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• Ludwig van Beethoven was a well-known composer of the late Classical period. His music was heavily influenced by his predecessors Mozart and Haydn.

• A symphony is a piece of music for an orchestra. In the early Classical period, symphonies usually had three movements, but by Beethoven's time, there were often four movements.

• Beethoven wrote his first symphony in 1799.

• The symphony contains many Classical features found in the works of his predecessors Haydn and Mozart, but Beethoven’s style can be heard throughout, especially his frequent use of sfzorzandi.

• He went on to write eight more symphonies, which increased in scale as the form developed.

Remember

There are four movements in this symphony but your study piece is the first movement. You will only answer questions based on this movement in the listening exam.

Watch the video below to learn more about the exposition, development and recapulation of Beethoven's Symphony no. 1.

The symphony is scored for an orchestra of strings, woodwind, brass and percussion. The strings are divided into 1st and 2nd violins, violas, cellos and double basses. The woodwind consists of two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in C and two bassoons. The brass instruments are two natural horns and two natural trumpets and finally Beethoven uses two timpani tuned to a C and a G.

There are four movements in this symphony:

i. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio

ii. Andante cantabile con moto

iii. Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace

iv. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace

The Italian terms describe the tempo or rhythmic feel of each movement.

The first movement is in C major. The structure of this movement is sonata form - a typical form for first movements in the Classical period. Before the exposition, there is a slow introduction, in 4/4 time, something which Mozart and Haydn had introduced in their later symphonies. The slow introduction would become more common in Beethoven’s symphonies and the symphonies of future composers. The Allegro con brio section is in 2/2.

There are three sections in sonata form:

1. Exposition - the main musical themes are presented.

2. Development - the composer develops the themes from the exposition.

3. Recapitulation - the main themes return.

The slow introduction includes a series of cadences using the forte piano dynamic, this is when the music is played loudly and then suddenly becomes quiet. The strings play pizzicato.

In the exposition of a sonata form movement, there are usually two contrasting themes. The first theme, also known as the first subject, is in the tonic key, which in this case is C major. The theme is mostly played on the strings with the first violins playing dotted rhythms and ascending phrases. The articulation is mainly staccato.

The second theme, also known as the second subject, moves to the dominant key, G major. This move between the tonic and dominant was typical of sonata form in the Classical period. It was also convention that the second theme would be contrasting to the first. In this case, Beethoven shares the melody among the woodwind instruments. The phrases descend and the articulation is legato.

The exposition finishes on a dominant 7th chord (G7) and is repeated.

Remember

The exposition moves from the tonic to the dominant key in the Classical period.

The development section of the symphony is where composers develop fragments of the two main ideas from the exposition, which includes moving through related keys. Beethoven certainly achieves this in this symphony.

Bars 110-121

The first theme is presented by the first violins in a number of related keys including A major, D major and G major. In between these, the woodwind instruments provide syncopated interjections.

Bars 122-135

The music moves to C minor (the tonic minor). In the second half of the first theme, the four ascending staccato crotchet idea is developed. This idea moves quickly through F minor and begins to settle in E flat major.

Bars 136-143

The descending idea of the second theme becomes the focus here. Whilst the tonality is E flat, this passage feels like a prolonged pedal on B flat (the dominant of E flat) as Beethoven explores scalic passages in the strings.

Bars 144-159

The opening of the first theme is developed here. The dotted rhythm is passed around the instruments. The music moves through E flat major, F minor, G minor, D minor and A minor. You can see the appearances of the motif in the boxes below:

Bars 160-177

This passage is based around the chord of E7, the dominant 7th of A minor. The crotchets from the first theme are sped up to quaver, as shown by the images below:

Throughout this passage, the brass instruments play the dominant pedal note (E), which the woodwind instruments take over in bar 172.

The development ends with a descending dominant 7th arpeggio from the woodwind, ready to resolve in the recapitulation.

In pictures: Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 Movement 1

The role of the recapitulation is to re-establish the two main themes, summarised in the table below.

Beethoven’s first symphony also includes other important movements. For example, the second movement contains more extreme dynamics and Beethoven’s signature sf or sfz, especially on weaker beats.

Beethoven’s famous Symphony No. 5 is a good example of how Beethoven’s symphonic style develops. It contains a continually growing independence of the woodwind, and a thicker texture, distinguishing Beethoven from his symphonic predecessors, Haydn and Mozart.

It also increases in scale and length of the movements. Beethoven develops the famous ‘fate’ motif extensively and the movements all become much longer. Like in his first symphony, at the end of the first movement of this 5th symphony it includes repeated perfect cadences in C minor to establish the key. At the end of the fourth movement and the whole symphony, there are many repeated perfect cadences in C major, establishing the triumph of the major key over the minor. This is also important as there were more chromaticisms being used in Beethoven’s writing.