To what extent is Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony a pivotal point in the history of music?

In the view of many musicians and music analyst, Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony (Eroica) is considered as the first romantic piece in the history of music. Beethoven started composing this symphony after he had written the famous Heiligenstadt Testament. The Heiligenstadt Testament is a Letter that was addressed to his 2 brothers, Karl and Johann. It reflects his despair over his increasing deafness and his desire to overcome his physical and emotional ailments to complete his artistic destiny. It may well be that his great anguish influenced his writing of this important piece.

A notable aspect of this symphony that differs from other works is its structure. The most noticeable thing for a listener, is the length of the symphony. In fact, the 1st movement of the symphony, is longer than almost all the classical symphonies.

Unlike the longer introductions in Beethoven's first two symphonies, the movement 1st opens with two large E♭ major chords, played by the whole orchestra, that establish the tonality of the movement. Then the 1st theme (Hero theme) is exposed by the celli, before being played by various instruments of the orchestra. Around bar 42, begins he transition. The transition consists of 3 melodic

subjects. The first transitional subject, is a lyrical downward motif (45-56), the second is an upward scale motif (bar 55-64) and the last one is a rapid downward pattern played by the violin. In some views, those transition motifs form the second subject. However, they are not in the right key, therefore it is hard to consider them as a separate theme. The transition finally leads us to the 2nd theme, which is heard for the first time at bar. The second theme, is made of ascending chords. The development section reaches its climax at bar 148, with the 6 sforzando chords played by the entire orchestra. The development section finally comes to an end with a brief conclusion, where the 1st section of the 1st theme is sequenced. Despite its unusual length, and the remarkably long and complex transition between the 2 subjects, the development section doesn’t disobey to the established sonata form, in terms of structure.

The development of a classical sonata form is usually the section of the piece where the composer can show his ability to create new textures out of the material used in the exposition, and the development of this movement, just shows Beethoven’s capability to write extremely complex music out of simple ideas.

The development starts after the double bar, with a slow moving down going motif, which takes us to the 1st transition subject that is written in a stretto between the first violins and the woodwinds. In the following bars, Beethoven also juxtaposes the 3rd transition pattern, and the sequences of the 1st theme in the celli, basses, and violas. That gives the listener the impression that what he hears is entirely new, although everything heard is made out of previous material, stated in the exposition. At bar 236, there is a brief fugato, which is probably derived from the first transition subject. This fugal development leads us to more than 30 bars of loud sforzando chords played in syncopation. Those chords culminate in five powerful dissonant forte chords at bar 276. These are followed by a beat of silence, and instead of leading us to the recapitulation there, Beethoven decided to introduce a completely new theme, which will almost double the length of the development. This theme is first introduced by the oboes in E- minor, which isn’t in any way related to E♭. This theme is probably the most melodic theme of this first movement, and that contrasts a lot with the previous bars. At bar 300, after the introduction of the surprising new theme, Beethoven takes his music back to the 1st theme in C major, and that is way it can’t be the recapitulation. The recapitulation occurs almost 100 bars later, after tension has been built up with the sequencing of the first half of the 1st theme played by the winds accompanied by tremolos in the violins and arpeggios in the other strings, and after the tension is released, mainly with material from the second half of the 1st theme. Then, on top of the piano tremolos of the violins, the horn comes in alone playing the 1st half of the first theme in the tonic key, before being interrupted by the orchestra, which will then lead us into the recapitulation. This horn entry, can sound like a mistake, as if the horn comes in 4 bars early.

Even though the exposition was roughly structurally conform, the development subverts the expectations of the listener more than once. Already its