Beethoven’s sonatas are as superior to those that had preceded them as are his symphonies.  He enlarged them, developed the Scherzo from the Minuet and made them of more importance in every way.  With Haydn the Minuet was gay and lively, a style of music well adapted to Haydn’s particular temperament and character; but Beethoven in the Scherzo carried the idea further than anything of which Haydn had dreamed.  Before Beethoven’s First Symphony appeared, he had composed a dozen or more sonatas and was in a position to profit by the experience gained thereby.  He felt his way in these, the innovations all turning out to be improvements.

One has only to compare the sonatas of Mozart and Haydn with those of Beethoven to be at once impressed with the enormous importance of the latter.  As has been stated, the experience gained with the sonata was utilized in the First Symphony, each succeeding one showing growth.  Beethoven’s artistic instinct was correct, but he did not trust to this alone.  He proceeded carefully, weighing the matter well, and his judgment was usually right.  There is evidence from his exercise books that he had this Symphony in mind as early as 1795.  It was first produced on April 2, 1800, at a concert which he gave for his own benefit at the Burg theatre.  On this occasion he improvised on the theme of the Austrian National Hymn, recently composed by Haydn, well known in this country through its insertion in the Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church, under the title of Austria.  Beethoven’s hearing was sufficiently intact at this time to enable him to hear his symphonies performed, an important matter while his judgment was being formed.

The Prometheus Ballet Music, opus 43, consisting of overture, introduction and sixteen numbers, was first performed early in 1801, and achieved immediate success, so much so that it was published at once as pianoforte music.  In addition to the Prometheus, there is to be credited to this period the C minor concerto, opus 37, a septet for strings and wind, opus 20, a number of quartets, and other compositions.  The Christus am Oelberg (The Mount of Olives), opus 85, Beethoven’s first great choral work, has already been mentioned.  In this oratorio Jesus appears as one of the characters, for which he has been severely criticised.  His judgment was at fault in another respect also in having the concert stage too much in mind.  The composition at times is operatic in character, while the text calls for a mode of treatment solemn and religious, as in Passion-music.  If set to some other text, this work would be well nigh faultless; the recitatives are singularly good, and there is a rich orchestration.  It is reminiscent of Haendel and prophetic of Wagner.  The Hallelujah Chorus in particular is a magnificent piece of work.  As is the case with the Messiah, its beauties as well as its defects are so apparent, so pronounced, that the latter serve as a foil to bring out its good qualities in the strongest relief.  It was first performed in the spring of 1803, in Vienna, on which occasion Beethoven played some of his other compositions.  It was repeated three times within the year.