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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, "Eroica"
Composed: 1803-1804
Premiered: 1805, Vienna
Duration: 47 minutes

Beethoven’s Third Symphony, the Eroica, has to be considered in the light of the composer’s attitude towards Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven’s letters and reported remarks about Napoleon are full of contradictions, reflecting the confused and contradictory views of the German-speaking world. On the one hand, Napoleon was seen as a son of the French Revolution; a man who rose from the humblest beginnings to become the master of all of Europe, bringing revolutionary ideals and freedoms to the world.

Beethoven seriously considered moving to Paris in 1804. One of the works he planned to take with him was this symphony, which incorporated features of the French military style of the day. The score, with its dedication to Napoleon, was complete, and he let it be known that it was to be entitled “Bonaparte”. On the other hand, the story of Beethoven’s rage on hearing that Napoleon had assumed the title of Emperor is entirely authentic. The erased dedication on the title page of the score is still visible. Yet Beethoven continued to admire Napoleon, and sought favour at the courts of Napoleon’s relatives, who were installed as kings in various parts of Europe. The title of the Third Symphony was changed to read (in Italian) “Heroic Symphony, Composed to Celebrate the Memory of a Great Man”. It has been suggested that in some sense, Beethoven saw himself as an artistic counterpart of Napoleon, the all-conquering military hero.

The composition of the Eroica occupied Beethoven through 1803–1804. A private performance took place in December 1804, and a public premiere in April 1805. It is highly innovative in a great many respects, not least in its scale. The Eroica is a huge work; Beethoven himself surpassed it only once, in his Ninth. It represents an altogether wider vision of what a symphony could be than anything that had come before. The fiercely dissonant harmonies, the scherzo in place of a minuet for the first time in a symphony, the enigmatic forms, particularly of the finale – all these must have seemed very strange to audiences in 1805. In one report, it was described as “too long, elaborate, incomprehensible, and much too noisy.” We listen to it today with ears conditioned by over two centuries of bigger, noisier, and more dissonant symphonies, yet it still conveys a sense of a transcendent, heroic figure, possibly Beethoven himself.

Program note by the late Dr. C.W. Helleiner.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, "Eroica"
Composed: 1803-1804
Premiered: 1805, Vienna
Duration: 47 minutes

Beethoven’s Third Symphony, the Eroica, has to be considered in the light of the composer’s attitude towards Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven’s letters and reported remarks about Napoleon are full of contradictions, reflecting the confused and contradictory views of the German-speaking world. On the one hand, Napoleon was seen as a son of the French Revolution; a man who rose from the humblest beginnings to become the master of all of Europe, bringing revolutionary ideals and freedoms to the world.

Beethoven seriously considered moving to Paris in 1804. One of the works he planned to take with him was this symphony, which incorporated features of the French military style of the day. The score, with its dedication to Napoleon, was complete, and he let it be known that it was to be entitled “Bonaparte”. On the other hand, the story of Beethoven’s rage on hearing that Napoleon had assumed the title of Emperor is entirely authentic. The erased dedication on the title page of the score is still visible. Yet Beethoven continued to admire Napoleon, and sought favour at the courts of Napoleon’s relatives, who were installed as kings in various parts of Europe. The title of the Third Symphony was changed to read (in Italian) “Heroic Symphony, Composed to Celebrate the Memory of a Great Man”. It has been suggested that in some sense, Beethoven saw himself as an artistic counterpart of Napoleon, the all-conquering military hero.

The composition of the Eroica occupied Beethoven through 1803–1804. A private performance took place in December 1804, and a public premiere in April 1805. It is highly innovative in a great many respects, not least in its scale. The Eroica is a huge work; Beethoven himself surpassed it only once, in his Ninth. It represents an altogether wider vision of what a symphony could be than anything that had come before. The fiercely dissonant harmonies, the scherzo in place of a minuet for the first time in a symphony, the enigmatic forms, particularly of the finale – all these must have seemed very strange to audiences in 1805. In one report, it was described as “too long, elaborate, incomprehensible, and much too noisy.” We listen to it today with ears conditioned by over two centuries of bigger, noisier, and more dissonant symphonies, yet it still conveys a sense of a transcendent, heroic figure, possibly Beethoven himself.

Program note by the late Dr. C.W. Helleiner.