Symphony No. 1 in C Major

Beethoven’s First Symphony is the first step on the most thrilling symphonic journey of all. By 1800, the 30-year-old composer had already established himself in Vienna as a virtuoso pianist and a composer of chamber music, but his First Symphony’s very first chords—plucked strings and sustained winds—must have told audiences in the imperial capital that Beethoven had something entirely new and potentially revolutionary to say in a form still dominated by Mozart and Haydn. While the influence of those mighty forebears remains audible, even that opening gambit breaks from tradition by adding a dissonance, destabilising the C major chord and instantly leading to unexpected harmonic realms. The slow introduction gives way to an “Allegro con brio” that augments Haydn-esque energy and Mozartian lyricism with a new dynamism that is uniquely Beethovenian. Even the slow movement is far from relaxed, building from its opening naïve violin melody into an “Andante” bursting with expectancy and intensity. The exuberant “Menuetto” is a scherzo in all but name and an impulsive shout of joy—even the calmer “Trio” buzzes with barely suppressed excitement. At last, a mock-serious call to attention announces the violins’ faltering attempts to build the ascending scale that launches the hijinks of the finale, which has a rapid-fire humour that relieves the symphonic tension that has built up over the preceding three movements. The Beethoven revolution may yet have been two or three years in the future, but his first purely orchestral essay gives ample notice that the symphony was going to be a dramatically different beast in the 19th century.