Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major for Piano and Orchestra, op. 73, Emperor
Ludwig Van Beethoven
(b. December 16, 1770 in Bonn; d. March 26,1827 in Vienna)
Beethoven wrote his fifth and final concerto in 1809 amid Napoleon’s assault on and occupation of Vienna. By now he was nearly completely deaf, so despite chaos and noise around him, when he was home in familiar surroundings he was able to retreat into himself to compose and leave behind the baggage.
The fifth concerto starts with a bold E♭ chord by the full orchestra. As simple as it is, those who know the piece all instantly recognize what is coming. The piano launches into a cadenza, all about E♭ and filled with grandeur. The same sequence begins again on A♭. And again on B♭. We have enjoyed over a minute of extravagant posturing over a basic harmonic sequence, I-IV-V7. From there an orderly progression in sonata-form continues. Two themes are shared by the soloist and orchestra, in a dialogue of equals. As is typical in Beethoven’s concertos a third theme is given to the piano alone. A brief cadenza precedes the coda that works over the first themes. Beethoven wrote in his cadenzas for the first time and instructed pianists not to improvise their own–a radical departure from the traditions up to that time.
The mesmerizing slow movement begins in the distant key of B major, most of the time the piano comments on and embellishes the melody. The movement does not have a real ending, but instead transitions directly into the finale. Bassoons then horns move down a half-step from B to B♭ while the piano begins a very slow and tentative statement of the theme about to break out in a dancing, energetic allegro.
The finale is filled with dance, a heavy-footed country dance. In the middle the piano explores other keys and contrasting ideas before the dance returns. The end approaches with much bravura playing by the soloist, but there is one more surprise. A hush falls as the piano plays over a repeated note rhythmic figure from the timpani, a magical combination of instruments rarely heard. A fortissimo riff from the piano, entirely typical of Beethoven, sweeps up across four octaves and the orchestra ends it with a forceful iteration of the dance theme.
Beethoven admired Napoleon initially but had no further use for him when he crowned himself emperor. It was bad to worse when Napoleon laid siege to Vienna. Beethoven decried his circumstances in a letter to his publisher, Breitkopf & Härtel. “You are mistaken in thinking me to be well. We have experienced in the meantime a rather concentrated misery; since May 4 I have brought forth little that is coherent, almost nothing but a fragment here and there. The entire course of events has affected me body and soul. I still cannot get the enjoyment of country life, so indispensable to me . . . Heaven knows how it will go on . . . What a destructive, coarse life around me, nothing but drums, cannons, human misery of all sorts."
There is a persistent and engaging story about the title “Emperor” given to the fifth concerto. All it lacks is any proof. A French officer at the Vienna premiere in 1812 blurted out, “C’est l’Empereur!” That suggests he was thinking of Napoleon which would have utterly disgusted Beethoven. Nevertheless, Napoleon aside, it has more than sufficient majesty and grandeur to make the sobriquet completely apt.