Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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780 SYMPHONY
and fascinating wilfulness of the first movement,
which is enhanced by some very characteristic
orchestration ; the noble calm of the slow
movement ; the merry humour of the. Scherzo,
which has again the same peculiarity as the
fourth Symphony, that the trio is repeated (for
which the world has every reason to be thankful,
as it is one of the most completely enjoyable
things in all symphonic literature) ; and finally
the wild headlong abandonment of the last
movement, which might be an idealised national
or r-ather barbaric dance-movement, and which
seta the crown fitly upon one of the most
characteristic of Beethoven's works. The
Symphony in F, which follows immediately as
op. 93, is again of a totally different character.
It is of specially small proportions, and has
rather the character of a return to the old conditions
of the Symphony, with all the advantages
of Beethoven's mature powers both in the
developrhent and choice of ideas, and in the
treatment of the orchestra. Beethoven himself,
in a letter to Salomon, described it as ' eine
kleine Symphonie in F,' as distinguished from
the previous one, which he called 'Grosse
Symphonie in A, eine meiner vorzuglichsten.'
It has more fun and light-heartedness in it
than any of the others, but no other specially
distinctive external characteristics, except the
substitution of the graceful and humorous
Allegretto scherzando ' in the place of the slow
'
movement, and a return to the Tempo di Menuetto
for the scherzo. After this came again a
long pause, as the greatest of all symphonies did
not make its appearance till 1 824. During that
time, however, itis probable that symphonic work
was not out of his mind, for it is certain that the
preparations for putting this symphony down on
paper spread over several years. Of the introduction
of voices into this form of composition,
which is its strongest external characteristic,
Beethoven had made a previous experiment in
the Choral Fantasia ; and he himself spoke of
the symphony as in ' the style of the Choral
Fantasia, but on a far larger scale.' The scale
is indeed immensely larger, not only in length
but in style, and the increase in this respect
applies to it equally in comparison with all the
symphonies that went before. The first movement
is throughout the most concentrated
example of the qualities which distinguish
Beethoven, and the new phase upon which music
entered with him, from all the composers of the
previous half-century. The other movements
are not less characteristic of him in their
particular ' ways. The second is the largest
example of the typical scherzo which first made
its appearance for the orchestra in the Eroica ;
and the supreme slow movement (the Theme
with variations) is the finest orchestral example
of that special type of slow movement ; though
in other departments of art he had previously
illustrated it in a manner little less noble and
deeply expressive in the slow movements of the
Bl? Trio and the Bl> Sonata (op. 106). These
movements all have reference, more or less
intelligible according to the organisation and
sympathies of the hearer, to the Finale of the
Symphony, which consists of a settingof Schiller's
ode 'An die Freude.' Its development into
such enormous proportions is of a piece with the
tendency shown in Beethoven's previous symphonies,
and in some of his sonatas also, to
supplant the conventional type of gay last movement
by something which shall be a logical or
poetical outcome of the preceding movements,
and shall in some way clench them, or crown
them with its weight and power. The introduction
of words, moreover, gives a new force to
the definite interpretation of the whole as a single
organism, developed as a poem might be in
relation to definite and coherent ideas. The
dramatic and human elements which Beethoven
introduced into his instrumental music to a
degree before undreamed of, find here their fullest
expression ; and most of the forms of music are
called in to convey his ideas. The first movement
of the symphony is in binary form ; the
second in scherzo, or idealised minuet and trio
form ; the third in the form of theme and
variations. Then follows the curious passage
of instrumental recitative, of which so many
people guessed the meaning even before it was
defined by the publication of the extracts from
the MS. sketch-books in the Berlin Library
then the entry of the noble tune, the theme of
the entire Finale, introduced contrapuntally in
a manner which has a clear analogy to fugal
treatment ; and followed by the choral part,
which treats the theme in the form of variations
apportioned to the several verses of the poem,
and carries the sentiment to the extremest pitch
of exultation expressible by the human voice.
The instrumental forces employed are the fullest;
including, with the usual complement, four
horns, three trombones in the scherzo and finale,
and contrafagotto, triangle, cymbals, and big
drum in the finale. The choral forces include
four solo voices and full chorus, and the sentiment
expressed is proportionate to the forces
employed.
In Beethoven's hands the Symphony has again
undergone a change of status. Haydn and
Mozart, as above pointed out, ennobled and
enriched the form in the structural sense. They
took up the work when there was little more
expected of the orchestra than would have been
expected of a harpsichord, and when the object
of the piece was slight and almost momentary
entertainment. They left it one of the most
important branches of instrumental music,
thoughstill to a great extent dependent on formal
perfection andsomewhat obvious artistic management
for its interest. Their office was in fact'
to perfect the form, and Beethoven's to use it.
But the very use of it brought about a new