The first movement starts with a long, expanded introduction marked Poco sostenuto ( metronome mark: = 69) that is noted for its long ascending scales and a cascading series of applied dominants that facilitates modulations to C major and F major. In addition, the second movement is in A minor with episodes in A major, and the third movement, a scherzo, is in F major.
For instance, the first movement is in A major but has repeated episodes in C major and F major. It is also tonally subtle, making use of the tensions between the key centres of A, C and F. The work as a whole is known for its use of rhythmic devices suggestive of a dance, such as dotted rhythm and repeated rhythmic figures.
The piece was very well received, such that the audience demanded the Allegretto movement be encored immediately. The Italian guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani played cello at the premiere. The orchestra was led by Beethoven's friend Ignaz Schuppanzigh and included some of the finest musicians of the day: violinist Louis Spohr, composers Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Giacomo Meyerbeer and Antonio Salieri. The program also included the patriotic work Wellington's Victory, exalting the victory of the British over Napoleon's France. In Beethoven's address to the participants, the motives are not openly named: "We are moved by nothing but pure patriotism and the joyful sacrifice of our powers for those who have sacrificed so much for us." The work was premiered with Beethoven himself conducting in Vienna on 8 December 1813 at a charity concert for soldiers wounded in the Battle of Hanau. īeethoven's life at this time was marked by a worsening hearing loss, which made "conversation notebooks" necessary from 1819 on, with the help of which Beethoven communicated in writing. After the 3rd Symphony, and possibly the 5th as well, the 7th Symphony seems to be another of Beethoven's musical confrontations with Napoleon, this time in the context of the European wars of liberation from years of Napoleonic domination. The instant popularity of the Allegretto resulted in its frequent performance separate from the complete symphony.When Beethoven began composing the 7th symphony, Napoleon was planning his campaign against Russia. The second movement, Allegretto, was the most popular movement and had to be encored. Its theme is quickly established and has a hauntingly beautiful melody.īeethoven composed this Symphony while improving his health in the Bohemian spa town of Teplice.
This is unlike the slow 2nd movement of many symphonies. His nine symphones are probably his greatest achievement, each one an unrivalved masterpiece, but he also wrote 5 piano concertos, piano sonatas, string quartets and one opera, Fidelio. A tormented genius, who went deaf in later life and never heard his final works. One of the greatest and most radical composers of all time.
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