Beethovens 7th Symphony essays

Beethoven's 7th Symphony essays Beethoven's 7th Symphony First, a little history on why this piece is different than Beethoven's other Symphonies. After Beethoven's marathon concert of December 1808, which included the first performances of his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the city of Vienna was not to hear a new Beethoven symphony for some five years. The long-awaited Seventh was completed about May of 1812. The Seventh can be seen as Beethoven's atypical use of the wind instruments as a self-contained group in the orchestra, rather than as the amplifier of an essentially string-dominated texture or as a collection of soloists dependent upon string accompaniment. The special treatment of the wind plays as important role in the shaping of the work, although Beethoven's orchestra here is the same size as that of his first two symphonies, he can expand his material by setting large instrumental groups against each other. In the Vivace itself, which is in sonata form, the normal roles of string and wind are sometimes actually reversed, so that (for example) it is the wind - and led by the flute rather than, more conventionally, by the trumpet - which gets to play the opening statement of the first subject. The second movement's rhythm, its ABA form (modified, and with a coda recalling both elements) and its tonal organization (the B section is in the parallel key of A major and gives prominence to the wind) each underscore its relationship to the somber processional march of the early 19th century. Though the form of scherzo, ABABA', has become standard in this Beethoven symphony, it's remote key relation between the principal section and the t rio (F major - D major) was something new; what is more, Beethoven emphasizes the tonal distance between them by basic differences in tempo, phrase construction and the use of the orchestra. Then he bound together these two seemingly irreconcilable musical entities. As a result, Beethoven is able not only to reinforce the forti...