1st symphony (Beethoven)

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Ludwig van Beethoven began work on the 1st Symphony in C major op. 21 in 1799 and finished it a year later. The first performance under his direction on April 2, 1800 at the KK National-Hof-Theater in Vienna was a great success for the composer . Originally, Beethoven wanted to dedicate the work to his long-time Bonn patron Elector Maximilian Franz of Austria , who had been living in Vienna again from around 1795/96. This is documented by Beethoven's letter to the publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister in Leipzig on June 22 or 23, 1801. The unexpected death of Max Franz on July 27, 1801 made this dedication obsolete. The work was finally dedicated to Baron Gottfried van Swieten . The layout and instrumentation of the symphony still clearly points to the models Mozart and Haydn .

Instrumentation and sentence names

Orchestral line-up

2 flutes , 2 oboes , 2 clarinets , 2 bassoons , 2 horns , 2 trumpets , timpani , 1st violin , 2nd violin. Viola , violoncello , double bass

Sentence names

  • 1st movement: Adagio molto - Allegro con brio
  • 2nd movement: Andante cantabile con moto
  • 3rd movement: Menuetto (Allegro molto e vivace)
  • 4th movement: Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace

analysis

The first movement is a typical first movement with a slow introduction and a subsequent downright exemplary sonata main movement form . Completely surprising for the time, the symphony begins with a seventh chord , a dissonance , as an intermediate dominant ( C 7 ) to the subdominant (F major). Thus the listener is initially left in the dark about the basic key; the tonic is artfully avoided or only used as a passage throughout the slow introduction. It is only with the beginning of the exposition and the first theme that the long-awaited C major is consolidated all the more clearly in a forward-pushing Allegro con brio . The remarkable thing about the second theme is that it is presented in broken instrumentation , that is, the instruments leading the melody alternate in unusually short succession (from measure to measure) on the one hand, and on the other hand this separation also occurs across the instrument groups between the woodwind instruments and String instruments . This gives the page set a sonic lightness and transparency that contrasts with the previous block-like instrumentation.

New to the following implementation is the motif-thematic work , in which the first and second subject fragmented in their motifs and components in new harmonic , instrumental and counterpoint is set combination to each other. The recapitulation appears almost identical to the exposition; the coda relates to the first theme, takes over sequences from the beginning of the development, creating architectural symmetry, and ends the movement in festive, consolidating C major chords. Already in the introduction, Beethoven uses the entire instrumentation of the symphony orchestra and thus presents the listener with the spectrum of sounds that can be expected for the symphony .

The second movement is also in the main sonata form. Of all of Beethoven's nine symphonies, this is the only slow movement whose exposition is repeated. The first theme is introduced in a fugato . It is noteworthy that the character of a traditionally rather calm, contemplative second movement (here Andante ) gets something pulsating, light-footed through the addition of con moto ("with movement") and the metronome numbers and thus continues the freshness of the first movement in a previously unusual way . The first and second themes also do not contrast with one another; the gesture of both themes and thus the overall lyrical expression of the movement remains very similar. The development brings rhythmic and motivic condensation and shading according to the minor key , but not in the detail and intensity as in the first movement of the symphony. The recapitulation appears through an additional counterpoint as an enriched variant of the beginning of the movement. In view of the cantable theme character and the regularity in the formal structure, one could also speak of a three-part song form in this second movement , which is followed by a detailed coda that combines and processes elements of both themes under a rhythmic ostinato . Although instruments such as trumpets and timpani are usually silent in a second movement (called tacet ), Beethoven also uses all of the orchestra's instruments in this movement and thus offers a wide range of tonal colors and moods. The dominant dynamic , however, is piano ; the overall expression - created by lyrical themes, dance rhythms and restrained dynamics - of the second movement in the subdominant key of F major is cheerful.

The third movement is entitled Minuet , but it is clearly a Scherzo . This is shown above all by the extreme tempo ( Allegro molto e vivace ), which Beethoven specifies in metronome numbers, as well as by the irregular accentuation or the surprising dynamic differences as well as by the irregular phrase lengths, which do not allow a simple danceable structure . In order to take into account the joke of this sentence, no real thematic structures or motifs are used or developed; Instead, Beethoven skillfully puts together simple set pieces of scales and triads , which with their rising momentum give the movement a characteristic and playful swing. The trio is dominated by harmonically static wind chords with simultaneously played scale components of the first violins and thus appears more like a pause than the lively Scherzo part.

The fourth movement begins - among the final movements of all nine symphonies also as an isolated case - with a slow introduction:Beginning of the fourth movement (violin 1)

Unusually without any accompaniment from other instruments, the violins slowly feel their way up a scale until, after a short pause ( fermata ), the orchestra storms off with the first theme of the sonata main clause form (in rondo form ) ( Allegro molto e vivace ). The thematic material is mostly dominated by ascending scales, which, in their fast, playful manner, pay tribute to the established character of Haydn's finals. The symphony ends with marching brass signals and repeatedly repeated tutti strikes by the entire orchestra.

First performance and effect

Beethoven himself conducted the world premiere of his 1st symphony on April 2, 1800 in the first “Musical Academy” in the kuk Nationalhoftheater. Beethoven's Septet op. 20 and his first piano concerto also performed with her . Beethoven also improvised on the piano.

On the occasion of this premiere, the Leipziger " Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung " wrote:

"This was truly the most interesting academy in a long time."

- Leipziger Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, 1800

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ludwig van Beethoven, Letters. Complete edition , ed. by Sieghard Brandenburg , Volume 1, Munich 1996, p. 77

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