Beethoven: Symphony No 7 - Allegreto

Ludwig Spohr, a musician and Beethoven's contemporary who came to enjoy the composer's friendship, tells in his autobiography that in the rehearsal prior to the premiere of his Seventh Symphony, the 43-year-old maestro was so deaf that he could not hear the quiet passages of his own work. During the allegro – Spohr tell us –, a couple of these passages confused Beethoven and for a long time the orchestra walked on one side and him on the other. So, when the time came when, according to his own account, an orchestral forte had to be played, Beethoven bent down and spread his arms to underline it ... but nothing happened. The poor deaf maestro came out of his confusion ten or twelve bars later, when the orchestra played the forte and then he was able to hear it.

The premiere of the Seventh Symphony took place in Vienna on December 8, 1813, to great success. It had been five years since Beethoven had offered a new symphony to the Viennese public. Therefore, it was received with great enthusiasm. A few days later it was performed again, and just like in the premiere, the famous Allegretto, the second of its four movements (Poco Sostenuto - vivace / Allegretto / Presto / Allegro con brio), had to be repeated at the request of the public.

The work had been devised around 1811, although sketches dating back to 1806 have been found for the Allegretto. The popularity of the second movement is largely due to its simplicity: a simple rhythmic idea, a series of quarter notes and two eighth notes, repeatedly heard (an ostinato), give way to a Schubertian melody.

Vienna Philarmonic Orchestra, conducted by Georg Solti.

Beethoven's opinion ... and others
Beethoven regarded Symphony No. 7 as one of his best works. Subsequently, great composers, including Richard Wagner, spared no praise for the work. However, the maestro did have to deal with rude criticism from some of his contemporaries. Perhaps one of the greatest invectives was that of Professor Friedrich Wieck, the father of Clara Schumann, who did insinuate that Beethoven would have composed the work while being a little intoxicated.

But the resounded applause was for an English critic, who in 1826 pointed out:

"... it is impossible to discover in the work any scheme, nor to notice any connection between its parts. It seems to have been conceived as an enigma, but rather we dare to think that it is a mockery, a deception, a scam."

It's not easy to please everybody.