Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major Op. 55 (Eroica)

The Symphony No. 3 in E♭ major, Op. 55, (also Italian Sinfonia Eroica, Heroic Symphony; German: Eroica, pronounced [eˈʁoːikaː] is a symphony in four movements by Ludwig van Beethoven.
One of Beethoven's most celebrated works, the Eroica symphony is a large-scale composition that marked the beginning of the composer's innovative "middle period".
Composed mainly in 1803–1804, the work broke boundaries in symphonic form, length, harmony, emotional and cultural content. It is widely considered a landmark in the transitionbetween the Classical and the Romantic era. It is also often considered to be the first Romantic symphony.

## Instrumentation

Symphony No. 3 is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B♭, two bassoons, three horns (the 1st in E♭, C, and F; the 2nd in E♭ and C; and the 3rd in E♭), two trumpetsin E♭ and C, timpani in E♭ and B♭ (in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th movements) and in C and G (in the 2nd movement), and strings.

## 1. Allegro Con Brio

The first movement, in **3**

**4** time, is in sonata form, with typical performances between 12 and 18 minutes long depending on interpretation and whether the exposition repeat is played.[*citation needed*] Unlike the longer introductions in Beethoven's first two symphonies, the movement opens with two large E♭ major chords, played by the whole orchestra, that establish the tonality of the movement.

The conductor Kenneth Woods has noted that the opening movement of *Eroica* has been inspired by and modeled on Mozart's Symphony No. 39, and shares many attributes of that earlier symphony which precedes this one by a decade and a half.

## 2. Marcia Funebre (Adagio Assai)

See also: Beethoven and C minor

The second movement is a funeral march in the ternary form (A–B–A) that is typical of 18th-century funeral marches, albeit one that is "large and amply developed" and in which the principal theme has the functions of a refrain as in rondo form. Musically, the thematic solemnity of the second movement has lent itself for use as a funeral march, proper. The movement is between 14 and 18 minutes long.

The opening A-section in C minor begins with the march theme in the strings, then in the winds. A second theme (m. 17) in the relative major (E♭) quickly returns to minor tonality, and these materials are developed throughout the rest of the section. This eventually gives way to a brief B-section in C major (m. 69) "for what may be called the Trio of the March", which Beethoven unusually calls attention to by marking "Maggiore" (major) in the score.

At this point, the traditional "bounds of ceremonial propriety" would normally indicate a da capo return to the A theme. However, the first theme in C minor (m. 105) begins modulating in the sixth bar (m. 110), leading to a fugue in F minor (m. 114) based on an inversion of the original second theme. The first theme reappears briefly in G minor in the strings (m. 154), followed by a stormy development passage ("a shocking fortissimo plunge"). A full re-statement of the first theme in the original key then begins in the oboe (m. 173).

The coda (m. 209) begins with a marching motif in the strings that was earlier heard in the major section (at mm. 78, 100) and eventually ends with a final soft statement of the main theme (m. 238) that "crumbles into short phrases interspersed with silences".