Beethoven: Symphony No.1 in C major, Op.21 (1800)
Adagio molto – Allegro con brio
Andante cantabile con moto
Menuetto:- Allegro molto e vivace
Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace
The last decade of the eighteenth century was in some ways the most successful of Beethoven’s whole life. He had arrived in Vienna from Bonn in 1792, and his rise to fame as a virtuoso fortepianist and extemporiser was little short of meteoric. He was in constant demand as a teacher, often for the children of rich or aristocratic parents, and this in turn led to an elevated social position, as well as frequent (and invariably doomed) love affairs. There was the added bonus of a rare period of settled health, plus the gradual but inevitable emergence of his genius as a composer – initially obscured by so many other activities, but soon providing a handy income to supplement the 600 florins available from Prince Lichnowsky. If his creative roots belonged very much to the century in which he was born, his intellectual and emotional capacity undoubtedly lay across the approaching threshold.
So it is not easy today for us to imagine the impact this symphony must have made when it was first heard, on 2 April 1800 at the Burgtheater in Vienna; nevertheless, he was not beyond exploiting his still greater reputation across the city as a pianist, choosing to contribute some (no doubt) daring improvisations to the concert programme. In the light of this, we might be surprised at the impressive list of compositions he already had to his credit (it is easy to forget that he was nearly 30 by this time: consider Mozart’s – or Schubert’s! – huge output at the same age). But it was the nature of these works which began to draw attention – particularly so with many of the first ten piano sonatas, where his own mastery as a performer afforded him a freedom of expression which extended far beyond the currently accepted norm. Such harmonic and emotional adventurousness is perhaps less apparent in the contemporary string quartets (Op.18) – or even in this first symphony, where the disciplined application to formal logic is no less in evidence than in the quartets. Nevertheless, Beethoven did like to think of himself as a Revolutionary, and he was now reaching the height of his precocious self-confidence. So it would be surprising in the extreme if he were to have produced a “safe” debut symphony. We know from contemporary reports that the wind writing was considered too heavy and prominent. Also such innovations as the harmonically daring opening (a dissonance in the “wrong” key), together with the outrageous tempo of the “Menuetto”, could not reasonably have been predicted.
It is commonly accepted that each of Beethoven’s first three symphonies breaks new ground, and any sensitive listener cannot fail to be moved by the mind blowing originality of the Eroica every time s/he hears it. But having become familiar with this mighty symphony, plus over 200 years’ worth of music which succeeded it, our perspective becomes distorted, our perceptions blurred. This is the price we pay for our musical saturation, for hearing music of the past with ears tuned to the present – or, at least, to the late 19th century. The point is that the second symphony demonstrated that Beethoven had already established an entirely personal voice, beyond classification in terms of “Classical” or “Romantic” – or even “Modern”; with the Eroica it was the sheer scale and ambition which exploded, rather than the musical language itself. But in the first symphony he was in essence working with the tools of the eighteenth century (and still in the final year of it!) – not only the musical vocabulary of the time but the musicians of that time as well, together with their deeply rooted conventions of performance practice. It is this which we have most lost sense of, and which would throw into startling relief the boldness with which he was challenging those very conventions: their regularity of phrase structure, hierarchy of the bar line, non-aggressive articulation and attack, controlled dynamic range, purity of sound, concept of tempo: we need to be aware of these and all other aspects of the status quo, in order fully to understand the energy and sheer arrogance with which he was openly confronting them, and burying them for ever as new instrumental techniques (and instruments as well!) had to be evolved to meet his demands.
And so it is in the context of performance that we can most appreciate the tremendous achievement of the first symphony – just as we appreciate the early piano sonatas in the light of their birth via the composer’s own questing fingers. So long as we are able to exhume those traditions (and instruments too, when practical) which Beethoven himself ultimately dismantled, there is much here to rediscover, much excitement to experience afresh. Would that we could more regularly have the appropriate instruments available (together with the expertise) to bring this music to life in its original startling colours! Although it has to be acknowledged that an increasing number of “modern” orchestras are taking on board so much that is there to be learned and discovered. Indeed, it was such pioneering musicians as Alan Hacker and Roger Norrington – with their respective Classical orchestras – who thereby opened our ears in this country to many of the dormant qualities of these iconic symphonies.
Not, however, without looking afresh at the concept of a tempo giusto: Beethoven’s markings give a real insight into the conventions and expectations of his time (for example, we realise that this symphony, together with many other works before and after it, does not actually contain a “slow” movement……!). Even if a small compromise has occasionally to be made on account of the heavier built instruments of today, at least an earlier generation of conductors – among them Leibowitz, Scherchen, and Erich Kleiber – have demonstrated that Beethoven’s demands are no less valid in the context of the symphony orchestra. To their credit, many contemporary players have proved willing to meet this challenge head on as well; and so it is to be hoped that, through this ground breaking first symphony, listeners will be swept back to the heady fervour of central Europe at the dawn of a new century: post 1789, maybe; but still mid-Revolution!
© Alan George
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