Music in Context: Tonality and Form in Western Music - The Composition of Beethoven's 'Eroica'

The political circumstances preceding the composition of Beethoven's third symphony, 'Eroica', can be said to have dramatically influenced the work and shaped the innovative features utilized by Beethoven in the piece. The piece was originally dedicated to the French First Consul, Napoleon, but this dedication was angrily ripped off by the composer after Napoleon declared himself emperor. These actions are unsurprising, as Beethoven was a fiercely political character, and the events surrounding this period of …

…awful truth. It is easy to see Beethoven's growing discontent with the political situation of 1803- 1804 within the fierce music of the third symphony, 'Eroica'. The new techniques developed by the composer after a long period of dissatisfaction and depression, and the sobering experience of seeing Napoleon slowly turn to what he had been fighting against, all played a major part in the composition of the symphony, and, indeed, the creation of the 'romantic' period.