Ludwig van beethoven 7th symphony 2nd movement

#Ludwig van beethoven 7th symphony 2nd movement plus

Although a second theme makes an appearance, it is the first which occupies the musical spotlight. Beethoven then works his magic, taking the unpretentious tune and making the major subject of a large, complex movement. After a small pause, strings begin to murmur, a stuttering repetition of E prepares for the vivaceВ entrance of the flute, offering the folk-like, swaggering first theme. The presentation is underscored by heavy orchestral punctuations marking the phrases. After a large orchestral A major chord, the oboe sings a wistful theme while clarinet, horn and bassoon latch onto the melody. Like the First, Second and Fourth symphonies, the Seventh begins with an introduction, in this case marked poco sostenuto. In spite of all of this, he drove into one of the most creative periods of his lifetime, and with Opus 92 penned one of the most dramatic thrillers in his repertoire. (He had no success in romance during his lifetimeвЂ¦ it was said that he proposed to sixteen women who all turned him down.) He needed money. His deep love affair with Theresa Brunswick had collapsed. His deafness (attributable to arterial disease) was growing worse daily. The composer was in control of desperate personal circumstances, living in one of the most painful periods of his life.

#Ludwig van beethoven 7th symphony 2nd movement plus

Beethoven spoke of it fondly as вЂњone of my best worksвЂ¦вЂќ Although Carl Maria von Weber wrote in his Beethoven Biography that вЂњthe extravagances of his genius have now reached the non plus ultra, and Beethoven must be ripe for the madhouseвЂ¦вЂќ nothing could have been farther from the truth. Antony Hopkins in The Nine Symphonies of BeethovenВ noted, вЂњThe Seventh Symphony, perhaps more than any of the others, gives us a feeling of true spontaneity-the notes seem to fly off the page as we are born along on a floodtide of inspired invention. Beethoven, who was conducting, was energized, and Spohr reported in his Autobiography that вЂњas a sforzando occurred, he tore his arms with great vehemence asunderвЂ¦ at the entrance of a forte he jumped into the air.вЂќ A consistent rhythmic drive was intoxicating and stimulating. The audience was pleased and demanded that the second movement be repeated. Celebrating this turn of events, the Seventh Symphony premiered at a concert in Vienna on December 8, 1813, to benefit troops wounded in the Battle of Hanau, a small but tactical victory on October 31, 1813, which routed Napoleon into a retreat in the War of the Sixth Coalition. Opus 92 was completed in 1812, the year in which Napoleon was beginning to fail in his conquests, and this status was undoubtedly pleasing to Beethoven. The Seventh Symphony is boisterous, intense, energetic and tuneful.