Beethoven's Eroica and Me

When I was a boy, I led a rather boring, narrow life. It was just me, Mum and Dad, in an 'every man's home is their castle' kind of way. It was very circumscribed. We 'kept to our selves'. Everyone in our street did the same. We hardly ever spoke to our neighbours. It was a bit of an urban wasteland. We owned our own house, of which Mum and Dad were very proud. We were quite poor. They had both left school at fourteen. Dad worked as a clerk in a local factory, on low wages. Mum worked as lab assistant in the nearby Glaxo Laboratories. We didn't have a TV or a car. Dad rode a bike to work. When I was a teenager, fourteen or fifteen, Mum and Dad, having saved for years, splashed out and bought a few items for the house, some new furniture and a radiogram. I think it was a Ferguson. It took Dad some time to get some records, EP's and then LP's when they started appearing. It looked a bit like this. He had a love of Frank Sinatra and Jazz, mainly Count Basie.

When I was eleven, I passed my 11 plus exam and got a place at Ealing Grammar School for Boys. I had to travel quite a bit to get to school, via two bus routes, the 187 and then the 83. The school was full of petty rules and restrictions, which made my life even more tedious and limited, both at home and at school. I felt very lonely, no brothers or sisters. At school, I did have friends, but one left to join a minor public school at the end of the first year. I'd met another friend, Tony, but he was as lonely as I was! I've written about and celebrated our lifetime friendship until his untimely death six decades later in another blog post called Inkwell Serenade.

The rest of my adolescence, it was me and Beethoven! It came about like this. I'd learned to use the local buses, to get to and from school. After a while my parents trusted me to travel around on the buses beyond school hours, which led to me getting a rudimentary knowledge of the local area. I first got to know South Harrow, and then after that the rather larger suburb of Harrow, both on the bus routes I'd got to know. There were a lot of shops to explore, but with only half a crown a week pocket money, not very much to spend it on it on, except jam doughnuts, sweets and Wagon Wheels at the school tuckshop.

One day I found myself in South Harrow, presumably at the weekend, which was the nearest suburb of any note to our home. I soon discovered it had a market. It ran alongside South Harrow station on the Piccadilly line. I could hear and feel the tremble of the train as it rumbled overhead.

I wandered inside, and amongst the clothes stores, I found a stall selling records. A while later, I can't remember exactly when, I came across a music shop on the outskirts of Harrow. I later discovered that there were a lot of these around in those days, but I loved the one I'd found so much that I never went anywhere else. This isn't the shop but it looked like this.

I was a very timid boy and painfully shy. People would say of me: 'He wouldn't say boo to a goose.' It was true! it had taken me a lot of nerve to approach the door and push it open. To my surprise I saw a lot of young people my age, leafing through the record shelves and stacks, and finding records they'd like to listen to.

Around the walls of the shop there were listening booths fitted with clumsy, heavy headphones. The guy behind the counter wasn't at all like a teacher or headmaster. If you approached him with a record you'd like to hear, he'd nod, and then wave you to a listening booth where you could listen as long as you wanted. The whole experience was strangely liberating.

My parents had told me a bit about classical music and some German composers called Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. They were supposed to be great composers, though my parents didn't seem to know why. One day, I came across a record by Beethoven, called the Eroica. I took it to the counter, and the owner let me play it.

From that moment on, my whole life changed. The Eroica was the first piece of music which really got through to my uncertain, adolescent self. It was a revelation. There's a moment in the second movement which always makes me cry. It did when I first heard it, and it still does now. The impact upon me was overwhelming. I felt as though in the first time in my life, I had encountered a life force, a spiritual energy which had entered the core of my being. Ours was not a religious family, and we didn't go to church. I was spiritually quite empty. Listening to the Eroica filled a huge inner void.

I didn't at the time know in any technical way understand the symphony, but I did somehow sense that this music was of profound importance, not only for me but for humanity. Without a doubt, it changed my life, and still enhances me now, helping me to feel nobler, grander, more like the person I aspire to be. This symphony has become a lifetime study for me. It has probably been his most recorded and discussed symphony. I am not saying anything new in this piece that hasn't been said numerous times before, but my own understanding of it has continuously evolved over a lifetime of listening and reflection on it. This is what I want to share. Key references are quoted at the end.

The Eroica

The Eroica right from its first performance in Vienna in 1804 transformed the music scene in Vienna, and countless generations of musicians and concert goers ever since. But it was much more than this. Beethoven had created a revolution in music that had not been witnessed before. It was the floodgate through which the classical era of Mozart and Brahms transformed itself into the romantic era of the early nineteenth century.

What I sensed but at the time didn't yet know, was that it coincided with a time in Beethoven's own life of deep personal crisis: he was going deaf. To my ears this deep personal anguish can be sensed in the music, the Adagio funeral march in the second movement in particular.

Beethoven was also writing his Eroica symphony at a time of deep, fundamental change in the political and social status quo in Europe, a revolution. At the turn of the the eighteenth century, the French Revolution in the 1790's had swept aside the French 'Ancien Regime'. The last Bourbon monarch, Louis 16th had been publicly executed by guillotine on January 16th 1793 in front of a jeering mob, in la Place de la Revolution in the heart of Paris. Six months later his wife Marie Antoinette met the same fate.

The spirit of the revolution swept all before it, not only in France but throughout Europe. This is powerfully portrayed by the French painter Eugene Delacroix in Liberty Guiding the People, actually painted in 1830, celebrating the July Revolution leading to the fall of King Charles X, when an attempt had been made to reinstall the French Monarchy.

The 1789 French Revolution had also resulted in the stratospheric rise to power of a young Corsican Corporal in the French Army, Napoleon Bonaparte. He had rapidly became the heroic symbol of France and with dizzying speed became first consul and the charismatic leader and general of the French army, which swept across Europe, toppling many other monarchic regimes in the process.

He had rapidly became idolised by the French nation as a saviour and rescuer, and by many sympathisers such as Beethoven outside of France. This painting by David completed in 1801 of Napoleon Crossing the Alps captures the magnificent invincibility of Bonaparte as the conquering hero and vanquisher of monarchies across Europe. Vive la France!

Beethoven had admired and revered Bonaparte, as many did - in his role as First Consul, comparable to the greatest of the Roman Consuls in the Roman Empire. High praise indeed! He had intended to dedicate his new symphony which he was writing between 1800 - 1803, to his hero. However, in 1804, the French senate granted Napoleon the hereditary title of Emperor of France, thus destroying any vestiges of hope that his regime would honour or enshrine the revolutionary ideals. For many, including Beethoven, this was an act of fundamental betrayal.

Schindler, a contemporary of Beethoven, writing in 1840 notes that on hearing this news, Beethoven flew into a rage, tore the top page of the score for the Eroica into pieces and cried out: 'Is he then too, nothing more than an ordinary man? Now he he will trample on all the rights of man, and only indulge his ambition! ' When in1804 he eventually published the musical score for the Eroica, it came entitled : Heroic Symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man, a man who so far as he was concerned had fallen off his pedestal.

At the time of writing the Eroica then, Beethoven was facing a twin crisis: his own increasing deafness, and the dramatic, fall from grace from of Napoleon from hero to as he saw it, a common dictator.

His Personal Crisis of going deaf

In 1802, the personal crisis of his increasing deafness led him into deep and profound despair. It is likely that he contemplated suicide. We know this because in 1802 he wrote out his will to his brothers Carl and Johann, which later became known as the Heiligenstadt Testament, named after the small country town just outside Vienna where he had gone to attempt a cure for his deafness. It is a heart-breaking document. It does indeed read as a last will and testament. He was 28 years old. " I take leave of you, and with sadness too. The fond hope I brought with me here, of being to a certain degree cured, now utterly forsakes me. As Autumn leaves wither, so are my hopes blighted....Ye men, who regard or declare me to be malignant, stubborn or cynical, how unjust you are towards me. You do not know the secret cause of me seeming so,, Deceived from year to year with hopes of improvement, and then forced to the prospect of lasting infirmity...I had soon to retire from the world, to live a solitary life. ..It was not possible for me to say to men "Speak louder, for I am deaf" Alas! How could I declare the weakness of a sense that in me ought to be more acute than in others have ever enjoyed...No, I cannot do it. How humiliating it was when standing close to someone hearing a distant flute, and I heard nothing, or a shepherd singing? Such incidents almost drove me to despair; at times I was on the point of ending my life ---art alone restrained my hand. Oh it seemed I could not quit this earth until I had produced all I felt within me"

This is deeply moving. In the Eroica, despair and his invincible will to triumph against all odds, are locked in an elemental struggle. However near to ending his life because of the personal tragedy of his deafness, it was his art, his muse, that stayed his hand. He knew deep within him that there was an endless well of musical creativity which he knew only he could give musical voice to. Suffer as he might and would continue to suffer throughout the rest of his life, he had no choice but to go on. The overwhelming torrent of musical creativity he felt within him, would not allow him to die.

It seems to me that the unique and defining glory of the Eroica is that the deep agony and suffering and ultimate conviction to go on, whatever the cost, is there in the music to witness and marvel at. There is both the deep suffering and isolation and despair he went through, but also the joyous celebration of his determination to go on, no matter what, and to create some of the most remarkable, triumphant and inspirational music the world has ever witnessed. From despair to triumph: this is the DNA, the essential blueprint of Beethoven as a man, and Beethoven as a composer.

What sets Beethoven apart even from his great compatriots Mozart and Haydn is the emotional intensity and transparency of the whole work. It is many-layered. He is able both to share something profound about his own story, of facing up to and transcending his own crisis of his deafness, whilst also using the framework of the symphony, to tell the story of the fall from grace of his and many fellow Europeans of his former hero Napoleon. The second movement is formally entitle a funeral march which as I see it, mourns at the personal level his deafness, and at the political level the fall from grace is his former hero.

The Myth of Prometheus

An important element in this period of European cultural life was the Greek myth of Prometheus. Why? In my view, certainly in art, literature and music, this historical period marks the the transition from the classical eighteenth century period of rational enlightenment and formality, to something far more fluid and personally driven in that period of the early nineteenth century, the Romantic era. Culturally, at this time this transition was symbolised by the Greek myth of Prometheus. At that time the Greek civilisation and Greek myths were held in reverence and taught in many school curricula. Prometheus symbolised the gift of fire which Prometheus had stolen from the Gods and given to mankind, leading in due course to the flourishing of all the arts. Some versions of the myth portray Prometheus chained to a rock, his liver being pecked out by an Eagle, symbol of Zeus. This painting by Rubens shows this very dramatically.

It is no coincidence then that in 1800, Beethoven received a commission to compose the music for a ballet called The Birth of Prometheus. This fascination with Greek civilisation in all its manifestations was common in many European societies of that era. It is likely that Beethoven would have known of the myth from his own childhood education,

This is pure conjecture on my part, but just as in Greek mythology Prometheus by bringing fire to mankind brought the possibilities of civilization to it, so Beethoven through the fire of his creative inspiration saw himself as bringing a new musical order into existence. Prometheus is punished by the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity, who used this gift from the Gods to create civilisation in its infinite forms including the arts and music. This period of French society had seen the flourishing of many of the arts. His punishment for this is to be condemned to eternal torment by being chained to a rock, and an eagle, the messenger from Zeus, would descend every day to peck away at his liver. His liver would grow back every night only to be eaten again the following day in eternal perpetual torment, a hell on earth. It is not difficult to imagine how closely Beethoven would have identified with this; it resembled his own perpetual torment only too closely.

The Structure of the Symphony

He uses a very similar orchestra to the instruments Mozart uses in his last three symphonies in 1788 - two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, three horns, two trumpets, and timpani. He also adapted the four movement form as developed by Mozart and Haydn but used them in a radically new way: to tell his own story. So too, in his later works, had Mozart, but that is another story..

First Movement Allegro con brio

The movement is in sonata form, in 3/4 time. It begins with two identical chords in E Flat in quick succession, loud, strident, and for full orchestra. This is not a normal eighteenth way to start a symphony. (Hamilton-Patterson 2017; Sipe1988). Wikipedia (wiki in text) has also had some useful explanations of the symphony.

The symphony as a whole seems to have shocked and startled and astonished the audience hearing it for the first time (Sipe, 1998). It was immediately apparent that something utterly original and new had occurred. Much of my account of the orchestration of the symphony is based on that of Hamilton-Patterson, 2016.) or wiki. The first movement alone was longer than many classical era symphonies (Sipe, 1998).

The exposition of the movement continues with the cello introducing the first theme, outlining the chord of E Flat major which the full orchestra just played. The meter is not in the normal double time, but triple. The theme is now continued in the discordant C sharp minor, which the audience might have thought was a discordant note but was in fact intended. The orchestra then continues in more familiar vein, the horns and woodwind taking over the fanfare. The development section of the first movement introduces a number of thematic fragments (later to be called leitmotifs) which are both lengthy by eighteenth century standards and unexpected. Hamilton-Patterson summarises as: " it opens into an E Flat tonal landscape which the cellos promptly subvert with a rogue C sharp. At the end of the development section, one horn appears to have come in early with the main theme in E, whilst the strings play the dominant chord. Beethoven's secretary Ries noted that " The first rehearsal was terrible, but the hornist did in fact come in on cue. I was standing next to Beethoven and, believing that he had made a wrong note, I said 'That damned hornist, can't he count? I believe I was in danger of getting my ears boxed. Beethoven didn't forgive for a long time." (wiki). The movement then sweeps to a triumphant conclusion, making full use of the themes Beethoven had used before in his ballet Prometheus composed in 1801.

Second Movement Marcia Funebre: Adagio Assai

For me, the spiritual and moral heart of the symphony is in its second movement, the Adagio. It is in the form of a funeral march, mourning perhaps his own deafness, and also in his eyes the death of his hero Napoleon, who had turned himself from liberating hero into a mere tyrant. His army had become his instrument, not so much of liberation as a conquering force to establish the French Empire, over which he ruled as Emperor. Funeral marches were much in vogue at that time (Hamilton-Patterson, 2016). Other composers, celebrated at the time, such as Gossec (1734-1834) had composed a Marche Lugubre, often used at that time at the funerals of great national figures. Similarly Cherubini in 1797 had composed a Hymn funebre sur la mort du Generale Hoche. Wranitzki, another celebrated composer at that time, had composed a symphony with the subtitle Grande sinfonie caracteristique pour la paix avec la Republique Francoise. This was a work full of musical gestures evoking the glory of the French Revolution. Be that as it may, Beethoven's Marche Funebre was on a far larger, monumental scale which somehow managed to combine, for me, his own grief at his impending total deafness, with a solemn mourning of the fall from grace of his former hero, Napoleon. The movement has five segments: Exposition, Trio in major, Central section, Recapitulation, Coda. The key is C minor, beginning with the Marche Funebre in the strings, then the winds. There is then a brief section in C Major, which is like 'a brief ray of sunshine in a dark sky' (Hamilton-Patterson) It gives way to the original march, which then turns into a solemn fugue for full orchestra, which rises to a crisis before resuming in the coda its solemn Marche Funebre march until the end of the movement. Heart-breaking.

Third Movement Scherzo: Allegro vivace

Beethoven follows this deeply solemn and moving Adagio with a short, brief, exhilarating Scherzo. This movement enters softly with the strings, which after the first seven bars climb an octave, 'in expectation that the sun will rise' )Hamilton-Patterson. A new dawn has begun. It seems to me that this represents Beethoven's utter determination to go on, to fully express his musical genius, no matter what. His musical DNA reasserts itself. His spirit will never be quashed. This is expressed by the full orchestra exploding in fortisimo. Hamilton-Patterson expresses this well: "After the solemn obsequies of the death of the hero, it is impossible not to see this as a triumphant rebirth. "

Fourth movement Allegro Molto

After these first three momentous movements, what lies ahead in the fourth? Formally, in terms of symphonic structure, it was customary to have four movements, as had his great predecessors Haydn and Mozart. What he did do, however, was to use another structure within which to frame the fourth movement: He used his Prometheus theme but used it in terms of into a fusion that blended a set of variations, with a fugal section. Why return to the Prometheus theme? Prosaically perhaps part of the answer is that he had the music to hand! But in my view it was far more than that. At the personal level, he was celebrating and exhalting in his own creative fire. Despite his deafness, he could and would go on to create many extraordinary works in many different forms, concertos, , keyboard compositions for piano and violin, cantatas and even a Mass. I believe he was celebrating his celebration to his own creative fire. No wonder he used the Prometheus music! Nothing could quench him, nothing could stop him. As for Napoleon, he was mourning the loss of his former hero, who had become an Emperor fulfilling his own ambitions and in so doing seeking the glory of La France. Hence the title on the front page of the score of his symphony. Whilst his original title for his symphony was 'Grand Symphony for Bonaparte. This was scratched out, and having torn out the first page, when finally published in 1804, it came with the title 'Heroic Symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man'. The 'great hero' was no more. The final movement contains ten variations on a theme with a fugal interval. The ten variations (Wiki) can be said to have four components: An introduction on a base theme, theme and variations, reprise on the theme, and a final coda. The Prometheus melody is present throughout the variations, and ends triumphantly on a note of celebration of Beethoven going on despite the odds.

References

Beethoven's Eroica Symphony Mathew Rye 1999 Beethoven's Eroica The First Great Romantic Symphony Hamilton-Patterson. 2017

Beethoven's Eroica: The First Romantic Symphony Hamilton-Patterson 2017

Wikipedia The Eroica Symphony