Analysis 1st Movement Beethoven's Eroica Symphony - Essay Example

The symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B flat, 2 bassoons, 3 horns in E flat and C, 2 trumpets in E flat and C, timpani and strings. The symphony was completed in late 1804 and premiered privately in summer 1804 at castle Eisenberg of Prince Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz who was a patron of Beethoven. The first public performance was given at Theater an der Wien (Vienna) on April 7, 1805 and was conducted by Beethoven himself. Among the four parts of the symphony, the first movement (Allegro con brio) stands out in its grandness and innovations.

The movement showed exceptional compoition technique and a dramitic change in style compared to the other ccontemporary works of the period. Burnam describes the first movemet of Eroica as, It is primarily this movement that has been responsible for the stature of Eroica, for its role as turning point of music history. The unexampled drama of this movement single-handedly altered the fate of sonata form, the defining form of the classical style, not to mention that of the symphony.1 The following essay will attempt to analyse the first movement of the Eroica. . A movement written in sonata form falls into three sections called exposition, development and recapitulation.

Composers might also add an introduction and an ending coda. Although first moment of Eroica is in sonata form, it does show some differences from the conventional form of other composers. The first movement extends beyond the length of most symphonies of the time spans 691 measures. Throughout the work Beethoven integrates new ways of conveying his ideas. Also, there is no formal introduction to the moment as was common at the time. Instead of this there are two abrupt major chords and the immediate announcement of the hero theme.

In the first movement, Beethoven indicates that the exposition is to be repeated which was again unconventional at the time. The overall weight of the movement is towards the end where the large coda climaxes the movement. Again, unlike major previous movements, the development of the first movement of the Eroica is longer than its exposition. In previous classical sonatas, the development section served as a transitional pathway from exposition to the recapitulation. However, in Eroica's first movement, the 246 development section exceeded the exposition by more than 100 measures.

The unique characteristic of the Eroica Symphony is the incorporation into musical form of death, destructiveness, anxiety, and aggression, as terrors to be transcended within the work of art. Eroica has extreme thematic condensation and owing to this extreme thematic condensation, critics are on occasion unable to specify what Beethoven's 'themes' are. Another fact worth considering is that Beethoven did consciously attempt to 'write without