Three years elapsed between the completion of the “Eroica” Symphony and
the emergence of the Fourth Symphony. The latter was brought out in
Vienna at a special subscription concert organized for Beethoven’s
benefit in the middle of the latter part of March 1807. Little is known
about the origin and composition of this work and its relation to the
other circumstances of Beethoven’s life. Apparently he had been busy
with his C minor Symphony (the Fifth) when in 1805 he laid that aside to
write a symphony in B flat. This act of his is in line with his general
procedure with regard to his symphonies, a lighter work following one of
deep import. Robert Schumann, a distinguished critic as well as a great
composer, likened the Fourth Symphony as related to the “Eroica” and the
Fifth to “a slender Greek maiden between two Norse giants.” This
comparison, however, lays too much emphasis on youthful ingenuousness,
for humor and the joy of living have their place here, and romance as
well, with touches of passion and of mystery. One of its admirers has
called it a “symphony of love.”
Mystery and romance are evoked in the elaborate introduction (Adagio),
which this symphony like the Second possesses, but the mood turns to
merriment when the “Allegro vivace” enters with this skipping tune:
[Illustration: play music]
The second movement (Adagio in E-flat major) is related in its
luxuriance and melodic richness to the Larghetto of the Second Symphony,
establishing another bond between the two works. A hint of the beauty of
this movement may be gathered from the first theme:
[Illustration: play music]
The fervor that breathes through its measures has been attributed to
Beethoven’s contemporaneous engagement to the Countess Therese von
Brunswick, to whom many believe he addressed the famous “Immortal
Beloved” letter. Berlioz, like Schumann eminent not only as composer but
as critic, accounts for this Adagio in a still loftier vein: “The being
who wrote such a marvel of inspiration as this movement was not a man.
Such must be the song of the Archangel Michael as he contemplates the
world’s uprising to the threshold of the empyrean.”
For the third movement Beethoven returns to the name “menuetto”
(“Allegro vivace” in B-flat major; Trio, “un poco meno Allegro,” in
B-flat major), though “scherzo” would do quite as well. This minuet is
planned on a particularly large scale and is further remarkable for the
fact that, as in the Scherzo of the Seventh Symphony, the Trio is played
twice and the Minuet proper repeated each time. The attentive listener
should also heed the striking change of key to B-flat minor at the fifth
bar. The exuberant Finale (“Allegro ma non troppo” in B-flat major) is
perpetual motion in music, flashing and glittering with tunefulness and
fun.