Beethoven 7th Symphony Torrent

Djordje balasevic pesme. Also various compositions that contain 'symphony' or 'sinfonia' in their name are included, whether or not strictly speaking they adhere to the format of a classical symphony. Sinfonia concertante is a different genre, and works of that genre are not included here, unless for those named works that are usually known as a symphony.

With all these symphonies, it’s worth reflecting upon the occasion for which they were written, in this instance, one of ’s ‘academies’. Beethoven’s previous attempt at an academy-style grand premiere – comprising the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies – was not a great success, but he was a clever promoter of his own music and preferred the idea of a public concert to an evening in an aristocratic ballroom. He wanted to give the public something amazing and knew how to create a furore. In the same programme as the Seventh, Wellington’s Victory gave the composer his most successful premiere, but the symphony, too, caused quite a stir and its second movement had to be encored. The Seventh has more up-tempo music in it than any other Beethoven symphony, written for the smallest orchestra he had used in a while, without trombones and with only two horns. The opening positively proclaims that an extraordinary amount of this work will be in the key of A major.

There is a certain tread, an underlying, procession-like pulse, to this first movement. It’s almost minimalist. The transition – the opening tune of the Allegro – is presented quietly, as a flute solo, with a rather bucolic accompaniment and a vaguely equestrian feel. It is also quite obsessive about one particular rhythmic motif: a dotted quaver followed by a semiquaver, followed by a quaver. The themes of the exposition are elided one over another; the normal stages of a sonata are not covered. In other Beethoven symphonies, the structure is usually quite clear: the first theme ends here and the second begins here.

There might be a little transition, but it’s obvious where one theme ends and the next begins. Here, the themes are overlapped. In the development section, a slicing and dicing occurs with tiny bits of the main motif, in shifting keys and extremely different orchestrations. Ultimately, though, it all centres on a single harmonic place – using a ‘pedal point’, as and especially both do so effectively. Having wrapped you up completely in the excitement of all this, he comes to a sudden halt. There’s an oboe solo, then we make our way to the recapitulation. There is a droning, chromatic bass-line, with a little tune superimposed by the fiddles, with a motif of a perfect fourth, a charming arabesque.

It starts gently, becomes more capricious and then, as the listeners drop their guard, it turns quite obsessional. ‘I think this movement appeals because it is simple and expressive, like a perfect scene in an opera’ In the second movement we shift into A minor. The winds proclaim the harmony with a mono-motivic quality that makes a profound impression. This is like a march and the controversy is whether it should be played Allegretto or Andante con moto. It is still quite common for this to be played at a rather monumental tempo, with a strong accent at the beginning of each bar, but it’s quite clear from source materials that this is not what the composer intended.