Many go so far to say that much of BeethovenвЂ™s music, starting with the Eroica, is representative of not only the composerвЂ™s life but even of universal human experience.Дespite the many commentaries on the biographical connection, one should not lose focus of the Third SymphonyвЂ™s musical importance. While there are certainly music-rhetorical aspects that define the heroic style-expansions of form, stark, surprising harmonies and melodic directions, registral shifts, redefined instrumental use, and pregnant pauses, all calling upon and pushing to the fore the sublime aesthetic-critics have often focused on how the composerвЂ™s personal struggles are embodied in the music. As Lewis Lockwood states, вЂњBeethovenвЂ™s вЂheroic style,вЂ™ a concept thatвЂ¦for many Beethovenians served to intertwine these two dimensions, his life and workвЂќ (Lockwood, BeethovenвЂ™s Symphonies, 52). Many have argued that BeethovenвЂ™s вЂњheroicвЂќ style from the Third Symphony forward was a musical manifestation of his triumph over the personal afflictions laid out in the Testament. At about the same time, Beethoven reportedly declared to his friend Krumpholz that he was contemplating a new compositional direction (Downs, вЂњ BeethovenвЂ™s New Way & вЂEroica'вЂќ ). Beethoven started to compose the symphony shortly after he wrote the Heiligenstadt Testament, a document in which he reveals deep dismay at his increasing deafness and contemplation of suicide. Part of its significance is that the Eroica was the first piece of the traditional middle or вЂњheroicвЂќ period in BeethovenвЂ™s biography. While interesting, the story of the symphonyвЂ™s dedicatee has little to do with its lasting importance to music history. With no definitive answer, perhaps the most compelling argument is that вЂњBeethoven intended its title and subtitle to refer more broadly not to any single individual but to an ideal, mythic figure, whose heroism is represented by the power and weight of this symphony and whose death is commemorated by its Funeral March as second movement.вЂќ (Lockwood, BeethovenвЂ™s Symphonies, 55.) The subtitle of the published score simply said, вЂњcomposed to celebrate the remembrance of a great man.вЂќ Many have speculated about who this вЂњgreat manвЂќ may have been. The composer tore up the title page in a fit of rage and branded the piece Sinfonia eroica (Heroic symphony) instead. Beethoven initially intended to dedicate the symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte, but famously became disenchanted when Napoleon abandoned the ideals of the French Revolution and became Emperor in 1804, just one year before the symphonyвЂ™s premiere. While contemporary reception of the piece was mixed, critics and theorists in the years since have considered the Eroica one of the most important pieces in the history of Western music. Perhaps no piece in the symphonic repertoire has received more attention in writing than BeethovenвЂ™s Eroica Symphony No. Theme & Variation hybrid (Double-theme, elements of Sonata-Allegro). 1806, Contor delle arti et dвЂ™Industrie, Vienna.ДЇirst published score: 1820, Simrock (1822 Simrock edition available at EastmanвЂ™s Sibley library rare collection). Orchestra size for first or early performance: 3+3.2.2.2/single winds (private, based on Beethoven letter) 6+6.3(?).2.4/single winds (public, estimate).ДЇirst published parts: Oct. Instrumentation: Strings, 2 Fl, 2 Ob, 2 Cl, 2 Bsn, 3 Hn, 2 Tr, Timp.ДЇirst performances: 9 June 1804, Lobkowitz Palace, Vienna (private) 7 April 1805, Theater-an-der-Wien (public). 55 вЂњEroicaвЂќ (1804)Дedication: Prince Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz.

Beethoven 7th symphony 3rd movement