Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21

• Beethoven, Ludwig van

Honoring Mozart and Haydn, Beethoven’s First Symphony is a relatively conservative work from an otherwise bold composer. Despite its classical scoring and form, the symphony is uniquely Beethoven, with characteristic sforzandi, sudden shifts in tonal centers, and a prominent use of winds. Beethoven began his first sketches for a symphony in C Major in 1795, but soon thereafter turned his attention to composing works for piano. Sketches for the finale were found in the counterpoint exercises Beethoven wrote while studying with Georg Albrechtsberger in 1797, but it was not until 1799, a year after completing the Pathétique Sonata, that Beethoven fully turned his attention to composing his First Symphony. He completed the work in early 1800 and conducted the first performance on April 2nd of that year at the Burgtheater in Vienna. Also included in the program was an unidentified Mozart symphony and selections from Haydn’s The Creation, Beethoven’s Septet, Op. 20, and an unidentified piano concerto performed and composed by Beethoven. The Allegemeine Musikalische Zeitung reported “this was the most interesting concert in a very long time.” Instrumentation in set: 2.2.2.2: 2.2.0.0: Timp: Str(9.8.7.6.5).

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