DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (November 4, 2020)
From the very beginning, Beethoven composed his music with an eye towards bring positive change through it. In the case of his Symphony No. 7, in A major, Op. 92, he took that change to a new level: as the actual subject of musical composition.
The symphony was premiered in Vienna on December 8th, 1813, with Beethoven conducting, at a charity concert for wounded soldiers from the Battle of Hanau, fought from October 30-31, 1813, between Karl Philipp von Wrede's Austro-Bavarian corps and Napoleon's retreating French during the War of the Sixth Coalition. Although Austria lost in this minor battle, it was fought against a fleeing and defeated French army. Beethoven, who had earlier admired Napoleon, rejected him intensely after he declared himself emperor in 1804. Beethoven is reported to have once said that if he knew as much about war as he did about music, he could, and would have defeated Napoleon.
The 7th Symphony has an exuberant and victorious quality to it that is noticed by all. Even though the final defeat of Napoleon still laid ahead, the tide began to turn in 1812, with Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia, and the decimation of his Grand Armee. That may have influenced Beethoven, as he composed the symphony in 1811-1812.
The orchestra included the famous (at the time) musicians and composers Ignaz Schuppanzigh, Louis Spohr, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Antonio Salieri, Anton Romberg, a young Ignaz Moscheles, and double bassist Domenico Dragonetti. Italian guitar virtuoso Giuliani played cello.
Many eminent composers were puzzled by the composition. Carl Maria von Weber is reported to have claimed that Beethoven was ready for the madhouse (although there is no substantiation of him actually saying that, his earlier scathing critiques of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony suggests that it may be accurate). Louis Spohr described Beethoven's conducting:
"as a sforzando occurred, he tore his arms with a great vehemence asunder ... at the entrance of a forte he jumped in the air."
At a later performance in Leipzig, Clara Schumann's father Friedrich Wieck, a fan of Beethoven’s, questioned whether the composer was drunk when he composed the last movement. The second movement alone, was an instant success and had to be repeated.
THE FIRST MOVEMENT
This symphony really is revolutionary. It does not start with a theme. If you think it does, we challenge you to hum it from memory. It starts with a geometric construction in music. We established earlier, in the opening of the Ninth Symphony, the role of the interval of the fifth, and its inversion—the fourth, in establishing and changing keys (May 5, 2020 post). Beethoven's introduction for Symphony No. 7 starts with a series of four-note descending phrases, based on the fifth, passed from one woodwind instrument to another, accompanied by upward-rushing two-octave scales. If you can play a simple line on any instrument, please play the following abstract of descending tones:
A E A -, E B E -, D A D -, G D G -, C G C -, F C F.
The introduction to the movement goes through the keys of A major, D major, C major, and F major, which are not considered closely related keys. However, the above succession of fifths leads you through all of those keys. It is important to note that even as we point out the geometric construction of the introduction, Beethoven’s primary motive here is not the development of a theme, but rather, a process of change itself.
Now, listen to the opening of the movement:
It begins in A, goes through these changes, and it is only at 1:15 in this recording, that we finally hear a theme: an elegant dance-like theme, in C major (which soon repeats in F).
We are still in the introduction though! The movement proper does not start until about 3:45, in a new time signature of 6/8. It is preceded by the most unusual thing: a single note E (the dominant), is bounced around and repeated over 60 times for 10 measures (starting about 3:05 in this recording).
When Beethoven introduces a major change, he does not want you to miss it!
After what is the longest introduction ever composed for a symphony up until that point, the main body of the movement begins with a dotted-note rhythm, starting at 3:45, and goes through rapid changes, including the same keys of A, D, C and F major, including dynamic contrasts from very quiet to explosive, often at the same time as key changes, with tympani (kettle drums) rolling and singing as they never have.
What holds it together though, is the relentless dotted rhythm. Many have noticed the dance-like quality of the symphony, (although most don't go as far as Richard Wagner who danced all the way through it, and called it "the apotheosis of the dance.") Such dance-like rhythms lend a celebratory quality to the symphony, and a sense of unity.
The key to the symphony's optimism though, is not dance, but CHANGE! Perhaps Beethoven’s sense of possibility and change with the impending defeat of Napoleon, informed this symphony. It is unique.
The Coda (tail) builds tension in a famous passage of 21-measures, which repeats a two-bar passage 10-times over a single pedal point of, again, the note E, covering four octaves, starting at 10:20 (much later Tchaikovsky wrote that only Beethoven could have made that work.)
Today we are used to Beethoven, and we sometimes do not hear the surprises. We hope that this post’s short guide gives our readers an idea of just how revolutionary this symphony was, and why even very competent musicians found it so challenging.