His Life
1770-1827
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Born 6 years before the signing of
the Declaration of Independence.
Father was cruel to young Ludwig
and at age 17 had to take care of his
siblings.
Studied with Haydn and met
Mozart.
Around 30, gradually went deaf.
Wrote music by hearing vibrations
at piano.
“I will struggle with fate:it will not
drag me down.”
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Composed in 1811-12
While he was staying in the Bohemian spa town
of Teplice in the hope of improving his health
Published in 1816 in Vienna
Symphony’s 7th Energy embraced due to
Napoleon’s occupations of Vienna in 1805 and
1809.
Celebratory symphony—dedicated to Count
Moritz von Fries and Russian Empress Elisabeth
Aleksiev.
Performed 3 times in 10 weeks!
The Seventh Symphony is in four movements:
I. Poco sostenuto — Vivace
II. Allegretto
III. Presto
IV. Allegro con brio
The symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2
clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in A, E and
D, 2 trumpets in D, timpani and strings.
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Symphony’s 7th Energy embraced due to
Napoleon’s occupations of Vienna in 1805 and
1809.
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Celebratory symphony—dedicated to Count
Moritz von Fries and Russian Empress
Elisabeth Aleksiev.
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Performed 3 times in 10 weeks!
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The work was premiered in Vienna on
December 8, 1813 at a charity concert for
soldiers wounded in the Battle of Hanau, with
Beethoven himself conducting and Louis
Spohr among the violinists.
One of Beethoven’s most successful concerts.
The piece was very well received, and the
allegretto had to be encored
Interesting
Tidbits
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Composer and music author
Antony Hopkins says of the
symphony: “The Seventh
Symphony perhaps more than
any of the others gives us a
feeling of true spontaneity; the
notes seem to fly off the page as
we are borne along on a floodtide
of inspired invention. Beethoven
himself spoke of it fondly as "one
of my best works".
The 7th’s
Legacy
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This work was both the first and the final
piece ever conducted by Leonard
Bernstein, the final one being with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra on August
19, 1990.
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On the other hand, admiration for the
work has not been universal. Carl Maria
von Weber considered the chromatic
bass line in the coda of the first
movement evidence that Beethoven
was "ripe for the madhouse.”
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The basis for all music is rhythm.
The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and
Musicians defines rhythm as “That aspect of music
concerned with the organization of time. As such it is
a function primarily of the duration of the sounds and
silences of which music consists.”
Children often respond first to a piece of music’s
rhythmic features and then broaden their listening
horizons to melody and harmony. This is an excellent
“in” when teaching the Seventh and any other piece
of instrumental music for that matter.
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See activities in Teacher Handbook created
by Amy Evers of the Chapel Hill Carrboro
School District.
Rhythm score for various percussion
instruments based on 1st movement.
In addition, please see question sheet created
by Debbie Shearin to answer from
Beethoven’s biography from Student Book.
MELODY
 Aaron
Copland:
Variations on a Shaker Melody