11/2 Symphony No. 3 "Eroica", Pt 1 (Analysis, Järvi)

Kandinsky - "Around the Line"

It's been a long while since I did any analysis here...a whole month!  Well I'm going to remedy that by covering the Eroica for the next few days.  One of the highlights of my recent trip was seeing Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen perform Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, the Eroica.  It happens that Järvi and Co performed this in 2006 in Japan and the whole thing is on Youtube.  I annotated it based on sonata form structures and present it below....you'll notice that I don't use too much "poetic" language - I hate to do that because if I say this is "cannons firing" or "horses galloping" it limits what it might mean to someone else, and it can also be misleading concerning the intentions of the composer....I did let a few sentiments slip through though.....

Symphony 3 (Eroica) in E flat major, op.55, Movement I:

Part 1

Symphony 3, Movement 1 (Eb)
Exposition
Theme 1 in Eb (I)
A - Triadic motif with dissonant C#
A1 - variation avoids dissonance
B - syncopation section
A2 - triad theme BIG
Theme 2 in Bb (V)
Pt 1 - Lyrical counter theme
Pt 2 - tuttis add drama
Pt 3 - Rhythmic variations leading to big descending scale
Theme 3 in Bb, led by winds
Supported by strings
Low strings add serious weight
Build up to Cadence section
Cadence in Bb
Pt 1 - heroic, march-like
Pt 2 - Hemiola syncopation
Pt 3 - Pairs of tuttis become single tuttis
Pt 4 - Theme 1 motifs re-emerge, leading to expo repeat


Expo Repeat


Development
Pt 1 Instead of 2 big tuttis, we get hushed calm
Pt 2 - uses Theme 2 Pt 1 motifs
Pt 3 - Theme 1 triad becomes minor and repeats higher and higher
Pt 4 Theme 1 sequencing alternates with dramatic textures
Pt 5 Theme 2 Pt 1 again
Pt 6 - Fugal section using previous motifs
Pt 7 - Fugue explodes into dissonant chords crashing and burning ;)
Pt 8 - Theme 4 - "sadly assessing the battlefield"
Pt 9 - Theme 1 motifs varied
Pt 10 - Theme 4 again
Pt 11 Theme 1 returns...(continued)

Part 2

Development (continued) 0:00
Pt 11 - Theme 1 variations lead into 0:00
Pt 12 hushed harmonies, interrupted by early horn entrance 0:47

Recapitulation 1:06
Theme 1 in Eb, but minus the dissonant C# 1:06
A 1:06
A3 (no B section this time) 1:17
A2 1:40
Theme 2 (in Eb) 2:00
Pt 1 2:00
Pt 2 2:11
Pt 3 2:22
Theme 3 in Eb 2:41
low recitative section building to Cadence 2:56
Cadence 3:12
Pt 1 3:12
Pt 2 - Hemiolas 3:21
Pt 3 - pairs become singles 3:28
Pt 4 - triad motifs from Theme 1 3:39

Coda 4:02
Pt 1 - Theme 1 sequences 4:02
Pt 2 - Theme 1 motifs with fugue subject counter 4:16
Pt 3 - Theme 4 4:31
Pt 4 - Fugue subject resurfaces 4:46
Pt 5 - Theme 1 motifs 4:55
Pt 6 - Theme 1 with thickening texture 5:26
Pt 7 - Theme 2 Pt 2 6:11
Pt 8 - Syncopation leading to huge ending 6:20

(Analysed with the assistance of Robert Greenberg's Teaching Company Wordscore guide. I differed from his analysis here and there but the section breaks are pretty close to his)

Movement II tomorrow.