This symphony breaks traditions of all kinds, but it also bears the traits of the new romantic spirit. The remarkable length of this piece is accomplished through its daring structural turns, expanded by a density and abundance of musical ideas. Furthermore, in a scoring for three horns, abundant use of brass melodies, fugal writing in all but the scherzo, and an overall expansive treatment of forms, the « Eroica » reimagined the capabilities of a symphony. In structural detail and stylistic, one should not lose focus of the Third Symphony’s musical importance, Beethoven expanded the symphonic form to an unprecedented scope, altering the expectations of what a four-movement symphony would be in the next two centuries. The sum of the materials in four tableaux, is convincing of the heroic idea. The first movement achieves deep emotional complexity, and through the creation and resolution of musical dissonances harmonic, melodic, tonal, rhythmic, metric, textural, orchestrational, and formal along with the shear expansiveness of the form, conveys the heroic per ardua ad astra: through struggle to the stars! The second movement funeral march effectively turns the epic into a tragedy and, compared with the relatively mild emotional undercurrents of Beethoven’s first two symphonies, evokes an unprecedented sincerity in its gravitas and sorrow. Anguish and despair permeate unreservedly and are held together only by the emergence of hope and redemption as the music mourns for the fall of its hero. At this depth is juxtaposed the lightness "in Nature" of the third movement scherzo. In the final movement, the dramatic cascade of strings followed by a tutti fanfare signals a grand finale of a long expedition but is, instead, met with an almost mockingly humorous and delicate bass tune, which eventually reveals itself as the bass line for a much more graceful and satisfying theme, which continues to change and grow right to the horn-call and victorious ending. As a character from a Romantic heroic novel (Bildungsroman), our hero starts as only an idea, grows into a human, relaxes in nature and love, struggles through trials and tribulations, all leading to a heroic figure greater than the sum of its parts. Ludwig van Beethoven frees music from the remnants of 18th century convention, singlehandedly bringing music into a new age by giving it a transcendent voice equal to Western man’s most cherished values. *Lucien*
This was ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING. Maestro Paarvo Jarvi is one of my all time favorites.. such a talented and brilliant master of his craft. I LOVED his smile when the timpanist came in with his powerful roar in the fugata. That was such an awesome moment, among many others! What a fantastic orchestra! What Ludwig and Jarvi gave us is so phenomenal... It's more than music. It's a cure for the suffering in life itself.
This is probably one of THE BEST renditions of the funeral march that I have ever heard. The middle section is from another world. The expressiveness makes me feel like I can look into Beethoven's soul.
Snappy and refreshingly brisk tempi for this relentless exposition of the gravest sense of tragedy, and the sharpest despair, and heartfelt cries of protest at mostly masculine destructiveness and folly, esp the famous passage of cataclysmic angst and stormy outrage, commencing with sustained chords of "fearful dread" on cellos and French horns 8:01 . More than touch here of the crushing hyper tragedy of Bruckner (3rd movement of his 9th symphony) and Wagner (Siegfrieda's Funeral music - I'm deliberately switching the gender of this somewhat sappy and cardboard boyish hero). Classical Stoicism for the fullest dawn of European Romanticism. Genius of a high order! Love andrea
These last 5 minutes are magical ... Where Beethoven got this inspiration ? It's a shame I don't know the english right words to express my emotion ...
Very fast - then again, it is said that Beethoven wrote his music for fast performances and was constantly harassed by orchestras for "wanting the impossible", so maybe it was meant to be so fast... Still, definitely a variation from most other recordings.
this performance is fast but it really works well. i mean... when i hear other conductor's performance for this mvt, it sounds so pathetic and at the same time i feel so sad because this mvt is funeral march. but this conductor still keeps the heroic feeling even in this heart-wrenching mvt. unique.
Such power! Järvi is truly a master. The piece loses all meaning to me when played any slower. I'm surprised I can't find many if not any other composer playing it in this tempo.
Une Musique TOTALEMENT "offerte" aux armées françaises révolutionnaires de Bonaparte ... Et au génie militaire de leur chef .L héroïsme de tout un Peuple et d aucune aristocratie TOUT L INVERSE DE LA FRANCE DE MACRON !! Quand la République Française n était pas un mot VIDE de sens et triomphait de tous ses ennemis aristocratiques périphériques ...
