I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio
II. Andante cantabile con moto
III. Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace
IV. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace

When we consider Beethoven’s meteoric arrival as a young composer, it comes as a surprise to realise he waited until he was thirty before writing his first symphony. This can be explained by positing a lack of “external inspiration” (more precisely: a commission!) But it is also probable he felt a sense of inhibition. For all his growing reputation, he seems to have consciously wished to avoid competing with his great exemplars of symphonic writing, Haydn and Mozart, until he considered himself ready. It should also be noted that Beethoven only completed his first set of string quartets Op. 18 – another genre where Haydn and Mozart ruled supreme – while writing this symphony. As proof of his desire to ‘win his spurs’, his First Symphony consciously appears to revel in the musical world of his predecessors, as if proving that “I can do it to,” in a manner his later essays in the genre most certainly did not. However, in some elements, we can already sense the glinting of the “young lion’s” claws. For example, the opening chord of the symphony would traditionally be supplied to a symphony in F major, itself a hint at the broad tonal scope that was to become Beethoven’s trademark. The fast principal section that follows the introduction has a combative spiky theme that could hardly have been written by Mozart or Haydn. By contrast, the quasi fugal, imitation opening of the second movement shows Beethoven deliberately displaying his knowledge of archaic forms. This connects to an often forgotten fact: that the C major symphony is dedicated to Baron von Swieten, who only two decades before, had aroused the interest of both Haydn and Mozart in Bach’s largely forgotten oeuvre. The symphony’s third movement introduces a new novelty – although marked “Menuetto”, it has much more in common with the later, hurtling Beethoven scherzo forms, which are such an intrinsic part of his musical personality. The closing Allegro again seems to return to the past: a slow introduction awash with pathos suddenly, and with unexpected irony, broadens out into a scale which introduces the fast principal theme. This humorous momentum sets the tone for the entire Finale, which is alight with jocular spirit of Haydn.

“E szimfónia a felfokozott, szenvedélyes ünnepélyességnek, a szinte árnyékmentesen fénylő ragyogásnak minden addigit felülmúlóan merész zenébe öntése. Tematikája szenvedélyesebb, sodróbb lendületű, hangszerelése fényesebb, színesebb, harsogóbb minden addigi zenekari művénél! Annak idején már Mendelssohn fenntartás nélkül megcsodálta hangszerelésének csodálatos pompáját. Nem hiába mondta egyszer Beethoven, hogy zenéjével megtanítja az embereket a szellem isteni őrjöngésére; ha valaha, úgy ebben a szimfóniában sikerült ezt a célt elérnie.” (Bartha Dénes)

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