QUARE: Eroica

[sjwenger]

I've heard the story about how Beethoven erased the title of his Napoleon Symphony when Napoleon accepted the crown as emperor, but my question is: was the music completed at this time, or did he change the music in any way after he changed the title?

Thank you.

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[Joy]

Good question, Sue. Here's some information although it doesn't exactly answer your question.
"Originally the work was to be titled the “Bonaparte Symphony” (New Groves), as a tribute to Napoleon Bonaparte, the French Consul who had begun to radically reform Europe after conducting sweeping military campaigns across the continent. In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself emperor, a move which angered Beethoven. As legend has it, the composer ripped through the title page and later renamed the symphony the Eroica because he refused to dedicate one of his pieces to the man he now considered a “tyrant”. Nevertheless, he still allowed the published manuscript to carry the inscription, “composed to celebrate the memory of a great man,” despite dedicating the work to Lobkowitz. This has led historians and biographers to speculate on Beethoven’s feelings towards Napoleon ever since."


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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Peter]

Originally posted by sjwenger:
I've heard the story about how Beethoven erased the title of his Napoleon Symphony when Napoleon accepted the crown as emperor, but my question is: was the music completed at this time, or did he change the music in any way after he changed the title?

Thank you.

Most likely the music was complete. Ries's account is misleading, it wasn't until 2 years after the incident he describes that the symphony was named 'Eroica'. Also strange is that in writing to the publishers Breitkopf and hartel (26th Aug 1804), Beethoven says 'the title of the symphony is really Bonaparte.' Also he never erased the words 'Geschrieben auf Bonaparte' from his own copy of the score. So given that Ries and Schindler are not wholly correct Beethoven's real reasons were possibly either the cancellation of the projected visit to Paris and/or the inadvisability of such a dedication in the changed political climate that followed Napoleon's coronation.

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'Man know thyself'

[This message has been edited by Peter (edited 11-05-2006).]

[Hofrat]

Originally posted by Peter:
Also he never erased the words "Geschrieben auf Bonaparte" from his own copy of the score.

Dear Peter;

Did Beethoven really write "Geschrieben auf Bonaparte" on the score? Would not "Bonaparte gewidmet" be the proper German?

Hofrat

[Peter]

Originally posted by Hofrat:
Dear Peter;

Did Beethoven really write "Geschrieben auf Bonaparte" on the score? Would not "Bonaparte gewidmet" be the proper German?

Hofrat

I'm sure this is what he wrote and recall seeing it but can't think where. As to the correct German you are probably right as I believe what he wrote translates as 'written on Bonaparte'.

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'Man know thyself'

[Cetto von Cronstorff]

Originally posted by Hofrat:
Dear Peter;

Did Beethoven really write "Geschrieben auf Bonaparte" on the score? Would not "Bonaparte gewidmet" be the proper German?

Hofrat

The surviving copy of the Eroica just like the first edition bears an Italian title: 'Sinfonia grande intitolata ....'



[This message has been edited by Cetto von Cronstorff (edited 11-06-2006).]

[Peter]

Originally posted by Peter:
I'm sure this is what he wrote and recall seeing it but can't think where.

The source for this is Antony Hopkins 'The 9 symphonies of Beethoven'.

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'Man know thyself'