Uploaded April 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Sir Roger Norrington
London Classical Players
1989
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Opus. 55 (also Italian Sinfonia Eroica, Heroic Symphony) is a structurally rigorous composition of great emotional depth, which marked the beginning of the creative middle-period of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven began composing the third symphony soon after Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus. 36; he completed the composition in early 1804, and the first public performance of Symphony No. 3 was on 7 April 1805 in Vienna.
Beethoven originally dedicated the third symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte, whom he believed embodied the democratic and anti-monarchical ideals (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) of the French Revolution (1789–1799). In autumn of 1804, Beethoven withdrew his dedication of the third symphony to Napoleon (furiously scratching out his name on the title page), lest it cost the composer's fee paid him by a royal patron; so, Beethoven re-dedicated his third symphony to Prince Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz – nonetheless, despite such a bread-and-butter consideration, the politically idealistic Beethoven titled the work "Buonaparte"
The work is in four movements:
0:00 Allegro con brio
15:19 Marcia funebre: Adagio assai in C minor
27:58 Scherzo: Allegro vivace
33:41 Finale: Allegro molto
Sir Roger Norrington
London Classical Players
1989
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Opus. 55 (also Italian Sinfonia Eroica, Heroic Symphony) is a structurally rigorous composition of great emotional depth, which marked the beginning of the creative middle-period of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven began composing the third symphony soon after Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus. 36; he completed the composition in early 1804, and the first public performance of Symphony No. 3 was on 7 April 1805 in Vienna.
Beethoven originally dedicated the third symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte, whom he believed embodied the democratic and anti-monarchical ideals (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) of the French Revolution (1789–1799). In autumn of 1804, Beethoven withdrew his dedication of the third symphony to Napoleon (furiously scratching out his name on the title page), lest it cost the composer's fee paid him by a royal patron; so, Beethoven re-dedicated his third symphony to Prince Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz – nonetheless, despite such a bread-and-butter consideration, the politically idealistic Beethoven titled the work "Buonaparte"
The work is in four movements:
0:00 Allegro con brio
15:19 Marcia funebre: Adagio assai in C minor
27:58 Scherzo: Allegro vivace
33:41 Finale: Allegro molto
