Symphonie Nr. 3 in Es-Dur op. 55

The bulk of the worth on the Third Symphony was done while Beethoven was based in Döbling in the summer of 1803. A few fragments were composed in the house on Pfarrplatz, which was to become the most frequently depicted of all Beethoven’s residences thanks to its picture-book rural look, while other sections were composed at the “Biederhof” on Döbling’s main street. The house became known as the “Eroica house” on the basis of its supposed connection to the symphony, but subsequent research has revealed that Beethoven actually composed most of the “Eroica” at Hofzeile 15.

In his Third Symphony, Beethoven broke new ground in a number of different ways; a reviewer in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, writing in 1807, noted the “peculiarities” in the work, not least in its many aesthetic and compositional innovations. Indeed, the “Eroica” breaks with convention from the very start. It opens with a fanfare of introductory chords, which is followed by a simple melody of 13 bars. Both its length and its chromatic tone take are highly unusual. This recording of the beginning of the first movement comes from a 1947 performance by the Vienna Philharmonic under Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886–1954), who had been the orchestra’s main subscription conductor from 1927 to 1930. The work of this influential conductor is documented in an impressive number of recordings: he recorded no fewer than ten different versions of the Eroica alone.
(Constanze Köhn)