Beethoven - Symphony 1

Beethoven – Symphony #1

4/5 Stars

Overall this is a wonderful and musically concise piece. Being Beethoven’s first symphony, we don’t see a lot of the radical innovations that we typically associate with his works. Instead, we hear a piece that sounds as if it could have been written by one of his predecessors, i.e. Mozart,or even Haydn.

The opening is quite unusually however. The first 12 bars tease the ear as to the home key. Perhaps this is some sort of a musical joke? There is a constant tonic-dominant relation occurring, but each time it’s in a different key, further confusing the ear.

Both of the first 2 movements are written in clear sonata form, with very well articulated and memorable themes. The motivic development in these two movements stand out as remarkable in comparison to symphonies written by his predecessors. The intricacy and careful crafting of his themes is truly amazing in all his works, and this piece is no exception.

The third movement isn’t marked as a scherzo, but similar movements in later symphonies are. This begs the question if Beethoven had yet discovered this label. The final movement opens with a startling bang! Calling back the chordal relations from the first movement. It’s hard not to appreciate the symmetry.

My only major criticism of this piece is its lack of balance in terms of movement lengths. The first two movements are closer to 10 minutes and the last two are 9 minutes combined. The third and fourth movements are over so fast, I felt a little short changed and was looking for more.

On the whole this is a wonderful introduction to Beethoven’s music and brilliantly exemplifies much of what defines the late Classical era in music.