Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/41

SYMPHONY. work by the name of a great man was quite a different thing from calling it by the name of a crowned ruler. However, the point remains the same, that the work was written with a definite purpose and under the inspiration of a special subject, and one upon which Beethoven himself assuredly had a very decided opinion. The result was the richest and noblest and by far the biggest symphony that had ever yet appeared in the world. It is very possible that Beethoven meant it to be so; but the fact does not make the step from the previous symphonies any the less remarkable. The scoring throughout is most freely distributed. In the first movement especially there is hardly any one of the numerous subjects and characteristic figures which has not properties demanding different departments of the orchestra to express them. They are obviously conceived with reference to the whole forces at command, not to a predominant central force and appendages. The strings must necessarily have the greater part of the work to do, but the symphony is not written for them with wind as a species of afterthought. But it is still to be noticed that the balance is obtained chiefly by definite propositions and answers between one group and another, and though the effect is delightful, the principle is rendered a little obvious from the regularity of its occurrence. The second movement is specially noticeable as reaching the strongest pitch of sentiment as yet shown in an orchestral slow movement. In the earliest symphonies these movements were nearly always remarkably short, and scored for fewer instruments than the first and last. Frequently they were little better than 'intermezzi,' attached on both sides to the more important allegros. Even Mozart's and Haydn's latest examples had more grace and sweetness than deep feeling, and frequently showed a tendency to formalism in the expression of the ideas and in the ways in which the ornamental fiorituri were introduced. In the Eroica the name 'Marcia funebre' at once defines the object; and though the form of a march is to a certain extent maintained, it is obvious that it is of secondary importance, since the attention is more drawn to the rich and noble expression of the finest feelings of humanity over the poetically imagined death of one of the world's heroes, than to the traditional march form. The music seems in fact to take almost the definiteness of speech of the highest order; or rather, to express the emotions which belong to the imagined situation with more fulness and comprehensiveness, but with scarcely less definiteness, than speech could achieve. In the third movement appears the first of Beethoven's large orchestral scherzos. Any connection between it and the typical Minuet and Trio it is hard to see. The time is quicker and more bustling; and the character utterly distinct from the suave grace and somewhat measured paces of most of the previous third movements. The main points of connection with them are firstly the general outlines of form (that is, the principal portion of the Scherzo corresponding to the Minuet comes first and last, and the Trio in the middle) and secondly the humorous element. In this latter particular there is very great difference between the naïf and spontaneous fun of Haydn and the grim humour of Beethoven, sometimes verging upon irony, and sometimes, with evident purpose, upon the grotesque. The scherzo of the Eroica is not alloyed with so much grimness as some later ones, but it has traits of melancholy and seriousness here and there. The effect in its place is chiefly that of pourtraying the fickle crowd who soon forget their hero, and chatter and bustle cheerfully about their business or pleasure as before; which has its humorous or at least laughter-making ironical side to any one large-minded enough to avoid thinking of all such traits of humanity with reprobation and disgust. The last movement is on a scale more than equal to that of all the others, and, like them, strikes an almost entirely new note in symphonic finales. The light and simple character of Haydn's final rondos is familiar to every one; and he was consistent in aiming at gaiety for conclusion. Mozart in most cases did the same; but in the G minor Symphony there is a touch of rather vehement regretfulness, and in the C major of strength and seriousness. But the Finale of the Eroica first introduces qualities of massiveness and broad earnest dignity to that position in the symphony. The object is evidently to crown the work in a totally different sense from the light cheerful endings of most previous symphonies, and to appeal to fine feelings in the audience instead of aiming at putting them in a cheerful humour. It is all the difference between an audience before the revolutionary epoch and after. The starting-point of the movement is the same theme from the Prometheus music as that of the pianoforte variations in E♭ (op. 35). The basis of the whole movement is mainly the variation-form, interspersed with fugal episodes; and a remarkable feature is the long Andante variation immediately before the final Presto—a somewhat unusual feature in such a position, though Haydn introduced a long passage of Adagio in the middle of the last movement of a symphony in F written about 1777; but of course in a very different spirit. The Finale of the Eroica as a whole is so unusual in form, that it is not wonderful that opinions have varied much concerning it. As a piece of art it is neither so perfect nor so convincing as the other movements; but it has very noble and wonderful traits, and, as a grand experiment in an almost totally new direction, has a decided historical importance.

It is not necessary to go through the whole series of Beethoven's Symphonies in detail, for one reason because they are so generally familiar to musicians and are likely to become more and more so; and for another because they have been so fully discussed from different points of view in this Dictionary. Some short simple particulars about each may however be useful and interesting. The order of composition of the works which