Page:Rolland - Beethoven, tr. Hull, 1927.pdf/144



This Symphony was completed in August, 1804, and first performed on April 7th, 1805 The French Ambassador at Vienna had suggested that Beethoven should write a work on the grand scale based on his admiration for Napoleon as the saviour of France from the horrors of the Revolution; and it is a fact that Beethoven actually dedicated this Symphony to Napoleon, but when the news came that the First Consul had declared himself Emperor, Beethoven tore up the title page in a rage and added the following superscription:—

Sinfonia Eroica, composta per festeggiare il

Souvenire di un grand' Uomo,

E dedicata A Sua Altezza Serenissima

Il Principe di Lobkovitz da Luigi van Beethoven,

Op. 55 No. III. delle Sinfonie.

This is one of the grandest and most powerful of the works in the Second Period style. It is note-worthy that all the principal themes are based on the intervals of the common chord, or on the little pendant of the diminished third which forms the tail of the first subject.