Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 Royal Flemish Philharmonic & Philippe Herreweghe

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21:
• 1 Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21: I. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio 09:00
• 2 Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21: II. Andante cantabile con moto 06:49
• 3 Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21: III. Menuetto - Allegro molto e vivace 03:33
• 4 Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21: IV. Adagio - Allegro molto 05:44
• Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica":
• 5 Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica": I. Allegro con brio 16:18
• 6 Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica": II. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai 13:59
• 7 Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica": III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace 05:54
• 8 Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica": IV. Finale. Allegro molto 11:09
• Total Runtime 01:12:26

Info zu Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3

It is all too easy to forget that when Ludwig van Beethoven presented his early symphonies to the Viennese public at the beginning of the 19th century, the genre there had already lost much of its allure. But the facts speak for themselves: by around 1795, well-known symphonic composers such as Haydn, Gyrowetz and Vanhal had relegated the symphony to oblivion and were concentrating on other artistic projects. And it seemed the new generation of Viennese composers were not the least bit interested in mastering this genre. The reason for this waning popularity was the slow erosion of court culture. Although every 18th-century Austrian court had employed its own orchestra, such excesses were being pruned vigorously in the aftermath of the Enlightenment. Furthermore, the Viennese concert society no longer operated regularly at the end of the 18th century, so public symphonic concerts were not being organised. Anyone preferring financial security to artistic integrity was therefore better advised to write operas, this being pretty much the safest choice for composers in those days, despite the fluctuating taste of the average Viennese music lover. After all, a commercially successful opera did a great deal more for one's fame than a solidly constructed string quartet or an innovative symphonic work. This explains Beethoven's repeated (but unsuccessful) attempts - right up to 1807 - to persuade the directors of various city theatres to give him a job as an opera composer.

Even before this period, however, the symphony was not really uppermost in Beethoven's mind; he showed conspicuously little interest in the genre when he went to Vienna in 1792 to take composition lessons from Haydn. At that time, Haydn was planning his second journey to London, a city in which various concert societies vied with each other to put on public concerts featuring symphonic works. Even so, Beethoven seemed to be totally oblivious of Haydn's symphonic plans (which were to result in the superb London symphonies). Later, when Beethoven was trying to build up his career as a pianist, the symphony still did not occupy a prominent place in his compositional agenda, and that is why the ideas he put on paper in 1795 for a symphony in C major remained as sketches.

It would be going too far to claim that Beethoven had, up to the age of 30, absolutely no interest in the genre. In addition to the above mentioned social and cultural factors, there were obviously artistic reasons for Beethoven's relatively late development in this direction. Of course, a stylistic purist such as Beethoven would understandably feel a certain artistic diffidence when having to compare his symphonic works with those of Haydn and Mozart. More importantly, however, Beethoven was engaged in an aesthetic exercise of the mind. It so happens that the trend set by Haydn and Mozart was one of increasing autonomy. Although it had been customary in the past to deliver symphonies in related groups, the future lay in the creation of symphonies that were unrelated to each other. The ambitious tone found in Haydn's last London symphonies meant they had already left the group feeling behind. Mozart's last three symphonies also showed a move in the direction of symphonic emancipation, so it was just a case of waiting for someone of a radical nature to come along - someone who was enough of a megalomaniac to produce the first totally independent symphony. And Beethoven was certainly a megalomaniac. When that abnormally tense opening chord in his First Symphony sounded on 2 April 1800, the musical history of the nineteenth century really had begun.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C is thus much more than the result of his first foray into this genre. The moment of creation is in itself a reason for viewing this symphony as a symbol of a new era in which bourgeois taste was demanding an example of 'Einzelwerke'. More or less the first romantic orchestral work, this symphony throws up a number of problems in the musical structure, and then aims to 'solve' them in the subsequent movements. Thus, the first thing that one notices is the thematic relationship: the main theme in the Allegro con brio contains an interval of four notes that expands into an octave, providing thematic material for the other movements. Another point of interest is Beethoven's revision of the classical symphonic form. For example, he marks the Menuetto with Allegro molto e vivace which has the effect of replacing the rather dance-like minuet with the more virulent brio of a scherzo. The Finale deviates from the norm too; not a rondo, but a true sonata that provides precisely the weight Beethoven intended for this symphony. However, we certainly do not have to wait until the finale to hear something of genius. The slow introduction already demonstrates that a skilful narrator is at work: after two harmonically unexpected chord changes, the music starts 'searching' for the opening melody. This slow introduction is therefore not a sound aperitif à la Haydn; it is an essential part of the musical process. And then there is the instrumentation: this also serves to distance Beethoven from his predecessors. For one thing, the wind players have a much more creative role and for another, the instrumental timbres are unusually striking.

Five years later, Beethoven's plea for symphonic emancipation resulted in a first success, the Symphony No. 3 in E flat, opus 55, the 'Eroica'. This monstre sacré of the early romantic orchestral literature is not easy to place in time: before the official premiere in 1805 there had already been a whole series of tryout concerts in which Beethoven permitted a number of corrections and alterations to be made. The reason for holding these "workshop concerts" was of course the heroic nature of the Eroica; this Third Symphony is justifiably regarded as an epic composition. The examples used to prove this are well-known. The Allegro con brio fans out delightfully, giving rise to: the ever-present main theme, an equivocal subsidiary melody, the sudden appearance of a new theme halfway through the movement, an out-of-step rhythm, a misleading recapitulation of the opening theme and an ambitious coda. In contrast to all this grandeur, the funeral march that follows is introverted and serene but it nevertheless manages to undermine our expectations: once by launching into an expressive fugato and a second time by catching the dirge completely unawares as the major key is introduced. Already announced in the First Symphony, the driving scherzo of the third movement mainly makes use of dynamic surprises: after 91 introverted bars, a sudden fortissimo appears from nowhere. Finally, the fourth movement; this is still puzzling musicologists as it defies all the conventional definitions of form, being much more like a series of playful variations - an exceptional way to crown this heroic symphony. And that is why Beethoven's Eroica has reached its status of immortality because, despite the heroic origins of this symphony (as is well known, it was dedicated to Napoleon in a fit of adoration), Beethoven does not make the mistake of producing pure pomposity. There are of course moments of ceremonial glory and serious pathos but there are also vivid, moving, playful and even humoresque passages, all of which contribute to this symphony's complexity. It is precisely this interplay of diverse mood changes, meticulously tuned to each other, that makes Beethoven's Third Symphony the locus classicus for every orchestral composition - even today. "Symphonies 1 and 3 were taped June 26-29, 2008 in the Concertgebouw, Brugge in Belgium. Producer Andreas Neubronner and balance engineer Markus Heiland have done a splendid job in capturing the rich sound of these dynamic performances; surely this Eroica is superior to the new Andrew Manze version with the Helsingborg orchestra". (Robert Benson, classicalcdreview)

"Philippe Herreweghe has the better sound, hands down, and thus is the advantage of this disc. When I finished listening twice, I simply sat back with a great feeling of satisfaction. This is good Beethoven, maybe even great, and while it may or may not assault the sacred cows of the past-and certainly can compete with them in ways-Herreweghe is on to something here, and makes his case with thoughtful, highly musical aplomb". (Audiophile Audition, Steven Ritter)

"In the present recordings of Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 1 in C and 3 in E-flat ("Eroica") with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Herreweghe shows himself completely in command of all the resources of a large symphony orchestra. And he shows us something else. He knows his Beethoven". (Dr. Phil Muse, Atlanta Audio Society)

"The two most recent "Eroica" performances that I've heard are a study in contrast: Herreweghe's is majestically scaled, elegant, balanced; Järvi's is propulsive, light-textured, and nimble…..on the whole, I prefer Herreweghe's performances, and especially the sound production. PentaTone has provided a weighty, full, and deep production that renders Järvi's RCA job lightweight by comparison. That could be said to apply to the performances as well". (Christopher Abbot, Fanfare)

Royal Flemish Philharmonic
Philippe Herreweghe, conductor

Philippe Herreweghe
was born in Ghent and studied at both the university and music conservatory there, studying piano with Marcel Gazelle. He also started to conduct during this period, and founded Collegium Vocale Gent in 1970. He was invited by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt, who had noticed his innovative work, to participate in their recordings of the complete cantatas of J.S. Bach.

Herreweghe’s energetic, authentic and rhetorical approach to baroque music was soon drawing praise. In 1977 he founded the ensemble La Chapelle Royale in Paris, with whom he performed music of the French Golden Age. From 1982 to 2002 he was artistic director of the Académies Musicales de Saintes. During this period, he founded several new ensembles with whom he made historically appropriate and well-thought-out interpretations of repertoire stretching from the Renaissance to contemporary music. They include the Ensemble Vocal Européen, specialised in Renaissance polyphony, and the Orchestre des Champs Élysées, founded in 1991 with the aim of playing Romantic and pre-Romantic repertoire on original instruments. Since 2009, Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent have been actively working on the development of a large European-level symphonic choir, at the invitation of the prestigious Accademia Chigiana in Siena.

Philippe Herreweghe continually seeks out new musical challenges, and for some time has been very active performing the great symphonic works, from Beethoven to Gustav Mahler. Since 1997 he has been the musical director of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic (deFilharmonie). He was appointed permanent guest conductor of the Netherlands’ Radio Chamber Philharmonic since 2008. He is also in great demand as a guest conductor with orchestras such as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig and the Berlin-based Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Over the years, Philippe Herreweghe has built up an extensive discography of more than 100 recordings with all these different ensembles, on such labels as Harmonia Mundi France, Virgin Classics and Pentatone. Highlights include the Lagrime di San Pietro of Lassus, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the complete symphonies of Beethoven and Schumann, Mahler’s song cycle Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5, Pierrot Lunaire by Schönberg and the Symphony of Psalms by Stravinsky. In 2010 he founded his own label (PHI), in order to give himself full artistic freedom to build up a rich and varied catalogue. The first recording, of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.4 (PHI-001) has been released, and the second CD, of J.S.Bach motets (PHI-002), is anticipated in 2011, followed by a new recording of Bach’s Mass in B minor and a recording of works by Johannes Brahms.

Philippe Herreweghe has received numerous European awards for his consistent artistic imagination and commitment. In 1990 the European music press named him “Musical Personality of the Year”. Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent were appointed “Cultural Ambassadors of Flanders” in 1993. A year later he was awarded the Belgian order of Officier des Arts et Lettres, and in 1997 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Catholic University of Leuven. In 2003 he received the French title Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. Lastly, in 2010 the city of Leipzig awarded him its Bach-Medaille for his great service as a performer of Bach.

Booklet für Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3