Overture Magazine - 2018-19 Season BSO_Overture_Sept_Oct | Page 16

BEETHOVEN EROICA SYMPHONY
SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN E-FLAT MAJOR
Ludwig van Beethoven
Born in Bonn, Germany,
December 16, 1770; died in
Vienna, Austria, March 26, 1827
background have been annihilated, there
remains no desire for self-expression.”
But the desire for self-expression
did remain, and in 1934 it produced
the brilliantly imaginative Paganini
Rhapsody. The work sprang from
the 24 th Caprice for unaccompanied
violin by a virtuoso of another age and
instrument, Nicolò Paganini (1782 –
1840). Rachmaninoff took Paganini’s
spry two-part tune and built 24 highly
contrasted variations on it. Most of
these whiz by at high speed, so listeners
should not struggle to keep count, but
simply absorb the work as a continuous
flight of fancy. Providing structural
shape, Rachmaninoff grouped the
variations into three larger units,
making a mini-concerto: variations one
through ten forming a fast “movement,”
12 through 18 a slow movement and
19 through 24 a virtuoso finale.
A theme-and-variations composition
usually begins with a full presentation of
the theme itself. But here Rachmaninoff
gives a witty “preview” — just the teasing
first notes of each measure — before
the violins sing the theme for us. At the
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seventh variation, the tempo slows a bit,
and the piano intones in stark chords the
melody of the “Dies Irae” chant from the
Catholic mass for the dead; this somber
tune was a signature theme throughout
Rachmaninoff’s music. It returns again
in the tenth variation amid dazzling
orchestral music, along with some
syncopated brass writing that sounds
more New York than Russia.
The 12 th variation opens the middle
section with a dream-like minuet in 3/4
time. The shadows deepen in the 16 th and
17 th variations as the piano gropes for light
at the end of the tunnel. This is gloriously
achieved in the golden sunlight of the
18 th variation, the work’s most beloved
and surely one of the most gorgeous tunes
ever written. From this tranquil oasis, the
music builds in speed, excitement and
virtuoso display for the soloist until the
charming surprise ending.
Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo,
two oboes, English horn, two clarinets,
two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets,
three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion,
harp and strings.
Although the responses to Beethoven’s
music are as varied as the individuals
who listen to it, virtually everyone
seems to agree that it often embodies
an ethical or spiritual quest: the drama,
in Scott Burnam’s words, “of a self
struggling to create and fulfill its
own destiny.” And this epic quest is
most forcefully expressed in the works
Beethoven wrote during the first
decade of the 19 th century — what
we now call his “Heroic Period.”
Historically, this was also an era of
heroism and aspiration. The American
and French revolutions had recently
acted out humankind’s desire for
freedom and self-determination
and thrust forward leaders such
as Washington and Bonaparte.
Beethoven translated this aspiring
spirit into music. Living in Vienna
under the autocratic Hapsburg regime,
he acted out his dream of individual
liberty in his daily life. His career
revolved around two heroic quests: his
struggle against encroaching deafness
and his creative battle to forge a new
musical language within a conservative
and often hostile environment.
Beethoven launched his Heroic
Period with his Third Symphony, a
work he subtitled “Sinfonia eroica,
composed to celebrate the memory of
a great man.” That man was originally
intended to be Napoleon Bonaparte,
whom Beethoven initially admired
as a liberalizing leader embodying
the Enlightenment principles he
revered. However, when in 1804 he
heard that Napoleon had crowned
himself emperor, he tore the title page
containing the name “Bonaparte” from
the score in a fit of rage. “So he too is
nothing more than an ordinary man!”
he reportedly cried. “Now he also will
trample all human rights underfoot
and only pander to his own ambition.”