Beethoven Symphony number 3 in Eb major: Key things to listen for
1st movement, Eb major, 3/4 time
EXPOSITION
Hear all the main tunes, the first group of
tunes in the home ‘Tonic’ key of Eb major
(chord I), the second group in the
“Dominant’ key of Bb major (chord V)
Musical Structure: Sonata Form
[1] First group of tunes in the home ‘tonic’ key of Eb major
[2] The music is written in 3/4 time, but here the music is effectively in 2/4 time, pulling
across the regular beat. This is a type of cross-rhythm known as a ‘hemiola’ rhythm. It has important consequences later on…
[3] Second group of tunes in the closely related ‘dominant’ key of Bb major
[4] Listen to how boring the trumpet and horn parts are here (and for most of the symphony). When Beethoven was alive only
natural horns and trumpets were available. They had no valves and so could only play a limited range of notes
[5] Another section where Beethoven pulls the music across the regular beat so you can’t tell where the first beat of the bar is
THE EXPOSITION MAY BE REPEATED
DEVELOPMENT
Rips bits of the main tunes to bits, plays
about with them, goes to lots of musical
keys that are very distant to the home key
of Eb major, and then gradually leads back
to…..
[6] The development section starts gently (but not for long)…
[7] Listen to how Beethoven ‘develops’ musical ideas: a two-bar phrase from the first main tune gradually move through
different keys on viola, cello and bass.
[8] The hemiola rhythms from earlier come back and build a big climax, with some really dissonant sounds. The music dies
down into the key of E minor – in harmony terms this is a world away from the home key of Eb major
[9] The music starts to prepare for the recapitulation. This is an important moment: the music dies down and there is a sense of
waiting, repeated wind chords and tremolo strings create tension and it sounds like the horns come in early, just before…..
RECAPITULATION
Hear all the main tunes again, but now
largely in the home key of Eb major
[10] The start of the recapitulation, an important moment in the music with a clear return to the home key and main tune
[11] The second group of tunes – but now in the home ‘tonic’ key of Eb major
[12] This is the bit, first heard at point 5, where you can’t tell where the first beat of the bar is
CODA
Before Beethoven, usually a quick ending,
but this Coda is big. Starts like a second
development section but then settles down
to the home key
[13] The recapitulation comes to a strong end, like the end of the piece, but then sinks down into the start of the Coda
[14] The start of a slow crescendo building up towards the end, with the first main tune played over the most basic chords Eb
(tonic, chord I) and Bb (dominant, chord V) over and over again – as though balancing out all the different keys the music went
to earlier.
2nd movement
Funeral March.
C minor. 2/4 time
MAIN THEME
Musical Structure: Rondo. A main theme keeps coming back, with contrasting ‘episodes’ in between. Each time the main theme comes back it
is treated differently – very characteristic of Beethoven.
[1] Main funeral march theme in the key of C minor
[2] A slightly more hopeful musical phrase in the relative major key
of Eb major, but it falls back into the minor key
[3] The slightly more hopeful major key phrase again, then falling back to
the minor
EPISODE
[4] A much more uplifting theme in C major, with triumphant brass fanfares and timpani…but then the triumphant feel dies, the music goes
back into the minor, and sounds even more gloomy
MAIN THEME
[5] Main funeral march theme comes back very quietly but then gets loud and becomes a…
EPISODE
(a Fugue)
[6] Fugue. The fugue tune is heard first on 2nd violins, then enters on1st violins, then viola/cello, then
bass, then woodwind, then horn…. builds to a intense climax, full of grief, and then dies down…(an
example of a polyphonic or contrapuntal texture)
MAIN THEME
[7] Main funeral march theme back very briefly in G minor but breaks off…..
EPISODE
[8] A loud low note on the cellos leads to an angry-sounding section with lots of triplets in string instruments and military rhythms on brass
instruments. The harmonies changes very slowly here – a slow ‘harmonic rhythm’
[9] As the angry music dies down, listen to how an offbeat pattern on first violin and flute gradually becomes an accompaniment to the return
of ….
MAIN THEME
[10] The main funeral march theme in C minor again, also accompanied by dotted military rhythms on the horns
[11] The slightly more hopeful musical phrase from point 2 returns, but soon falls back into the main theme with military horn rhythms
CODA
[12] An interrupted cadence leads to the end section. Listen for the slow ‘tick-tock’ effect in the string instruments. This section feels like
everything is collapsing in grief.
[13] Main funeral march theme for the last time. Listen as the tune in the first violins breaks down into fragments….
3rd movement
Eb major. 3/4 time
SCHERZO
(The Italian word
for ‘joke’)
Musical Structure: Ternary form: ABA (Scherzo-Trio-Scherzo) with a CODA
Fast 3/4 time – probably so fast that the conductor will show only one beat for each bar.
[1] At the start, the music is very quiet for a long time, then…..
[2] It’s suddenly loud, with full orchestra. The music is in canon here, with violins, flutes, clarinets and oboes playing a tune that is copied 2 bars later
by viola, cello, bass and bassoons
[3] For several bars, Beethoven puts an strong accent on the 2nd beat of the bar – this throws the music out of its ¾ pattern, and sounds syncopated
[4] Listen to how the music is passed rapidly from woodwind to string instruments – as though the woodwind and strings are imitating each other
Much of this section is now repeated
TRIO
(The name given to
a contrasting
middle section)
[5] The three french horns feature here – most pieces have either 2 or 4 horns, having 3 is rare. Beethoven’s horns were natural horns, with no valves,
so they could only play a limited range of notes. The music is carefully composed around these notes (although the horns in Sinfonia Viva will almost
certainly be playing modern horns with valves). It’s pretty difficult music – the first horn goes really high, and the second horn jumps all over the
place, ending on really low notes.
SCHERZO
[6] An almost exact repeat of the scherzo.
[7] The only real change is with the part of the music originally described as feature [3] - this time the music changes into 2-time for a few bars –
watch for how the conductor manages this. Changing time in a bit of music you have already heard throws your expectations – something Beethoven
loves doing
CODA
[8] A short ending, based around an important kettledrum (timpani) part – an ostinato
4th movement
Eb major 2/4 time
INTRODUCTION
Musical Structure: variations on a ‘bass line’ and its accompanying tune
MAIN
BASS LINE
[1] Main ‘bass line’ introduced (on pizzicato – plucked – string instruments)
• This feels like a real anti-climax – as though the Star Wars introduction went straight
into the Muppets tune
VARIATIONS
ON BASS LINE
[2] Strings only - variations on the ‘bass line’
• The ‘bass line’ goes into the middle, and later the top of the musical texture
MAIN TUNE
[3] Finally, the ‘main tune’ that belongs with the bass line
VARIATIONS
ON TUNE AND
BASS LINE
[4] A fugue, based on the first four notes of the ‘bass line’
• Fugue tune enters in first violins, then second violins, then violas, then cello/bass, then it gets complicated, with overlapping entries – a
contrapuntal/polyphonic texture
Big dramatic introduction and then….
[5] A variation on the ‘main tune’ again, at first in a minor key
• Quite challenging fast solo flute bit here
[6] New tune – minor key, dotted rhythms and a stormy feel– over the main ‘bass line’
[7] The ‘main tune’ in the major key again, but it quickly becomes a fugal/contrapuntal texture, with lots of entries based on the main tune and the bass
line. This section builds up to a pause….
SLOW SECTION
[8] The main tune, played quietly, slowly and expressively, and with more juicy, chromatic harmonies. This gradually builds up into…..
[9] A triumphant version of the main tune, low down in the musical texture on horns, cellos/double basses, clarinets and bassoons
• This is one of the first examples of a symphony finale feeling like a big triumphant climax - with earlier composers the first movement
was usually the most important, and the finale was often a fast, lightweight ending
[10] The music dies down into one of Beethoven’s characteristic ‘hanging around waiting for something to happen’ passages
CODA
[11] A sudden loud return of the introduction music from the start of this movement leads into the final fast section
• This last section is based almost entirely on two chords, Eb major and Bb major (the tonic, chord I, and dominant, chord V). Like in the
first movement, Beethoven balances all the different keys he has gone through earlier with a long section of really basic harmony.
[12] The last 21 bars of the piece are entirely the tonic chord of Eb major - how long can you make music out of only one chord?