We're playing.. my favorite piece?!

When I was in college and just starting to break into the professional music world, I was excited to play anything and everything.  My first Brahms symphony at Indiana University, my first opera with a professional orchestra (which happened to be Siegfried- nothing like a good 5 hour trial by fire!), my first pops concert with the Houston Symphony (Pink Martini), and everything in between.  However, as musicians become more tenured and we've played Tchaikovsky's 4th 57 times or we're thrown an old piece by someone famous that's rarely performed (there's usually a reason it's never programmed- looking at you Wellington's Victory!), we start to get less excited.  However, I believe every musician has a few (or more than a few!!) favorite pieces that can always spark some joy and imagination no matter how many times they've played it.  This week, we're playing a symphony that I will never, ever, EVER get tired of playing.  I promise.

This piece sends so much energy, passion, and excitement through every vein in my body.  I can't hold back a smile when I hear the violins rip into the opening of the final movement.  I get a rush of  nervous energy to play -what some would call- a derpy 2nd horn solo consisting of only 4 notes.  And maybe the best part, I get to play one of the most exciting 2nd horn parts in the repertoire: the trio from Beethoven's 3rd symphony.

The one and only

We get to play Beethoven's 3rd Symphony this week!  Clearly, I am beyond excited for this piece and I keep telling people, and finally one of my colleagues said to me, "I think this is your favorite piece." I've never thought about that, but now I think he just might be right!

Beethoven's 3rd Symphony was a game changer for the art of symphonic writing.  These days, nothing can really shock our 21st century ears (although "screamo" usually gets me pretty good), but back in the late 18th century, concert goers were used to Mozart and Haydn and beautiful, gentle music with a few little shifts away from the standard compositional rules to harness a slight chuckle or earnest guffaw from the mildly educated audience.  Beethoven's 3rd would have inspired gasps and shock and quite possibly outrage.

First of all, the symphony is much longer than what audiences were accustomed to.  Clocking in at around 50 minutes, it's about twice as long as any previous symphony.  On top of this, Beethoven breaks a lot of "rules."  He opens with two crashing Eb Major chords to get your attention, quite literally.  Back in the 18th century, audiences needed to know the piece was beginning or they might continue mulling around chatting with one another. We'll see this technique again in Haydn's "Drum Roll Symphony" later in our season (maybe you can guess how he starts the piece?).  After these chords the cello's take it away with a soaring Eb arpeggiated melody which Beethoven quickly surprises us by turning on his heel with a C# at the end of the first line.  Seven measures into the piece and he's already breaking rules and shocking the public.  We know we're in for an emotional rollercoaster with this one!  One of my favorite aspects of Beethoven's writing is how he plays with meter and rhythm and he takes it to new heights in his 3rd.  The first movement is in a sweeping 3/4 meter, most often conducted in one, but you'll notice the jarring accents he puts all over the music, confusing the audience (and sometimes the orchestra!) into thinking he's in 2/4 or 4/4 or... we're not quite sure?  Why did he do this?  Let's talk a little bit about what this piece is about, shall we?

The 'Eroica Symphony,' or the Heroic Symphony was originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte and his fight against political tyranny and was titled 'Symphony Napoleon.'  However, his student, Ferdinand Ries recalls that once Beethoven discovered that Napoleon had crowned himself emperor, he scratched out Napoleon's name with such fury that it left a hole in his score.  He renamed it 'Symphony Eroica' after that.

The original score of Beethoven's 3rd, with scratched out Napoleon

Sometimes the implied subtexts of the political history of the piece overwhelm the music itself.  I, on the other hand believe it ties in well with the music.  I always find the music suddenly becomes more fascinating when you know the struggles the composer was dealing with or the concept behind the music, when he/she had one.  Maybe those sharp, displaced accents and confusing meters symbolize the arduous journey that Napoleon was on or the tragic internal battle that ended in him turning his back on the people.  Perhaps it has more to do with Beethoven's emotional distress during this time in his life.  This was completed directly after Beethoven wrote the Heiligenstadt Testiment- a letter to his brothers outlining his pain and despair over his ongoing hearing loss.  In this letter, he contemplates suicide but eventually reconciles that he must continue with his music nonetheless, as it is his duty and fate.  The letter was never sent and was only opened after Beethoven's death 25 years later.

The first movement of this symphony is a huge step for the development of the symphony form as a whole and for the burgeoning Romantic movement.  Beethoven was probably the first to push away from the formal restraint of the classical period, which leads me to *ahem* my big solo.

As Beethoven begins to move back to the recapitulation of the first movement, he employs a little joke for the audience that actually ended up confusing a lot of people at first (after all, Beethoven was not known for his comedy...).  While the strings are still dancing in the previous key, he writes a premature entrance for the 2nd horn (that's me!) 4 bars before the actual recapitulation begins!  I called this a "derpy solo" earlier because of the early entrance, like the 2nd horn made a mistake! But in reality, I get to lead the entire orchestra into the recap!  Thanks Ludwig!

Just as revolutionary as the first movement, the second is a funeral march.  As I stated earlier, the named Bonaparte was furiously scratched off of the score.  However, underneath Eroica, he wrote, "composed to celebrate the memory of a great man."  So, who knows who this funeral march was really written for, but it certainly raises some questions.  This is utterly bleak music. At first.  Then Beethoven writes two interludes that are placid, simplistic beauty, like the sun coming out of the rainclouds and then absolutely epic heroism in a massive double fugue.  He even sneaks in a huge 3rd horn solo for his debut of 3rd horn (which we will get to in a minute).  He ends the movement in stunning grief that paves the way for some pretty intense juxtaposition with the third movement.

The third movement of the Beethoven's 3rd is the first time a Scherzo was ever written into a symphony and man, did people run with it!  It's now a very popular choice as a middle movement in the Romantic period and onwards, but in 1804, audiences were, once again, shocked.  The scherzo is upbeat, bouncy, fast (sometimes), and bursting with excitement, especially for the horns!  The trio is one of the most famous horn moments in the literature and it was made possible by Beethoven's revolutionary decision to add in a third horn! gasp!  Almost all symphonies before this had only 2 horns, and pretty much 2 of every other wind as well.  The trio is also considered one of the biggest excerpts for, you guessed it, 2nd horn! (That's me!) It's very challenging to play clearly enough for the quick descending 8th notes to be heard while you're jumping down into the basement register of the horn.  But of course, I love it!  Beethoven wanted an epic hunting horn call, and he got it, although it probably didn't sound as he was hoping in 1804 (but he couldn't hear right? so.. too soon?).  Along with this horn trio being incredibly difficult on the natural horns that were in use at the time, Beethoven wrote a stunning amount of difficult parts for strings and woodwinds as well.  This is probably another reason his audience was not incredibly receptive at the premiere.  Nonetheless, instruments developed and musicians honed their skills and we can sound much more up to snuff now!  Get ready for some epic horn moments!

A natural horn! Made and held by my natural horn professor from IU, Rick Seraphinoff. 

The final movement is a whirlwind of joy and victory.  I can't help but wish I played violin just to rip into the opening line (but then I'd go back to horn, obviously).  The finale is based off of a set of variation that Beethoven had written a few years before this symphony for a ballet, 'The Creatures of Prometheus.'  It begins with just a simple baseline that he varies from there.  It's a fantastic journey that ends with horns, of course!  This piece is an epic victory in so many ways, if not for Napoleon, then for the symphony, for the romantic period, for Beethoven's effort to push past his physical and mental hurdles, and last but not least, for horns!

In addition to the Beethoven, we will be opening with Copland's Three Latin American Sketches, followed by Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major with the virtuosic, Pablo Ferrandez.  Ferrandez is the ICMA's "Young Artist of the Year" and to a horn player, he sounds sensational.  There is so much exhilaration in his playing and he gets pretty creative with the cadenza, so you don't want to miss him!  Come join us at the LPO this week, Thursday, Friday and Saturday!

Happy New Year (and other holidays past) from the LPO horns! (Note our special sweaters)