Beethoven was one of the most famous composers of all time, who is best known for his nine symphonies, and his great works on piano. But his Eroica Symphony is perhaps one of his greatest, and yet most puzzling pieces. It is believed that due to the use of emotion in this work, this piece marked the beginning of the Romantic Era. The Eroica changed how people viewed music during that time period.
Beethoven began writing his third symphony during the summer of 1803. He originally entitled the piece, ‘Bonaparte”, after Napoleon Bonaparte of France. However, when Beethoven learned that Napoleon was about to proclaim himself Emperor, he decided to not name it after him. When it was published in 1806, it was given its new title. The title, Eroica …show more content…
While the first two movements it our concepts of heroism, the last two movements almost seem to belong in another symphony instead. The third movement is titled Scherzo (Joke), and the forth movement is the Finale. The theme in the finale actually came long before the Eroica. He first used the theme in 1801 for the finale of his ballet, Die Geschӧpfe des Prometheus. He also used it the next year in Twelve Contredanses, and then again in a piano piece, before using it in his third symphony. These two movements that Beethoven chose to include make many people question what he meant by Heroic. Some believe that his version of heroic has nothing to do with heroism, but instead might refer to the size of the work. This symphony is almost twice as long as the typical 30 minute pieces of that era. Looking back at the first movement, there are also elements that makes some people believe that it still doesn’t fit the concept of heroism we want it to. While there is a bugle call like principle motive, as I mentioned earlier, it is only given to the trumpets three times out of the fifty four times it is used in the score. Trumpets have always been very symbolic of the military, so why did Beethoven to choose to only give it to the trumpets three times? Another