ABSTRACT
Consider Beethoven. First, the Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major, the ‘Eroïca’. This has often been supposed to be programmatically concerned with the character of the hero, a sort of Carlylean meditation in music (if the anachronism may be forgiven). Whether or not this is really what it is all about may perhaps be doubtful. But one thing is quite clear: the motif deals in contrasts. A European critic, Paul Bekker, analysing the first few bars of the opening movement in the Napoleonic terms, said that in these initial passages Beethoven has succinctly depicted ‘the two cardinal antitheses of his hero’s character, his “forward-pressing energy” and his “mournful reflective resignation’”. But, secondly, take the impact of another work, and exegesis in an alternative mode. There is the story that, on hearing the great C Major entry of the finale of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, a veteran of the Old Guard (how one loves to think it might have been Papa Barlasch!) sprang to his feet exclaiming ‘C’est l’ Empereur!’ Here we have the character reflected differently in one magnificent and unified anthem.
