Ludwig van Beethoven's composing career

Ludwig van Beethoven's composing career began in the last decade of the 18th century and ended with his death in 1827, and thus spanned from the Classical to the Romantic period. In his youth, he studied under F. Joseph Haydn, one of the greatest Classical composers; in his maturity, he anticipated the Romantic style which was later fully realized in the works of Schubert, Schumann, and Berlioz, among others. Beethoven's wrote only nine symphonies; on its face this seems paltry compared to Haydn and Mozart, who established the Classical symphonic style--between them, they wrote over 150. However, despite the beauty (and often humor) found in Haydn's symphonies and the sheer brilliance of Mozart's, Beethoven single-handedly redefined the form and used it as a means of emotional, as well as musical, expression. This research will examine two of Beethoven's symphonies, his First, Op. 21, and his Fifth, Op. 67. The two works will be critically analyzed and compared and contrasted with one another and with the earlier, Classical symphonies of Haydn and Mozart as well.

A casual glance at the overall structure of the symphonies under discussion reveals no extraordinary structural differences between them and the standard Classical symphonies of Haydn and Mozart. Both symphonies are comprised of four movements in the standard order. The only discrepancy is that the third movement of Beethoven's Fifth is a scherzo and trio (structurally--it is labelled simply Allegro) rather

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is not so much due to flaws in the composition itself; rather, it is because in comparison to his later, strikingly original compositions, it seems more like an exercise in technique than a distinctly Beethovenesque work (2). Although the piece has its innovative moments--the unexpected tonality of the introduction in the first movement, the use of timpani in the second, and the third as a whole--in essence, it is very much a symphony in the Classical vein of Haydn and Mozart. Its movements essentially follow the patterns established by the earlier composers both in form and tonality, and, importantly, they are also very much distinct from one another in the Classical sense--they are unconnected with one another musically; themes are restricted to individual movements and do not recur elsewhere. His break with this latter tradition is among the most innovative and exciting features of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which will be examined next. Beethoven's Fifth is quite possibly the most famous symphony ever written, known to connoisseurs and amateurs alike. Unlike his First Symphony which, as discussed above, followed quite faithfully the compositional patterns established by the great composers of the late 18th century, Beeth

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