The idea of writing the symphony to Napoleon may have been suggested to Beethoven by General Bernadotte, who was then the Ambassador of the French at Vienna.  He and Count Moritz Lichnowsky were intimate friends and saw a good deal of Beethoven at that time.  The three young men no doubt discussed social conditions and politics, as well as music, and it would have been an easy task for the General, who had served under Napoleon, to excite Beethoven’s enthusiasm for the Liberator of France.  In after years, when General Bernadotte became King of Sweden, he still retained his interest in the events of this period.

This Symphony was the best work which Beethoven had yet accomplished; a work the grandeur and sublimity of which must have been a surprise to himself.  It was conceived in the spirit of altruism, to show his appreciation of the man whom he believed was destined more than any other to uplift humanity.  In the quality of its emotional expression, and also in its dimensions, it far exceeded anything of the kind that had yet appeared.  Beethoven himself advised, on account of its great length, that it be placed at the beginning of a program rather than at its end.  It is unique as a symphony, just as Napoleon was unique as a man.  On finishing the work he put the name of Bonaparte on the title-page.

Bonaparte

Ludwig van Beethoven.

With perfect propriety the concept is here established that two great men are before the world, Napoleon and Beethoven, and that the latter is as great in his own province as was Napoleon in his, each being the exponent of a new order of things, co-equal in the achievement of great deeds.  Posterity, in exalting the one and debasing the other, shows how modest Beethoven was in the matter.

He was on the point of sending it to Paris when the news was brought him by his pupil Ries, that Napoleon was declared Emperor.  In a rage Beethoven tore off the title-page containing the dedication, and threw it to the floor.  “The man will become a tyrant and will trample all human rights under foot.  He is no more than an ordinary man!” was Beethoven’s exclamation.  He finally gave it the name of Sinfonia Eroica, in memory of a great man.  It is dedicated to Prince Lobkowitz, who had it performed before Prince Louis Ferdinand.  The Prince was greatly taken with it, at once recognizing its worth and insisting on hearing it three times in succession the same evening.

This year saw the production of two of Beethoven’s most famous pianoforte sonatas, the Waldstein, already referred to in this work, dedicated to the friend of his youth, Count Waldstein, and the Appassionata, dedicated to Count von Brunswick, sublime conceptions that glow with the fire of genius.