Ravinia_2018_Issue_3_Week

more circumspect and intelligent, particularly

in regard to the productions of younger com-

posers.” With concertos, newer meant better in

Beethoven’s mind. Clearly, the effectiveness of

these six-year-old concertos had passed.

Beethoven’s interest in motivic expansion is al-

ready apparent at this early stage in his composi-

tional career. The initial theme of the

Allegro con

brio

contains an octave leap and rocketing scale

pattern. The key of C major typically prompts

military associations, but Beethoven delays the

expected loud outburst until the second set

of phrases. (Mozart similarly postponed the

martial element in his Piano Concerto No. 21

in C major, K. 467.) Several transitional ideas

instill energy that is dissipated with a tender

E-flat-major violin melody. Beethoven allows

vigorous closing material to out-proportion the

more stable main themes. The piano finally en-

ters, presenting a new, unaccompanied theme.

Orchestral interjections hearken back to the

opening motives, around which the solo in-

strument weaves brilliant countermelodies. Ob-

serving Mozartean convention, the piano and

orchestra progress through previously heard

themes. Development fuses the octave-leap

motive with grandiose piano figuration. The or-

chestra restates the two main themes, each time

echoed by the piano. Three cadenzas authored

by Beethoven exist for this movement.

The

Largo

contains spacious lyricism and a

palpitating accompaniment reminiscent of

the famous

Andante

from Mozart’s Concerto

No. 21 (used in the film

Elvira Madigan

). This

sprawling composition is uncharacteristically

long for Beethoven. However, his ability to sus-

tain a tranquil atmosphere throughout much of

the movement demonstrates the depth of Mo-

zart’s influence. The concerto concludes with a

zesty

Rondo

, whose refrain theme has origins

in a piano trio in E-flat major. Franz Wegeler

claimed that Beethoven completed the rondo

in haste on the Sunday before the premiere. The

refrain’s memorable tune tends to overshadow

several well-shaped themes that occur between

its statements. There are two cadenza passages—

one partly supported by orchestra, and the other

unaccompanied—that segue into the refrain.

Symphony No. 7 in A major, op. 92

Scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets,

two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani,

and strings

Beethoven rode a wave of popularity into the

second decade of the 19th century. The trium-

phant spirit of the Viennese, undiminished

during the Napoleonic invasions, resounded in

his “heroic period” compositions. Beethoven’s

music was revered as a national treasure during

the Congress of Vienna (1814–15), whose as-

sembled monarchs sought to restore peace and

order in Europe. Kings, tsars, empresses, aris-

tocrats, and other notables paid homage to the

composer, if only for the moment.

Ironically, Beethoven expressed his patriotism

most often in cantatas and hymns, forms more

fashionable in Paris than in Vienna. There also

was

Wellington’s Victory

(also known as the “Bat-

tle Symphony”), originally for the panharmon-

icon, a mechanical organ by Johann Nepomuk

Maelzel, the inventor of the metronome. Bee-

thoven orchestrated this music in 1813. Pure

symphonic composition from this period was

reserved for broad sentiments, such as the grand

Romantic heroism of the Third (“Eroica”) and

Fifth, scenes of rural life in the Sixth (“Pasto-

ral”), and the Classicism of the Eighth and, to a

lesser degree, the Fourth.

The distinction between these nationalist, pasto-

ral, and heroic expressions was bridged, at least

in the minds of Beethoven’s contemporaries, in

the Seventh Symphony. Numerous program-

matic descriptions by other musicians soon ap-

peared in print. Beethoven railed against these

fanciful imaginings of battles, triumph over

oppression, drunken revelry, bucolic meadows,

and merrymaking. The music’s patriotic asso-

ciations, however, were almost impossible to

overlook.

Beethoven introduced the Symphony No. 7 to

the public at a benefit concert for Austrian and

Bavarian soldiers injured at the battle of Hanau.

This work was followed by two trifles by Dussek

and Pleyel for orchestra with the panharmon-

icon (Maelzel sponsored the concert), as well

as Beethoven’s

Wellington’s Victory

. This musical

celebration lifted battle-weary spirits and added

to the relief fund on the eve of the Congress of

Vienna.

Unusual collegiality among the Viennese mu-

sicians surrounded this concert. Ignaz Schup-

panzigh led the violins, while Ludwig Spohr and

Joseph Mayseder sat back in the section. The

percussionists included piano virtuoso Johann

Nepomuk Hummel and imperial Kapellmeis-

ter Antonio Salieri. The unified devotion of

the musicians impressed all who attended, and

both audience and critics accorded Beethoven’s

symphony special praise. The review in the

All-

gemeine Musikalische Zeitung

was effusive: “The

new symphony in particular fully deserved

the loud applause and the exceptionally warm

reception that greeted it. One must hear this

newest work of Beethoven’s genius as ably per-

formed as it was here to appreciate fully its beau-

ty and to enjoy it to the utmost. …The

Andante

[the second movement, later retitled

Allegretto

]

had to be repeated, and delighted musicians and

amateurs alike.”

The Symphony No. 7 in A major, op. 92—com-

posed in 1812 and 1813—begins with the most

expansive slow introduction of Beethoven’s

symphonic catalogue. Faster dance-like rhythms

prevail in the main portion of the movement.

Prominent writing for the winds lends a pasto-

ral atmosphere. A sustained chord in the winds

fades into the main theme of the

Allegretto

. At

first, the haunting melody appears in the low

strings. The theme gradually rises from the

depths of the orchestra in a series of variations,

each time outfitted with an expressive counter-

melody. Beethoven interjects a new melody in

the clarinet and bassoon midway through the

movement.

The

Presto

presents a frolicking staccato theme

that is twice interrupted by a rustic melody. Bi-

ographer Alexander Wheelock Thayer suggest-

ed that this theme was an actual Austrian pil-

grimage hymn. The finale is taut and propulsive;

spirited, almost militaristic, rhythmic patterns

unify this movement. Brass and timpani are em-

ployed to great effect. This rousing music pro-

vides a triumphant conclusion to the symphony.

Countess Anna Luise Barbara d’Erba-Odescalchi

Ludwig van Beethoven by Joseph Willibrord Mähler

(1815)