Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized in Bonn, Germany, on December 17, 1770, and died in Vienna, Austria, on March 26, 1827. The first performance of The Creatures of Prometheus took place at the Burgtheater in Vienna on March 28, 1801. The Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings. Approximate performance time is five minutes.

Beethoven composed his only ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus, for a Vienna production choreographed by the Italian ballet-master, Salvatore Viganò. Viganò and his wife were quite popular in Vienna, and were particular favorites of Empress Maria Theresa. Viganò conceived his ballet as an entertainment for the Empress. At the March 28, 1801 premiere, Viganò and his wife danced the leading roles. Beethoven’s charming ballet score includes a melody in the finale that would play a major role in the concluding movement of Beethoven’s path-breaking “Eroica” Symphony, Opus 55 (1803).

The ballet scenario fashioned by Viganò is based upon Greek mythology. Prometheus uses clay to construct two human figures. He steals fire from heaven, in order to bring the figures to life. Prometheus then transports the figures to Parnassus, where they study with Apollo, Bacchus, and the muses. According to the original playbill, the figures are “through the power of harmony made susceptible to all the passions of human life.”

The brief Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus opens with a majestic slow-tempo introduction (Adagio), juxtaposing a fortissimo statement by the orchestra with a far more lyrical section. This resolves to the work’s principal, quick-tempo section (Allegro molto con brio), and the first violins’ introduction of the scurrying principal theme. The woodwinds chirp the vaulting subsidiary theme. A varied restatement of the themes leads to the Overture’s scintillating close.