“Behind the Scenes” at our May Concert by Maestro Eckerling

I recently saw on Facebook a question posed…If you could sit down for an hour to talk with someone, past or present, who would you choose to talk to? My reply was “Beethoven.” Obviously, that isn’t possible. While I surely would love to know the details surrounding his metronome markings in his symphonies (and it’s something we likely will never know), he did leave some unique information which can be seen as documentation that we don’t have with many other composers. He has left us two particular groups of compositions which show earlier versions and later versions based on the same material. The first group is his three Leonora Overtures and the Fidelio Overture, in which one can actually see how his ideas progressed or changed from his first version to his final version. The other group, which pertains directly to our upcoming concert, is his use of a particular theme, with the final version being the theme and its associated variations which make up the whole of the last movement of his Third Symphony, the (“Eroica”).

In researching for this article and for our upcoming Musical Insights pre-concert lecture, I was startled to come across what is now believed to be the origin of this theme, which is actually a piano sonata by Muzio Clementi in G Minor, Op. 7, No. 3. The theme is obviously stated, though in G minor instead of Beethoven’s key of Eb major. I’ll play a part of it at Musical Insights on May 2nd and it is totally fascinating! (And before anyone starts calling Beethoven a plagiarist, Beethoven’s transformation of that theme is totally original, so that title would not apply!)

This Clementi piano sonata was completed in 1782. Beethoven first used this theme, but transformed, in his set of Contradances dated between 1800 and 1802, and in his ballet the Creatures of Prometheus dated 1801. Because of the inexact dates available for the Contradances, it’s not possible to say which came first. But certainly the Contradances are very primitive, and not even an exact quote of the theme, but rather an outline, and using similar harmonies. You can hear its influence, but can’t call it identical by any means. The last section of the Creatures of Prometheus on the other hand, is the identical theme. In some cases, portions of it are scored almost exactly as it is in the Third Symphony. And there are wonderful treatments of this theme. And if for no other reason, it’s worth hearing because of the ending, which is vintage Beethoven!

Beethoven then wrote 15 Variations and Fugue in E Flat, usually referred to as the “Eroica” Variations. This is a uniquely individual solo piano work in the same key as the Third Symphony, and also dates from 1802.

And the great Third Symphony (“Eroica”) uses that theme to underlie the entire last movement, dated 1804. Most scholars would say that this is Beethoven’s ultimate use of that theme in a set of variations, and I would agree completely. If you are so inclined, it is very enlightening to hear the various excerpts of the works mentioned above in succession, and then conclude with the great Third Symphony. But even if you don’t, you’ll get to hear Beethoven’s final thoughts on this theme at the Evanston Symphony’s upcoming performance on May 4th.

—Lawrence Eckerling
Music Director,  Evanston Symphony Orchestra