BEETHOVEN TIMES THREE



Ludwig van Beethoven
1770-1827

Ludwig van Beethoven
Overture to Fidelio

Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, underwent numerous major revisions by the composer before he arrived at the final version we know today. The overture to the opera underwent even greater transformations. There are four different overtures, all popular in the concert hall. The first three are called Leonore (Nos.1, 2 and 3), after the original title of the opera, and the fourth is known as Fidelio, Beethoven's final title.

The complex plot is a paean to marital fidelity and political justice. Leonore disguises herself as a young man, Fidelio, in order to free her husband Florestan who is incarcerated unjustly as a political prisoner.

Beethoven's difficulties with the earlier versions (the three Leonore overtures) stemmed from the fact that they were too dramatic and explicit, and thus giving away the most dramatic and exciting moments of the opera.

The final version, the Fidelio overture, is neither very dramatic nor very closely related to the opera itself. In that sense it could be called a "generic" overture, similar to many of Rossini's. However, being by Beethoven, it is nevertheless a well-crafted and enjoyable – if somewhat lightweight – composition.

By the nineteenth century, opera overtures were generally constructed in sonata allegro form, similar to the opening movement of a symphony. In a rather surprising digression from tradition, Beethoven constructed the Fidelio Overture on two very brief motivic ideas, stated up front in the orchestral opening and the slow horn call.

Because they are so different rhythmically, they are all that is needed to give contrast and dynamic energy to the short work, which he continually transforms throughout. After he introduces the two motives, a long, slow passage reflects the dramatic intensity of the opera, followed by a sprightly allegro theme based on the first orchestra motive.

Beethoven continually transforms these two kernels, concluding the Overture by stating them in reverse order, thereby reflecting the happy outcome.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto in C Major for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra, Op. 56

By 1803-4, Beethoven had become Vienna’s favorite musician and felt confident enough to break away from the traditional Classical language so dear to the Viennese. He shocked his admirers with the “Eroica” Symphony, as well as with some of his piano music of the period, especially the “Waldstein” (Op. 53) and “Appassionata” (Op. 57) Sonatas. The self-confidence also extended to his choice of libretto for his only opera, Fidelio – a story of governmental misdeeds – that was sure to run afoul of the ever-present censor.

Dedicated to “…his serene highness Prince Lobkowitz,” Beethoven’s Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello & Orchestra was composed during those years. There is no record of commission or of the intended performers, but one theory states that it may have been composed for his 15-year-old pupil, Archduke Rudolph. As he aged, the Archduke was to become Beethoven’s staunchest supporters throughout the composer’s turbulent and troubled later years.
Another theory, in light of the Concerto’s difficult cello part, is that it was intended for Anton Kraft (1749-1820), a superb cellist for whom Haydn composed his D Major Cello Concerto, and who had settled in Vienna.

The Concerto was published in 1807 and premiered in 1808, although there may have earlier private performances. Its form harks back to the sinfonia concertante (actually a concerto for more than one solo instrument) that was so popular in the second half of the eighteenth century, especially in France. Beethoven’s choice of instrumental combination, however, was unique, and he took special pains to balance the contrasting sonorities of the three soloists to avoid their overpowering one another. The public response, however, was cool at best.

The Triple Concerto is played less frequently than many of Beethoven’s other orchestral works in part because of the technical requirements for its performance and the cost of hiring three soloists. Although it is often performed by an established piano trio, it is important to recognize that it is not a concerto for trio and orchestra, but rather a work for three soloists. While neither the piano nor violin part offers unusual difficulties, Beethoven, with Olympian disregard, gave little consideration to the technical limitations of the cello, making it one of the most difficult parts in the repertoire.

The Concerto also does not have the emotional intensity or the momentum of Beethoven’s other concertos. This is especially true in the exposition and development sections of the first movement, where Beethoven repeats the themes in new keys on the different instruments and instrument combinations rather than developing them. This approach, while unusual for Beethoven, was largely dictated by the necessity of giving each solo instrument equal time to expand on all of the three main themes in its own particular way, an issue that does not arise in a solo concerto. Beethoven also forgoes formal cadenzas, which would have been unwieldy with three solo instruments.

The Concerto opens directly with the first theme as a section solo for the basses; only towards the cadence do the rest of the strings enter, suggesting the musical image of a sunrise.

The image is completed as the entire orchestra chimes in on its way to the second theme.

A third theme, based on a little rhythmic figure from the first theme completes the exposition. A third theme, based on a little rhythmic figure from the first theme completes the exposition.

The Largo is a short lyrical movement with a single theme, first presented by the orchestra,

followed by beautiful solos for each of the instruments, each varying the theme in a slightly different way. With minimal orchestral accompaniment, the soloists go on to play variations on the theme more in the style of a piano trio. The movement is actually an intermezzo, or transition, linking directly to the Finale.

The bridge, however, is very long, building up considerable tension before finally resolving in the Finale. Beethoven used this effect in the Fifth Piano Concerto as well; there, instead of creating anticipation with over a minute of empty calories, he used the bridge to gradually introduce the notes of the main theme of the finale.

The rhythm of the rondo theme is that of a polonaise, hence the designation Rondo alla polacca. The movement is shaped like an arch; Beethoven pours out several new themes for the episodes between the reappearances of the refrain, then repeats them before the coda.

Its already vivacious theme becomes more boisterous in the coda through a sudden change in tempo and rhythm.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 5 in c Minor, Op. 67

The four most clichéd notes in classical music were once the most revolutionary. For the first time a rhythm, rather than a melody, became the main subject of a sonata form movement – and not just a first theme to be stated and picked up again for a while in development and recapitulation. Beethoven wove the rhythm as an organic whole into the entire fabric of the first movement, first as a repeated demand, then expanded into a genuine melodic theme, as a throbbing accompaniment in bass and timpani for the second theme, all the way to the final cadence.

A symphonic structure this original did not come easily, especially to a composer who lacked the ever-ready genius of a Mozart, Bach or Haydn to produce on demand. A collection of the composer's sketchbooks bear witness to the lengthy and often painful gestation of some of his greatest music. The Fifth Symphony took four years to complete between 1804 and 1808. But Beethoven had to eat too, and during those four years he also produced the Fourth Symphony, the Fourth Piano Concerto, the three String Quartets Op.59, the Mass in C and the Violin Concerto.

Although Beethoven had already been at work on what was to become the Fifth Symphony, he composed the Fourth in fairly short order in 1806 when Count Franz von Oppersdorff commissioned him to write a symphony. Oppersdorff eventually paid the 500 florins agreed upon for the work and in 1807 commissioned another one with a down payment of 200 florins. Beethoven notified Oppersdorff in March 1808 that the Symphony was ready and that he should send the remaining 300 florins. But the Count sent only another installment of 150 florins and by November Beethoven, in one of his less than ethical moves, apparently felt justified in selling the score to the publisher Gottfried Härtel. Upon finally paying in full, Oppersdorff received a copy.

The Symphony No. 5 was premiered at one of those monster concerts common in the nineteenth century that included premieres of the Sixth Symphony, the Fourth Piano Concerto, the aria "Ah! Perfido, the Choral Fantasy and several movements of the Mass in C. One can only imagine the bewilderment of the audience on their first encounter in a single evening with the "Pastoral" and the Fifth.

Because the Fifth Symphony is so familiar it is difficult to think of it as innovative, but it was not only the integration four-note rhythmic motif into the first movement that was new. It is the fact that this little rhythm becomes the motto that unifies the entire symphony.

In the first movement, the principal theme hammers away at the rhythm in almost every measure. Then, the second theme, which should provide a significant contrast, starts off with the motto in the solo horn, only afterwards becoming somewhat more gentle and legato – although that, too begins to ramp up the emotional tension as it continues.

The second movement, marked Andante con moto, involves its own kind of innovation. It is made up of two short juxtaposed, contrasting themes, the first in dotted rhythm,

the second a slow almost military theme in the brass. Beethoven produces from the two themes a double set of variations. And it should be noted that the second theme contains within it in augmentation the germinal four-note rhythm of the first movement.

After what has been called a "ghostly" opening of the scherzo, Beethoven takes up the motto again prominently in the horns, and it is this segment of the third movement that he chooses to repeat in the finale.

Symphony No. 5 has frequently been referred to as a struggle from darkness to light, but it is a commonplace that has palpable grounding in truth. Not only does the symphony begin in c minor and end in C major, but there is also the magnificent transition between the third and fourth movements, a kind of breaking through of sunlight clouds with violins stammering over throbbing timpani towards a cadence.

The eruption through to the triumphant finale paved the way for the symphonic writing of the future, including Beethoven's own Ninth.