Composer Profile - Activefolio

Beethoven and the Transition to Romanticism 79
mammoth work, about seventy minutes in length. Although it is set in the traditional
four movements, and has no specific program, one can easily hear how the different
movements depict various aspects of Beethoven’s own musical life. Beethoven switched
the order of movements; after the long, restless first movement, the scherzo follows as
the second movement. The third movement is a wonderful adagio and contains some of
the most serene music Beethoven ever wrote. The fourth movement is a monumental
structure, and requires some explanation. The fourth movement provided something of
a challenge for Beethoven, who had long been a fan of Schiller’s hymn “Ode to Joy”
and its message of universal brotherhood. Only the addition of chorus and vocal soloists
could communicate the message of this grand finale. However, connecting the choral
finale to the other three movements proved troubling to the great master. He solved the
problem by beginning with a long orchestral introduction, which both recalls the earlier
movements and introduces the famous hymn melody. On the repeat of the introduction,
the voices are finally added, beginning one of the most spectacular sets of variations
in symphonic literature. The journey that follows includes vocal solos, huge choruses,
two grand fugues and a march that introduces full percussion to a symphony for the first
time. The finale is truly an exhaustive demonstration of Beethoven’s absolute mastery.
Standard procedures and compositional
practices not followed by Beethoven
Standard Procedure
Work in which Beethoven
altered procedure
Starting a composition in the tonic key Symphony # 1, first movement
Third movement of a symphony is a
minuet
Symphonies #2–#9 use Scherzo
Ending a composition in the tonic key Symphony # 5, fourth movement
Breaks between movements Symphony #5, Symphony #6
Utilizing the 4-movement symphony
form
Symphony #6 has five movements
Tempo names for movement names Symphony #6 uses subtitles
Sonata movements are fast-slow-fast Moonlight Sonata is slow, medium, fast
Compositional practices Beethoven initiated
Traditional minuet movement changed to extremely fast scherzo (Sym. #2)
Second movement was exaggeratedly slow, as a funeral march (Sym. #3)
Included trombones for the first time in a symphony (Sym. #5)
Tied all four movements together with a common thematic idea (Sym. #5)
Programmatic symphony (Sym. #6)
Used descriptive subtitles for movements instead of tempo markings (Sym. #6)
Included a large choir and percussion section in a symphony (Sym. #9)