Bonaparte and the Eroica

[Peter]

Reading Anthony Hopkins on the Eroica he raises some interesting points re. the original dedication to Napoleon, and the subsequent events which were related by Ries. He suggests that B only thought of the dedication when he planned to visit Paris in 1802 (hence the use of his name in French on his copy of the score 'Louis') and that the original idea was the Promethean hero which is why much of the finale includes music from that Ballet. He makes the point that it is unlikely that B would have originally conceived the Eroica with Napoleon in mind since only a few years previously (1800) the Austrians had been defeated by the French, with more casualties than any other nation. He suggests also that if B really had torn up the title page in a fit of rage, why in 1809 when the French were bombarding Vienna did B entertain the French Ambassador, and why was he contemplating dedicating the Mass in C to Napoleon in 1810? Food for thought!

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'Man know thyself'

[Serge]

Indeed, I'll have to mull that one.

BTW, is that A. H. the actor?

[Peter]

Originally posted by Serge:
Indeed, I'll have to mull that one.

BTW, is that A. H. the actor?

Thankfully not! This guy was responsible for the highly acclaimed BBC series, 'Talking about music'.

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'Man know thyself'

[PDG]

Peter,

Your Antony has no "h"; the flesh-eating actor(!) does.

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Peter (PDG)

[Peter]

Originally posted by PDG:
Peter,

Your Antony has no "h"; the flesh-eating actor(!) does.

Indeed - apologies for the earlier spelling - I don't know if Mr.Lecter (probably spelled wrong again, but you know who I mean!) is a B fan but I hope he is not a member of this forum - with all the pseudonyms people post under here I may be in trouble!

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'Man know thyself'

[This message has been edited by Peter (edited 03-01-2001).]

[Chris]

What was that piece he was listening to after he killed the guards? I'm pretty sure it wasn't Beethoven, but I don't remember what it was, so it might have been.

[This message has been edited by Chris (edited 03-01-2001).]

[Michael]

Originally posted by Chris:
What was that piece he was listening to after he killed the guards? I'm pretty sure it wasn't Beethoven, but I don't remember what it was, so it night have been.

I think it was the aria from the "Goldberg Variations" which crops up again in "Hannibal."
As I mentioned in another topic, Antony Hopkins was often mistaken by his listeners for the Lecter fellow. I myself bought a recording of his talks under the impression that it was the Welsh actor.
Antony (minus the h) has also written some extremely good books for the layman on symphonies, concertos and sonatas.

Michael

[Chris]

Gotcha.