How Eroica?

Much has been said and written about Beethoven's Eroica Symphony. From its formal ambiguities, numerous instances of harmonic instability, and hermeneutic readings, the Eroica Symphony provides much to talk about. The focus of this post relates to the coda section from the first movement. I'm unaware if much has been discussed about this, and if anyone knows of an publications please send them my way.

Get out your Dover score of Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 1-4 and follow along. I'm discussing the coda beginning on page 134, bottom system, third to last measure to page 137, top system, fourth measure. I'm specifically interested in the trumpet parts on page 136, top system, fifth measure in continuing to the lower system, third measure in.

This section of the coda is particularly interesting because after all the fragmentation and harmonic instability surrounding the main theme we finally hear the main theme in a balanced and harmonically stable presentation. Scott Burnham writes, "In the culminating passage of the coda, from 631 to the end, the first theme is provided with a regular harmonic underpinning of tonic and dominant and regular four-plus-four phrasing. The power of this square treatment of the theme is precisely in its presentation: the theme becomes more like a real theme, for now it is an actual melody. That is to say, in its previous manifestations the first theme acted more as a bass line in motivating harmonic development; now it is freed from its compulsion to act as an unstable, driving force and is able to enjoy a truly melodic character (Burnham, Beethoven Hero, pp. 18-19)." The simplicity of the melody and its regular phrasing provide a sense of arrival and resolution. But I remember some scholars talking about how the trumpet avoids its high G climax (page 136, top system, seventh measure in) and interpreting this as an anti-hero or that the hero of the symphony has delayed his rise to power and stature. I want to say I read this later in Beethoven Hero, but I can't recall with certainty. But it may have been elsewhere too. If anyone can help with this, let me know.

Why would Beethoven deny the listener the satisfaction of such a climax and resolution? Putting the hermeneutic readings aside, I turn my attention to the orchestration. Adam Carse, a long-forgotten and neglected musicologist from the past, provides a simple answer based on the trumpets available to Beethoven at the time. Carse writes, "The first trumpet could have continued the tune perfectly well in open notes. . . Beethoven broke it off because his rule was not to write the high G (twelfth note of the harmonic series) for a trumpet crooked in any key higher than D. The high G on our E flat trumpet (sounding B flat) is rather shrill, and Beethoven avoided it throughout the Eroica, although there are several places in the score where he would have written it had the trumpet been crooked in a lower key. I know of only one instance in which Beethoven broke his usual rule, and that was at the height of the storm in the Pastoral Symphony (bar 85); there an E flat trumpet screams out its high G, as was quite appropriate in such a stormy situation" (Carse, "Beethoven's Trumpet Parts," The Musical Times v. 94 [1953], p. 32). From this account, Beethoven was not providing the listener with an added layer of interpretation, he was merely avoiding a "shrill" note on the E flat trumpet.

Once the keyed, or valved, trumpet was introduced during the late 18th century and perfected throughout the 19th century, this issue of tuning, intonation, and timbre became less of an issue. With this came alterations to this moment in the symphony. Editors chose to write the part by continuing the melody in the dominant for the trumpet, and an earlier generation of conductors performed and recorded the symphony this way. Conductors like Fritz Reiner, Herbert von Karajan, and Leonard Bernstein performed and recorded this altered version, and later conductors, most of whom focus on "authentic" performances, like Georg Solti, Bernard Haitink, John Eliot Gardiner, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt held to the original version. And then there is Paavo Järvi who performed a hybrid of the two. This is another subject that interests me; the interpretive decisions made by conductors and how they inform and/or alter our perception and interpretation of a work (I would like to design a class on this). The following video provides three different recordings of this excerpt: first the original version, then the altered version, and finally the hybrid version. Again, this begins on page 134, bottom system, third measure from the end in the Dover score of Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 1-4.

Mahlerites Rejoice!

In may of this year, the David Zinman cycle of Mahler symphonies was released. The 15-CD set includes recordings of all ten symphonies, including the discarded Blumine movement of the First Symphony, and Clinton A. Carpenter's performance version of the Tenth Symphony. Also included in the set is an 80-minute documentary on the rehearsal and recording of the Sixth Symphony.

Zinamn has held successful stewardships with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, his current position. With the latter orchestra, Zinman recorded all of the Beethoven symphonies using Jonathan Del Mar's critical edition, and this cycle garnered critical acclaim and raised the visibility of Zinman and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich. The use of Del Mar's critical edition and Zinman's direction present a refreshing take on Beethoven's symphonies, including the use of early-19th century performance practices that are absent even in most period instrument recordings.

Having heard Zinman's Beethoven cycle, I was intrigued to hear his approach to Mahler. Zinman began his Mahler cycle in 2007, and four years later all the symphonies have been released. So far I have listened to the first three symphonies, and I can describe Zinman's interpretation using two words, balance and clarity. Every motive, whether combined with other motives or intertwined with other motives, comes to the fore, demonstrating a remarkable command of the score and the different groups of the orchestra. I intend to present a symphony by symphony review of the set. Stay tuned!