Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Philharmonic
Gianandrea Noseda (conductor)
London Classical Players
Roger Norrington (conductor)Â
Adagio molto - Allegro con brio
Andante cantabile con moto
Menuetto - Allegro molto e vivace
Finale: Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace
Beethoven's First Symphony was completed at the beginning of 1800 when he was 30. He had already made several sketches for a symphony but this was the first completed version. The influence of Mozart's wind music in it led to a critic at the first performance claiming that the wind instruments were used too much, especially as they were not played with any energy. However, for this first performance in Vienna, it was placed alongside a Mozart Symphony, an aria from Haydn's Creation, Beethoven's Septet op.20 and his First Piano Concerto, so it is not surprising that the musicians perhaps appeared to be lacking in energy by the time it came to the Symphony.
Both Mozart and Haydn's symphonic models are evident in Beethoven's First Symphony but it was nevertheless innovative for its time and showed Beethoven as a composer with his own developing ideas. One of the most striking features is the strange opening. A dominant seventh on F leads to three cadences which 'resolve' to a chord of G major, working through tonal developments until the Allegro con brio in C major. This immediately indicates Beethoven's intentions for the rest of the symphony and indeed for all his music - to use keys and tonal development to achieve high drama and intensity in music. The second movement has a prevailing dotted rhythm, which links the developments, more motific than melodic. The third movement entitled 'Minuet' is much more like a scherzo than a classical minuet in its speed, swift key changes and character, another trait of Beethoven. Like the first movement, the finale opens with a brief slow introduction, where the violins meander through scale passages which increase in speed to introduce the main subject of the movement - full of energy.
Coriander Stuttard
