opposite. As Rolland figuratively writes, “we are talking about the musical Austerlitz, about the conquest of the empire. Beethoven's empire lasted longer than Napoleon's. Therefore, achieving it took more time, because he combined both the emperor and the army in himself ... Since the time of the Heroic, this part has served as the seat of a genius. At the center of development is a new theme, unlike any of the themes of the exposition: in a strict choral sound, in an extremely distant, moreover, minor key. The beginning of the reprise is striking: sharply dissonant, with the imposition of the functions of the dominant and tonic, it was perceived by contemporaries as false, a mistake by the horn player who entered at the wrong time (it is he who, against the backdrop of the hidden tremolo of the violins, intones the motive of the main part). Like development, the code that used to play a minor role grows: now it becomes the second development.

The sharpest contrast forms the second part. For the first time, the place of a melodious, usually major andante is occupied by a funeral march. Established during the French Revolution for mass actions in the squares of Paris, this genre is transformed by Beethoven into a grandiose epic, an eternal monument to the heroic era of the struggle for freedom. The grandeur of this epic is especially striking if one imagines a fairly modest composition of the Beethoven orchestra: only one horn was added to the instruments of the late Haydn and double basses were singled out as an independent part. The tripartite form is also extremely clear. The minor theme of the violins, accompanied by chords of strings and tragic peals of double basses, ending with a major refrain of strings, varies several times. The contrasting trio - a bright memory - with the theme of wind instruments along the tones of the major triad also varies and leads to a heroic apotheosis. The reprise of the funeral march is much more extended, with new variants, up to the fugato.

The scherzo of the third movement did not appear immediately: initially the composer conceived a minuet and brought it to a trio. But, as Rolland figuratively writes, studying a notebook of Beethoven's sketches, “here his pen bounces ... Under the table is a minuet and its measured grace! The ingenious boiling of the scherzo has been found!” What associations this music did not give rise to! Some researchers saw in it the resurrection of the ancient tradition - playing on the hero's grave. Others, on the contrary, are a harbinger of romanticism - an air dance of elves, like the scherzo created forty years later from Mendelssohn's music for Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. Contrasting in figurative terms, thematically, the third movement is closely connected with the previous ones - the same major triad calls are heard as in the main part of the first movement, and in the bright episode of the funeral march. The scherzo trio opens with the calls of three solo horns, giving rise to a sense of the romance of the forest.

The finale of the symphony, which the Russian critic A.N. Serov compared with a "holiday of peace", is full of victorious jubilation. His sweeping passages and powerful chords of the entire orchestra open, as if calling for attention. It focuses on the enigmatic theme, which is played in unison by the pizzicato strings. The string group begins a leisurely variation, polyphonic and rhythmic, when suddenly the theme goes into the bass, and it turns out that the main theme of the finale is completely different: a melodious country dance performed by woodwinds. It was this melody that was written by Beethoven almost ten years ago with a purely applied purpose - for the ball of artists. The same country dance was danced by people who had just been animated by the titan Prometheus in the finale of the ballet "The Creations of Prometheus." In the symphony, the theme inventively varies, changing the tonality, tempo, rhythm, orchestral colors and even the direction of movement (the theme in circulation), is compared either with the polyphonically developed initial theme, or with the new one - in the Hungarian style, heroic, minor, using the polyphonic technique of double counterpoint. As one of the first German reviewers wrote with some bewilderment, “the finale is long, too long; skillful, very skillful. Many of its virtues are somewhat hidden; something strange and sharp…” In the dizzyingly fast coda, the booming passages that opened the final sound again. Powerful chords of tutti complete the holiday with victorious rejoicing.

The Vienna Society of Music Lovers has preserved an authorized copy of the Third, Heroic, symphony, dated August 1804 (Napoleon was proclaimed emperor on May 18, 1804). A copy of the score of the symphony says: "Written in honor of Bonaparte." This destroys the beautiful legend about the angry composer - the opponent of all royal power, who allegedly removed the dedication to Napoleon Bonaparte when he learned that Napoleon had declared himself emperor. In reality, Beethoven was simply going on tour to Paris. After the trip fell through, Napoleon Bonaparte was no longer interested in the composer.

Two years later, in the first edition of 1806, the Third Symphony (the former Buonaparte Symphony) was given the name Heroic and was dedicated to Prince Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz.

See also:

• Konen V. History of foreign music from 1789 to the middle of the 19th century. Beethoven. "Heroic Symphony"
• Music of the French Revolution of the 18th century, Beethoven. Third Symphony
• E. Herriot. Beethoven's life. "Heroic"

Beethoven. Symphony No. 3 "Heroic"

Eternal images - the strength of the human spirit, creative power, the inevitability of death and the all-conquering intoxication of life - Beethoven combined together in the Heroic Symphony and from this created a poem about everything great that can be inherent in man ...

Beethoven's third symphony became a milestone in the development of European music. Already the first sounds of it sound like a call, as if Beethoven himself says to us: “Do you hear? I am different, and my music is different!” Then, in the seventh measure, the cellos enter, but Beethoven breaks the theme with a completely unexpected note, in a different key. Listen! Beethoven never created anything like it again. He broke with the past, freed himself from the overwhelming legacy of Mozart. From now on, he will be a revolutionary in music.

Beethoven composed his heroics at the age of 32, he began work on it less than a year after he left his bitter and hopeless "Heiligenstadt testament". He wrote the Third Symphony for several weeks, he wrote, blinded by hatred for his deafness, as if trying to drive it out with his titanic labor. This is indeed a titanic composition: the longest, most complex symphony of all that Beethoven created at that time. The public, connoisseurs and critics were confused, not knowing how to relate to his new creation.

“This long composition is ... a dangerous and unbridled fantasy ... which often lapses into genuine lawlessness ... There is too much brilliance and fantasy in it ... the sense of harmony is completely lost. If Beethoven continues to follow this path, it will be regrettable both for him and for the public. Thus wrote the critic of the respectable Universal Musical Gazette on February 13, 1805.

Beethoven's friends were more careful. Their opinion is stated in one of the reviews: “If this masterpiece does not please the ear now, it is only because the current public is not cultured enough to perceive all its effects; only a few thousand years later this work will be heard in all its splendor. In this confession, the words of Beethoven himself, retold by his friends, are clearly heard, only the period of several thousand years looks excessively exaggerated.

In 1793, the ambassador of the French Republic, General Bernadotte, arrived in Vienna. Beethoven met the diplomat through his friend, the famous violinist Kreutzer (Beethoven's Ninth Violin Sonata, dedicated to this musician, is called "Kreutzer"). Most likely, it was Bernadotte who led the composer to the idea of ​​perpetuating the image of Napoleon in music.

The sympathies of young Ludwig were on the side of the Republicans, so he took the idea with enthusiasm. Napoleon at that time was perceived as a messiah, capable of making mankind happy and fulfilling the hopes pinned on the revolution. And Beethoven also saw in him a great, unbending character and tremendous willpower. This was a hero to be honored.

Beethoven was well aware of the scale and nature of his symphony. He wrote it for Napoleon Bonaparte, whom he sincerely admired. Beethoven wrote Napoleon's name on the title page of the symphony.

But when Ferdinand Rees, the son of the conductor of the court orchestra in Bonn, who in October 1801 moved to Vienna, where he became Beethoven's student and chief assistant, informed him that Napoleon had been crowned and proclaimed himself emperor, Beethoven was furious.

According to Rhys, he exclaimed: “So this one, too, is the most ordinary person! From now on, he will trample underfoot all human rights for the sake of his ambition. He will put himself above everyone and become a tyrant!”

Beethoven began to black out the name of Napoleon from the title page with such fury that he tore through the paper. He dedicated the symphony to his generous patron Prince Lobkowitz, in whose palace several first performances of the work took place.

But when the symphony was printed, on the title page were the words: "Sinfonia Eroica ... per festeggiare il sovvenire di un grand Uomo" ("Heroic symphony ... in honor of a great man"). When Napoleon Bonaparte died, Beethoven was asked if he could write a funeral march on the death of the emperor. “I have already done it,” the composer replied, no doubt referring to the funeral march from the second movement of the Heroic Symphony. Beethoven was later asked which of his symphonies he loved the most. "Heroic," the composer replied.

There is a widespread and well-founded opinion that the Eroica Symphony marked the beginning of a pathetic period in Beethoven's work, anticipating the great masterpieces of his mature years. Among them are the Heroic Symphony itself, the Fifth Symphony, the Pastoral Symphony, the Seventh Symphony, the piano concerto The Emperor, the opera Leonora (Fidelio), as well as piano sonatas and works for string quartet that differed from earlier ones. works of much greater complexity and duration. These immortal works were created by a composer who managed to courageously survive and overcome his deafness - the most terrible catastrophe that befalls a musician.

It is interesting…

Horn was wrong!

Four measures before the reprise, during the quiet playing of the strings, the first horn suddenly enters, repeating the beginning of the theme. During the first performance of the symphony, Ferdinand Ries, standing next to Beethoven, was so amazed by this introduction that he scolded the horn player, stating that he had entered at the wrong time. Rhys recalled that Beethoven gave him a severe scolding and could not forgive him for a long time.

The instrument that plays such a big role in the Eroica Symphony - of course, not only thanks to the "off" note, but also to the ingenious solo part of the horns in the third movement of the work - in Beethoven's time differed significantly from the horn that we know today, first of all , the old horn did not have valves, so to change the key, the musicians had to change the position of the lips each time or put their right hand into the bell, changing the pitch of the sounds. The sound of the horn was sharp and hoarse, it was extremely difficult to play it.

That is why, for a true understanding of Beethoven's intent of Heroica, music lovers should visit a performance that uses the instruments of the time.

Sounds of music

The public premiere of Beethoven's Third Symphony took place in Vienna in 1805. Nothing like this people have ever heard, it was the beginning of a new era in music.

The first to hear the new symphony in December 1804 were the guests of Prince Lobkowitz, one of Beethoven's patrons. The prince was a music lover, had his own orchestra, so the premiere took place in his palace, almost in a chamber setting. Connoisseurs time after time enjoyed the symphony in the palace of the prince, who did not let go of the work. Only in April of the following year did the general public get acquainted with the "heroic symphony". It is not surprising that she was seriously puzzled by the previously unprecedented scale and novelty of the composition.

The grandiose first part is based on the heroic theme, which undergoes many metamorphoses, apparently depicting the path of the hero.

According to Rolland, the first part, perhaps, “was conceived by Beethoven as a kind of portrait of Napoleon, of course, completely different from the original, but the way his imagination painted him, and how he would like to see Napoleon in reality, that is, as a genius of the revolution” .

The second movement, the famous funeral march, forms a rare contrast. For the first time, the place of a melodious, usually major andante is occupied by a funeral march. Established during the French Revolution for mass actions in the squares of Paris, this genre is transformed by Beethoven into a grandiose epic, an eternal monument to the heroic era of the struggle for freedom.

The third movement is the scherzo. The word is translated from Italian means "joke".

The scherzo of the third movement did not appear immediately: the composer originally conceived a minuet and brought it to a trio. But, as Rolland figuratively writes, studying a notebook of Beethoven's sketches, “here his pen bounces ... Under the table is a minuet and its measured grace! The ingenious boiling of the scherzo has been found!” What associations this music did not give rise to! Some researchers saw in it the resurrection of the ancient tradition - playing on the hero's grave. Others, on the contrary, are a harbinger of romanticism - an air dance of elves, like the scherzo created forty years later from Mendelssohn's music for Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Many surprises await performers and listeners, Beethoven especially willingly experiments with rhythm.

The fourth movement of the symphony is based on the so-called "Promethean" theme. In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a titan who stole fire from the forge of Vulcan to bring it to people. Beethoven dedicated the ballet The Creations of Prometheus to him, from the finale of which the musical theme came to the symphony. True, Beethoven still used it in Fifteen Variations with Fugue for Piano. The finale of the symphony is built as a chain of variations. At first, Beethoven takes only the bass voice from the theme and develops it, then the melody enters in order to achieve stormy jubilation in the process of development: the “Promethean” finale of the “Heroic Symphony” is really full of heavenly fire.

The finale of the symphony, which the Russian critic A.N. Serov compared with a "holiday of peace", is full of victorious jubilation...

Presentation

Included:
1. Presentation, ppsx;
2. Sounds of music:
Beethoven. Symphony No. 3 - I. Allegro con brio, mp3;
Beethoven. Symphony No. 3 - II. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai, mp3;
Beethoven. Symphony No. 3 - III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace, mp3;
Beethoven. Symphony No. 3 - IV. finale. Allegro molto, mp3;
3. Accompanying article, docx.

On April 7, 1805, the premiere of the Third Symphony took place in Vienna. Ludwig van Beethoven- a work that the musician dedicated to his idol Napoleon, but soon "crossed out" the name of the commander from the manuscript. Since then, the symphony has been called simply "heroic" - under this name we also know it. AiF.ru tells the story of one of Beethoven's most popular compositions.

Life after deafness

When Beethoven turned 32, he was going through a severe life crisis. Tinitis (inflammation of the inner ear) practically deafened the composer, and he could not come to terms with such a twist of fate. On the advice of doctors, Beethoven moved to a quiet and peaceful place - the small town of Heiligenstadt, but soon realized that his deafness was incurable. Deeply disappointed, desperate and on the verge of suicide, the composer wrote a letter to the brothers, in which he spoke of his suffering - now this document is called the Heiligenstadt testament.

Months later, however, Beethoven was able to overcome his depression and return to music. He began to write the Third Symphony.

“This one is also an ordinary person.”

Ludwig van Beethoven. Engraving from the collection of the French National Library in Paris. Not later than 1827. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

When starting work, the composer confessed to his friends that he had high hopes for his work - Beethoven was not completely satisfied with his previous works, so he "bet" on a new composition.

The author decided to dedicate such an important symphony to an exceptional person - Napoleon Bonaparte, who at that time was the idol of the youth. Work on the work was carried out in Vienna in 1803-1804, and in March 1804 Beethoven completed his masterpiece. But after a couple of months, an event occurred that significantly influenced the author and forced him to rename the work - Bonaparte ascended the throne.

This is how another composer and pianist recalled that incident, Ferdinand Rees: "Like me, so are his others ( Beethoven) closest friends often saw this symphony rewritten in the score on his desk; at the top on the title page was the word “Buonaparte”, and below: “Luigi van Beethoven”, and not a word more ... I was the first to bring him the news that Bonaparte had declared himself emperor. Beethoven flew into a rage and exclaimed: “This one is also an ordinary person! Now he will trample on all human rights with his feet, follow only his own ambition, he will put himself above all others and become a tyrant!’” After that, the composer tore up the title page of his manuscript and gave the symphony a new title: “Eroica” (“Heroic”).

Revolution in four parts

The first listeners of the symphony were the guests at the evening Prince Franz Lobkowitz, patron and patron of Beethoven - for them the work was performed in December 1804. Six months later, on April 7, 1805, the essay was presented to the general public. The premiere took place at the An der Wien Theatre, and, as the press later wrote, the composer and the audience were dissatisfied with each other. The listeners considered the symphony too long and difficult to understand, and Beethoven, who was counting on a resounding triumph, did not even nod to the applauding audience.

The composition (in the photo is the title page of the Symphony No. 3) really differed from what the musician's contemporaries were accustomed to. The author made his symphony four-part and tried to “draw” pictures of the revolution with sounds. In the first part, Beethoven depicted the tense struggle for freedom in all colors: here there is drama, perseverance, and the triumph of victory. The second part, called "The Funeral March", is more tragic - the author mourns the heroes who fell during the battle. Then the overcoming of sorrow sounds, and the whole grandiose celebration in honor of the victory ends.

Funeral march for Napoleon

When Beethoven had already written nine symphonies, he was often asked which he considers his favorite. Third, the composer invariably answered. It was after her that the stage began in the musician's life, which he himself called the "new path", although Beethoven's contemporaries could not appreciate the creation at its true worth.

They say that when Napoleon died, the 51-year-old composer was asked if he would like to write a funeral march in memory of the emperor. To which Beethoven found: "I already did it." The musician hinted at the "Funeral March" - the second movement of his favorite symphony.

Already being the author of eight symphonies (that is, until the creation of the last, the 9th), when asked which of them he considers the best, Beethoven called the 3rd. Obviously, he had in mind the fundamental role played by this symphony. "Heroic" opened not only the central period in the work of the composer himself, but also a new era in the history of symphonic music - the symphony of the 19th century, while the first two symphonies are to a large extent connected with the art of the 18th century, with the work of Haydn and Mozart.

The fact of the alleged dedication of the symphony to Napoleon, whom Beethoven perceived as the ideal of a national leader, is known. However, as soon as he learned about the proclamation of Napoleon as Emperor of France, the composer angrily destroyed the original dedication.

The extraordinary figurative brightness of the 3rd symphony prompted many researchers to search for a special programmatic idea in its music. At the same time, there is no connection with specific historical events here - the music of the symphony generally conveys the heroic, freedom-loving ideals of the era, the very atmosphere of the revolutionary time.

The four parts of the sonata-symphony cycle are four acts of a single instrumental drama: Part I draws a panorama of the heroic battle with its pressure, drama and victorious triumph; Part 2 develops the heroic idea in a tragic way: it is dedicated to the memory of fallen heroes; the content of part 3 is overcoming grief; Part 4 is a grandiose picture in the spirit of the mass festivities of the French Revolution.

Much has the 3rd symphony in common with the art of revolutionary classicism: the citizenship of ideas, the pathos of a heroic deed, the monumentality of forms. Compared to the 5th symphony, the 3rd is more epic, it tells about the fate of an entire nation. An epic scope distinguishes all parts of this symphony, one of the most monumental in the entire history of classical symphonism.

1 part

Truly grandiose are the proportions of the first part, which A.N. Serov called "eagle allegro". main topic(Es-dur, cello), preceded by two powerful orchestral tutti chords, begins with generalized intonations, in the spirit of mass revolutionary genres. However, already in measure 5, the wide, free theme seems to run into an obstacle - the altered sound "cis", emphasized by syncopations and a deviation in g-moll. This brings a shade of conflict into the courageous, heroic theme. In addition, the topic is extremely dynamic, it is immediately given in the process of rapid development. Its structure is like a growing wave, rushing to the climax, which coincides with the beginning of the side part. This "wave" principle is maintained throughout the exposition.

Side party done in a very unconventional way. It contains not one, but a whole group of topics. The first theme combines the functions of a binder (tonal instability) and a side theme (creating a lyrical contrast to the main theme). The 3rd secondary is related to the first: in the same key B-dur, and the same melodious lyrical, although more enlightened and dreamy.

2nd side theme contrasts with the extreme. It has a heroic-dramatic character, imbued with impetuous energy. Mind support. VII 7 makes it unstable. The contrast is enhanced by tonal and orchestral colors (2 side theme sounds in g - moll for strings, and I and 3 - in major for woodwinds).

Another theme, of a jubilantly upbeat character, arises in final party. It is related to both the main party and the victorious images of the finale.

Like exposuredevelopmentit is multi-dark, almost all themes are developed in it (only the 3rd secondary theme, the most melodious, is missing, and, as it were, a sad melody of oboes appears instead, which was not in the exposition). The themes are given in conflict interaction with each other, their appearance changes profoundly. So, for example, the theme of the main part at the beginning of development sounds gloomy and tense (in minor keys, lower register). A little later, a 2nd secondary theme joins it contrapuntally, reinforcing the overall dramatic tension.

Another example is the heroicfugato, leading to a general climax, based on the 1st side theme. Her soft, smooth intonations are replaced here by wide moves to a sixth and an octave.

The general climax itself is built on the convergence of various exposition motifs containing an element of syncopation (two-part motifs in three-part meter, sharp chords from the final part). The turning point in the dramatic development was the appearance of the theme of oboes - a completely new episode within the framework of the sonata development. It is this gentle and sad music that becomes the result of the previous powerful pressure. The new theme sounds twice: in e-moll and f-moll, after which the process of “restoring” the images of the exposition begins: the main theme returns to major, its line straightens out, intonations become decisive and offensive.

The intonation changes in the main theme continue intoreprise. Already in the second conduction of the initial nucleus, the descending semitone intonation disappears. Instead, an ascent to the dominant is given and a stop on it. The tonal coloring of the theme also changes: instead of a deviation in g-moll, bright major colors shine. Like the development, the coda of Part I is one of the most grandiose in terms of volume and dramatically intense. In a more concise form, it repeats the path of development, but the result of this path is different: not a mournful climax in a minor key, but the assertion of a victorious heroic image. The final section of the coda creates an atmosphere of popular celebration, a joyful impulse, which is facilitated by a rich orchestral texture with the hum of timpani and brass fanfare.

part 2

Part II (c-moll) - switches figurative development to the area of ​​high tragedy. The composer called it the "Funeral March". Music causes a number of associations - with the funeral processions of the French Revolution, the paintings of Jacques Louis David ("Death of Marat"). The main theme of the march - the melody of a mournful procession - combines the rhetorical figures of exclamation (repetition of sounds) and crying (second sighs) with "jerky" syncopations, quiet sonority, minor colors. The mourning theme alternates with another, masculine melody in Es-dur, which is perceived as a glorification of the hero.

The composition of the march is based on the complex 3 x-part form characteristic of this genre with a major light trio (C-dur). However, the 3-part form is filled with a through symphonic development: the recapitulation, starting with the usual repetition of the initial theme, unexpectedly turns into f - moll, where it unfoldsfugatoon a new topic (but related to the main one). The music is filled with tremendous dramatic tension, the orchestral sonority is growing. This is the climax of the whole piece. In general, the volume of the reprise is twice as large as the first part. Another new image - the lyrical cantilena - appears in the coda (Des - dur): a "personal" note is heard in the music of civil grief.

part 3

The most striking contrast in the entire symphony is between the Funeral March and the following Scherzo, whose folk images are preparing the Finale. Scherzo music (Es-dur, a complex 3-part form) is all in constant movement, impulse. Its main theme is a rapidly non-existing stream of strong-willed invocative motives. In harmony - an abundance of ostinato basses, organ points, forming original-sounding quart harmonies. Trio filled with the poetry of nature: the fanfare theme of the three solo horns is reminiscent of the signals of hunting horns.

part 4

Part IV (Es-dur, double variations) is the culmination of the entire symphony, the affirmation of the idea of ​​a national triumph. The laconic introduction sounds like a heroic call to fight. After the tumultuous energy of this entry 1- Itopicvariations is perceived especially mysteriously, mysteriously: the ambiguity of the modal mood (there is no tonic third), almost constantpp, pauses, transparency of orchestration (strings in unison pizzicato) - all this creates an atmosphere of understatement, uncertainty.

Before the appearance of the 2nd theme of the finale, Beethoven gives two ornamental variations on the 1st theme. Their music gives the impression of a gradual awakening, "blooming": the rhythmic pulsation revives, the texture consistently thickens, while the melody moves to a higher register.

2nd theme variations has a folk, song and dance character, it sounds bright and joyful with oboes and clarinets. Simultaneously with it, the 1st theme sounds in the bass, horns and low strings. In the future, both themes of the final sound either simultaneously or separately (the 1st is more often in the bass, like the basso ostinato theme). They undergo figurative transformations. There are brightly contrasting episodes - some of a developmental nature, others are so updated intonation that they give the impression of completely independent thematics. A striking example is g-mallheroicmarchon the 1st theme in the bass. This is the central episode of the final, the personification of the image of the struggle (6th variation). Another sample is the 9th variation, based on the 2nd theme: slow tempo, quiet sonority, plagal harmonies completely change it. Now she is perceived as the personification of a lofty ideal. The music of this chorale also includes a new gentle melody of the oboe and violins, close to romantic lyrics.

Structurally and tonally, the variations are grouped in such a way that sonata patterns can be seen in the variational cycle: the 1st theme is perceived as main party, the first two variations - as binder, 2nd topic - how side(but in the main key). Role development performs the second group of variations (from 4 to 7), which is distinguished by the use of secondary keys with a predominance of minor and the use of polyphonic development (the 4th, c-moll variation is a fugato).

With the return of the main key (8th variation, another fugato) beginsreprisalchapter. Here the general culmination of the entire variation cycle is reached - in variation 10, where an image of grandiose rejoicing arises. The 2nd theme sounds here "at the top of its voice", monumentally and solemnly. But this is not yet the end: on the eve of the jubilant coda, an unexpected tragic “breakdown” occurs (the 11th variation, echoing the climax of the Funeral March). And only after thatcodegives the final life-affirming conclusion.

In 1804, Beethoven completed the Third Symphony Es-dur op. 55. Her appearance marked a revolution in the art of classicism. “In this symphony ... for the first time all the immense, amazing power of Beethoven's creative genius was revealed” (Tchaikovsky). In it, the composer finally overcame dependence on the aesthetics of his predecessors and found his own, individual style. The Third Symphony is a brilliant symphonic embodiment of images of revolutionary struggle and victory. Beethoven intended to dedicate it to Napoleon, who was for him in those years the ideal leader of the people.

In March 1804, the symphony was completed, and the title page of the manuscript bore the title:

"Great Symphony ... Bonaparte."

But when the inhabitants of Vienna learned that Napoleon had proclaimed himself emperor, Beethoven, indignant at the betrayal of the one who seemed to him the hero of the revolution, refused his initiation. On a new sheet, instead of the previous title, a brief inscription appeared: "Eroica" ("Heroic").

The first public performance of the Heroic Symphony took place in a cold, almost hostile atmosphere. The aristocratic audience was shocked by the "brute" force of this symphony, its emphasized rigidity.

But some of the democratic public also experienced some bewilderment, which subsequently raised Beethoven's work to the shield. The symphony seemed incoherent, too long and tedious. The author was reproached for originality, advised him to return to the manner of his early works.

These first impressions were greatly influenced by the extraordinary depth and complexity of the work, which was by no means designed for the power of a direct, instantaneous impact. The contemporary audience of Beethoven was too puzzled by the stylistic novelty of the Third Symphony and failed to embrace its gigantic architectonics, to understand the logic of musical and dramatic development.

The intonation warehouse of the "Heroic", the principles of formation, the unexpected variety of expressive means, unusually sharp, restless, as if deliberately devoid of grace and sophistication - everything in this work stunned and frightened with its novelty. It was only later that more sensitive and advanced listeners caught the grandiose plan of the Third Symphony, its inner unity and powerful expressiveness.

The courage and complexity of the ideological conception are directly reflected in the innovation of musical techniques.

The unity of the idea is manifested already in the structure of the symphonic cycle. The idea of ​​a work that could be called a "civil drama" unfolds gradually. Each of the four traditional parts is perceived as the action of a single drama with a climax at the end.

In the first movement, Allegro con brio, Beethoven creates a picture of a titanic, intense struggle. The second movement, "The Funeral March", gives it a tragic aspect. The third, Scherzo, is a kind of transition from the emotional intensity of the first two "acts" to the vital, joyful atmosphere of the finale. The fourth part is the apotheosis. The heroic struggle ends with victorious rejoicing.

The scale of the first movement, which A. N. Serov called "eagle's Allegro", is truly grandiose (about 900 measures). They are caused by intense internal conflict. The heat of struggle, explosions of energy, courageous overcoming of obstacles alternate with images of exhaustion, reflection, and suffering. The discharge of emotional tension occurs only at the very end.

This part of the symphony is distinguished both by the novelty of the themes and by the new type of sonata development.

Two powerful tutti chords form its introduction. A harsh, impetuous energy is heard in this most concise of all Beethoven's introductions.

Even more than in the Second Symphony, the main theme is devoid of immediate beauty, intonational and structural completeness. Her artistic logic is in internal conflict, in a developmental dynamic character. It is these features that give strength to the sharp artistic impact of the theme, which at first glance seems somewhat impersonal, overly general and therefore not very expressive.

A fanfare-like theme begins to attract attention only from the moment of violation of its calmly measured sound, from the moment the first obstacle appears - a sharply dissonant sound, emphasized by syncopations. Her intonation concentration is remarkable. It contains not only the germs of all thematism*,

* For example, chord fanfare of the first motive, which embodies the actively heroic element, is manifested in both themes of the side game, and in the connecting one, and at the beginning of development. Falling second intonation, expressing a conflicting beginning, is used in all lyrical themes. It is based on a prelude to a side theme, the second side, final, a new episode in development. From dissonant interval(D - C-sharp) all sharply dissonant chords grow at the most acute and tense moments of development, such as, for example, before the appearance of the final theme and at the climax of the development. Syncopation, expressing a restless beginning, permeate the music in the most tense places, often combined with dissonances: in the development of the main, first and second secondary themes, the final chords of the exposition and very many moments of development, in particular, in its culmination in the episode (e-moll).

but also outlined the principle of development that dominates the sonata allegro.

Its dynamic nature is due to the fact that it is based on motivic development, and the instrumentation enhances the thematic growth. The theme begins in low registers by the cellos, in muted tones and, gradually mastering an ever wider sound range, at the moment of the thematic culmination reaches a powerful orchestral tutti:

The main party is extremely dynamic. It develops like a growing wave. Its peak coincides with the beginning of the linking party. And at the moment when her emotional tension dries up on fortissimo tutti, a new theme appears and begins its run.

The entire sonata exposition is built as a huge chain of successively growing waves. The crest of each wave coincides with the beginning of the next one.

All topics go through this phase of growing development. The tension is steadily increasing, the highest point is at the very end of the exposure.

Each of the traditional three parties (main, secondary, final) turns into an independent detailed section, as it were. Each is distinguished by intonation richness and internal conflict, each has a tense, purposeful development.

The thematic material contains a lot of sharply expressive details. Victorious exclamations, an alarming rustle, restless movement, a plaintive plea, sublime meditation are heard. The intonational means of early symphonic music turned out to be insufficient. They were replaced by restless rhythms, unexpected melodic turns and dissonant sounds.

It was in the Third Symphony that Beethoven first needed to introduce into the score a huge number of additional dynamic designations and strokes, emphasizing the new intonational rhythmic structure of the themes. It was here that he widely used "fractional" instrumentation, which enhances the expressiveness and detail of intonations.

The external contours of the sonata form have also changed radically. Thanks to the "wave-like" development, thanks to the intonational brightness of each measure, the previously accepted opposition of independent themes and connecting transitional elements disappeared.

In no other of his symphonic works (with the exception of the Ninth Symphony) did Beethoven use the techniques of contrapuntal layering and polyphonic development so extensively, especially in development.

Among all the classicist symphonies, including the works of Beethoven himself, the development of the "Heroic" stands out for its gigantic volume (about 600 bars), intonation richness, and composer's skill. The variety of thematic elements of the exposition, their contrapuntal opposition and fugue development reveal new aspects of topics already familiar from the exposition. One is struck by the purposefulness of the movement of this gigantic development, its most complex, but strictly logical modulation plan*.

* Starting with the dominant, Beethoven gradually pushes the main key away. The climax, that is, the episode on a new theme, is given in the distant key of e-moll. Then, along the quarto-quint "spiral", Beethoven consistently brings reprises to the tonic.

It preserves and develops the principles of dynamic rises and falls that are characteristic of the exposition.

The approach to the highest point is especially tense. Here the most unstable, dissonant sounds are persistently repeated. Terrible, mighty shouts portend a catastrophe.

But at the most acute moment, the tension dries up. Orchestral chords fall silent, and on a quiet, rustling background, in the distant key of e-moll, a new, melodious theme arises:

This gentle and sad music contrasts sharply with the rebellious main theme. And it is precisely this that is the culmination of the previous powerful injection.

At the very end of development, the sounds gradually fade away. On the double pianissimo, on the tremolo of the violins, against an unusual harmonic background (imposition of the dominant on the tonic), the beginning of the main theme appears from afar and muffled. And suddenly two powerful tutti chords crash into these fading sounds, announcing the beginning of the reprise.

The reprise is somewhat modified compared to the exposition. The main theme is devoid of the former elements of rapid development. Pastorality is even heard in it (the timbre of the horn, the key is F-dur, the second carrying out of the theme in Des-dur, that is, in a calm, colorful juxtaposition). After the intense development of the initial dynamic version of the main theme, it would be dramatically out of place.

The huge coda (141 measures) is, in essence, the second development. Here, finally, comes the denouement of the struggle. It is only in the very last section that the sharp, restless voices disappear for the first time. In the conclusion of the code, the former familiar intonations from sharply conflicted and agitated turn into calm, harmonious and naively joyful. The obstacles have been overcome. The fight ended in victory. Volitional tension is replaced by a feeling of relief and joy.

It is unthinkable to perform this music in the manner of the classicist style of the 18th century. Instead of the ordered conventional forms of the classicist tragedy, Shakespearean drama with its stormy and deep passions is played out on the stage.

The second part of the "Heroic Symphony" is one of the most outstanding works in the world philosophical and tragic lyrics. Beethoven called it the "Funeral March", emphasizing the connection between the general idea of ​​the symphony and the heroic images of the revolution.

As an invariable "program" element, marching rhythms are heard here: they serve as a constant background and organically enter the main theme. An obvious sign of the march is the complex three-part form with a contrasting middle episode, first used by Beethoven in the slow part of the symphony.

However, the images of civil pathos are refracted in this work through the mood of lyrical meditation. Many features of the "Funeral March" date back to the philosophical lyrics of Bach. A new in-depth expressiveness is introduced by the polyphonized presentation of the main theme and its consistent development (especially the fugato in the reprise); muffled sound (sotto voce pianissimo), slow tempo (Adagio assai) and free “multifaceted” rhythm play an important role. On the basis of the genre of the march, a philosophical lyrical poem grows - a tragic reflection on the death of the hero *.

* Beethoven's free interpretation of this genre becomes apparent when comparing the music of the second movement of the symphony with the marches from Beethoven's Twelfth Sonata or Chopin's B Minor Sonata.

The ingenious simplicity of the main theme creates the impression that it immediately arose in the mind of the composer. Meanwhile, Beethoven found it after a long search, gradually cutting off from the first version everything superfluous, general, trivial. In an extremely laconic form, this theme embodied many intonations of a sublimely tragic plan, characteristic of its time.

* Wed. with the themes of Mozart's c-moll quintet, the slow movement of Haydn's Es-Dur ("London") symphony, Beethoven's c-minor piano concerto, his Pathetique Sonata, not to mention Gluck's Orpheus.

Its proximity to the intonations of speech is combined with magnificent melodic completeness. A stingy restraint and severity, along with a steady internal movement, gives it an enormous expressive power:

The depth of mood, emotional growth are conveyed not by external dramatic effects, but by internal development, the intensity of musical thought. It is noteworthy that in the entire first movement the sound of the orchestra does not exceed pianissimo and piano.

The internal growth of the theme is expressed, firstly, by the movement of the melody to its climax in the sixth measure; thus, while maintaining the external structural symmetry, the melodic development breaks the effect of balance, causing a keen sense of gravity towards the top. Secondly, the polyphonic opposition of extreme melodic voices moving in a contrasting direction creates a feeling of expanding space and great internal tension. For the first time in the history of a classicist symphony, the four-voice composition of the string group turns out to be insufficient, and Beethoven writes an independent and significant part for the double bass, contrapunctuating with the melody of the upper voice. The low, muffled timbre of the double basses further thickens the harsh, gloomy tones in which the tragic melody is colored.

The development of the whole movement is characterized by powerful contrasting oppositions and continuity of movement. There is no mechanical repetition in this tripartite form. The reprises are dynamized, that is, they are the peaks of the previous stages of development. Each time the theme receives a new aspect, absorbs new expressive elements.

The episode C-Dur, full of light, heroic mood, contrasts to the maximum with the tragic main theme. Here the connections with genre music are clear, military drums and trumpets are heard, a picture of a solemn procession appears almost visually;

After a bright episode, the return to a mournful mood is perceived with increased tragic force. The reprise is the climax of the whole movement. Its volume (more than 140 bars compared to 70 bars of the first part and 35 bars of the middle episode), intensive melodic, including fugue, development (which also contains elements of the middle episode), an increase in the sound of the orchestra, in which all registers are “included”, creates a strong dramatic effect.

In the code, images of inconsolable grief are expressed with inexorable truthfulness. The last "broken" fragments of the theme evoke associations with intonations of sobbing:

Many outstanding works in music of the 19th century are successively connected with the "Funeral March" of the Third Symphony. Allegro from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, the "Funeral March" from Berlioz's "Romeo and Juliet", from Wagner's "Death of the Gods", the funeral ode from Bruckner's Seventh Symphony and many others are the "descendants" of this brilliant work. Nevertheless, Beethoven's "Funeral March" in its artistic power remains an unsurpassed expression of civil sorrow in music.

Between the picture of the hero’s burial, behind whose coffin “all mankind goes” (R. Rolland), and the jubilant picture of the victory in the finale, Beethoven places an interlude in the form of a brightly original scherzo.

Like a barely audible rustle, his rustling theme begins, built on a subtle play of cross-accents and repeated sounds:

Gradually growing to a jubilant fanfare, it prepares the sound of a genre trio. The theme of the trio, in turn, throws a bridge from the heroic fanfare intonations of the previous parts to the main theme of the folk apotheosis - the finale.

In terms of scale and dramatic character, the finale of the Eroica Symphony can only be compared with the finale of the Ninth Symphony, composed twenty years later. The finale of the "Heroic" is the culmination of the symphony, an expression of the idea of ​​public rejoicing, which makes one recall the finales of Handel's civil oratorios or Gluck's operatic tragedies.

But in this symphony, the apotheosis is not given in the form of a static picture of the glorification of the winners *.

* Finales of this kind include the final chorus from Handel's Samson, the final scene of Gluck's Iphigenia en Aulis, the coda from the overture to Beethoven's Egmont, the finale of Berlioz's Funeral-Triumphal Symphony.

Everything here is in development, with internal contrasts and a logical peak.

As the main theme for this movement, Beethoven chose a country dance written in 1795 for the annual ball of artists *.

* Beethoven used this theme in the ballet The Creations of Prometheus (1800-1801) and again as a theme for the piano variations op. 35 (1802).

The deep nationality of the finale is determined not only by the nature of this theme, but also by the type of its development. The finale is based on an old form that combines the "ostinato bass" with variations, which was already established in the music of folk festivals and rituals in Western Europe in the 16th-17th centuries *.

* The appearance of each dancing couple was characterized by a new variation, while the bass figure remained the same for all.

This connection was sensitively caught by V.V. Stasov, who saw in the finale a picture of “a national holiday, where various groups replace one another: either ordinary people, then the military are coming, then women, then children ...”.

However, Beethoven symphonized spontaneous forms. The very theme of the ostinato bass, summarizing the intonations of the heroic images of all parts of the work, takes place in different voices and keys:

As for the country dance melody, layered on the theme of the ostinato bass, it undergoes not just variational changes, but a truly symphonic development. Creating a new image in each variation, colliding with other, contrasting themes, including the marching "Hungarian":

it gradually wins the way to apotheosis. The dramatic richness of the finale, its grandiose forms, jubilant sound balance the tension and tragedy of the first two parts.

Beethoven called the Eroica Symphony his favorite brainchild. When eight of the nine symphonies had already been completed, he continued to prefer the "Heroic" to all others.