Beethoven started writing the symphony in 1811, while recovering from illness at the

bohemian spa town of Teplice

The symphony wasn't finished til 1812
Dedicated the symphony to Count Montz Von Fries, a co-owner of a bank which had
supported Beethoven, and Beethoven was a frequent visitor to his court.
The symphony was premiered a year later than planned, at a Vienna charity concert, in aid
of Austrian and Bavarian troupes that has been injured in the battle with Napoleon's army at
Hanau
Beethoven conducted the performance.
The second movement, Alegretto, was encoured.
Due to the success of the premier, the performance was repeated four days later, and twice
more in the following weeks. [1]
Scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2clarinets, 2 bassons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 1st and 2nd violin,
viola, cello and 2 timpanis tuned to A and E (apart from during the scherzo when they are
tuned to F and A) [2]
Consists of an introduction and four movements
Poco Sostenuto crotchet = 69
A major
Vivace
dotted crothchet =104
A major
Allegretto crotchet = 76
A minor
Schrzo, Presto
F major,
Trio, Assi mento presto
D major
Finalle, Allegro con brio minim = 72
A major[2]
Considered a dance piece
A correspondent from the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung attended the premier and wrote
"the applause rose to the point of ecstasy. [1]

Basic Analysis
Poco Sostenuto
The introduction is much longer and more complex than in Beethovens first, second and
fourth symphonies (these three were the only others to include an introductionof this kind)
QUOTE Schumann to Brahms (from a letter dated January 6, 1854) 'Let him remember the
beginnings of Beethoven's symphonies, and try to do something like them, The beginnings
is the main thing. When you have once begun, the end comes of its own accord.'[2]

Starts with a tutti A chord followed by and melodic phrase by the first oboe, then a similar
patter, with the addition of clarinet, then horn then bassoon.
This is followed by a number of rising two octave scales in the strings to introduce the key
of C major[2]

This style of a grand introduction has been adopted by other composers and can be heard in
works such as Schubert's C major, Brahms C minor, and Mendelssohn's 'Scotch'.[2]

Vivace
Transition into the vivace from the introduction is achieved by the repetition of the E, which
is repeated a total of 61 times between the flutes, oboes and violins.[2]
The vivace is in sonata form.
Its defining characteristics include
lively dance like rhythms for example, dotteted rhythms
Sudden, drastic changed in dynamics
Abrupt modulations, examples of this can be found in the development section. The
section is in C major, with frequent modulations to the subdominant key of F major.
Carl Maria Von Weber (critic and composer) is said to have pronounced Beethoven 'fit for a
madhouse' after hearing the final passage of this movement[2]

Allegretto
The opening string theme was intended for the second movement of the Rasumoffsky
Quartet in C (Opus 59, No.3) and is found in sketches for that quartet.[2]
In double variation form, which means...
The melody A is played by the viola and cellos
The second violins take over melody A while violas and cellos play melody B
(These overlapping melodies were described by George Grove as 'a string og
beauties hand in hand')
First violins take melody A, Second violins take melody B
Wind Section takes melody A, First violins play melody B[2]

Scherzo
Begins in F major
Marked 'Presto'
Before the first 20 bars are over it is in A
The piece moves through three different keys before settling for a few bars in Bb.[2]

Trio
The trio is in D major
It provides a contrast to the scherzo, being slower and lacking the lively atmosphere
created by the scherzo.
The opening clarinet melody is believed to have been taken from a pilgrims' hymn
which was in common use in lower Austria. This melody is later played by the
oboes, with a similar accompaniment.[2]

The Finale
The final movement is in sonata form
The movement conatins the dynamic marking fff (in the original score, not in all editions)
which was a very rare marking to see in Beethovens music[2]

Quotes
Wagner 'the Apothesis of the dance; the dance in its highest condition; the happiest
realisation of movements of the body in an ideal form.'[2]
Beethoven 'a grand symphony in A, one of my best works' (in a letter to Salomon June 1,
1815)[2]
Beethoven 'among my best works which I can boldly say of the Symphony in A' in a letter to
Neate[2]
"The Seventh Symphony is the apotheosis of Rhythm," - Liszt[3]

'Fun' Facts
His father Johann envisioned creating a new Mozart, a child prodigy.

When he was 7 , Ludwig Van Beethoven gave his first public performance but his
father announced that he was 6. Because of this Beethoven always thought that he was
younger than he actually was.[4]

References
[1]Ronda, L. (2010). Explaining Beethoven's Music: 7th symphony, Allegretto. Available:
http://laurenronda.hubpages.com/hub/Explaining-Beethovens-7th-symphony-Allegretto. Last
accessed 7th November 2013 .
[2]Grove, G (1974). Beethoven and His Nine Symphonies. Canada: Dover Publications Inc..
p228-270.
[3]Frigon, C. (2005). Beethoven: Symphony No. 7. Available:
http://symphonysalon.blogspot.co.uk/2005/11/beethoven-symphony-no7.html . Last accessed
7th Oct 2013.
[4](2001). Beethoven Biography. Available:
http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Bio/BiographyLudwig.html. Last accessed 7th Oct 2013.