Anecdotes of Great Musicians/Anecdote 287
287.—THE HEROIC IN MUSIC.
Beethoven recognized in Napoleon Bonaparte some traits of character that were natural to his own rugged and world-defying disposition. In order to testify to his admiration for what he considered the heroic elements of Napoleon's character, the great composer dedicated to him one of his greatest symphonies. This symphony, Number 3, Opus 55, has been regarded by some as "an attempt to draw a musical portrait of a historical character,—a great statesman, a great general, a noble individual; to represent in music, Beethoven's language, what Thiers has given in words, and Delaroche in painting."
One writer has said of this symphony: "It wants no title to tell its meaning, for throughout the symphony the hero is visibly portrayed." Such views as these concerning any music are rather far-fetched. We doubt if this same writer would have associated a hero with this symphony on his first hearing of it if he had not previously been educated to the fact that it represented the heroic in music. If a hero can be pictured in music, so can a scoundrel; if these, then a saint, a sinner.
However, if the hint is given, then we can see massiveness and strength in the music that we may parallel in our own minds to our ideal of a hero. But without this hint, this massiveness and grandeur may just as well portray a chain of lofty mountains rearing their snowcapped tops in majesty above the surrounding scene.
We doubt if Beethoven intended or expected his music to represent to the hearer a concrete hero. When he wished concrete images to come to the mind of his hearers he did not depend on music to fulfil this errand, so foreign to its mission, but wrote, in so many words, the scene or idea that he wished to be in the listener's mind as he heard the music. For proof of this see the annotations affixed to the various movements of the "Pastoral" (sixth) symphony, and, somewhat similar, the "Farewell, Absence and Return" sonata.
But, undoubtedly, as much of the heroic as can be expressed in music, Beethoven has given us in this "Heroic" symphony. It is not a hero, but the heroic, that he portrayed, that he could portray in music; the large, the grand, the massive.
Then, the natural thing to do was to dedicate it to the man that filled in his mind at that time the niche of hero. That happened to be Napoleon I.
The original score had been sent to the French ambassador to be forwarded to France (and much Napoleon would have cared for it had he ever received it!), when one day in came Ferdinand Ries, a pupil of Beethoven, and told the news that Napoleon had taken the title of "Emperor" and had crowned himself Emperor of the French.
When Beethoven heard this, he started up in a rage, seized his copy of the "Heroic" symphony and, tearing off the title page with the dedication thereon, he threw it on the floor, exclaiming: "After all, he is nothing but an ordinary mortal. He, too, will trample the rights of men under foot!"
From that time till Napoleon's death at St. Helena Beethoven never spoke of his hero; but when that event occurred he said: "I have already composed music for this calamity," referring to the "Funeral March" in this symphony. Meanwhile he changed the dedication of the work, making it read "Heroic Symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man. Dedicated to His Serene Highness Prince Lobkowitz, by Louis van Beethoven."