Beethoven- Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, op. 60 Part I
The middle years of the first decade of the 19th century were productive for Beethoven, who was in good financial straights and having finished or on the verge of finishing monumental works like the Appassionata Sonata, Razumovsky Quartets, the Violin Concerto, and the Piano Concerto that would become to be known as the fourth. His 4th symphony, written in 1806 when Beethoven was taking a break from writing his monumental 5th symphony, was premiered in March of 1807 at the private residence of Prince Lobkowitz, a long time friend and patron. The dedicatee was one Count von Oppersdorf, a Czech relative of his longtime patron Prince Lichnowsky, who in a convoluted chain of events actually paid for the dedication to both the fourth and fifth symphonies but only received the dedication for the Fourth.
Much more light-hearted in nature than its immediate successor (the powerful 5th in C Minor, op. 67) and its immediate predecessor (the monumental 3rd in E-flat Major, op. 55), the Fourth is the least played Beethoven symphony but undeservedly so.
- Adagio- Allegro vivace
- Adagio
- Allegro vivace
- Allegro ma non troppo
I. Adagio- Allegro vivace
The introduction begins with a single pizzicato string note followed by long, sustained winds. The low strings enter quietly and play a descending line before the violins enter and begin a slow, tip-toe like melody augmented by similarily colored winds. Another pizzicato (0:55) signals a repeat of the opening slow melody in the low strings. The violins return to their tip-toe. At 1:46 the tip-toe switches to pizzicato strings under sustained winds, which continue their slow, mysterious journey until they’re interrupted by quiet wind chords (2:27). These chords quickly grow much louder, and a series of 5 rapidly ascending notes played 6 times in a row launches us into theme one (2:46).
Theme one has two major parts. The first, a gaudy, staccato, step-descending (meaning that the notes alternate between “lower” pitch and “higher” pitch relative to one another, but the overall trend is downward on the staff) line in the upper strings is answered by a much smoother, calmer line in the winds. 4 more rapid ascents repeats theme one, this time with the full orchestra (2:55). Then a staccato bassoon plays a theme one-like motive over lazily trilling, ascending strings. Theme one returns briefly (3:22) before a series of syncopated notes in the strings and echoed by the orchestra gives via a short descending line in the low strings to a lovely pastoral melody (3:40) that is passed between the winds, starting with the bassoon. This in turn transforms into the calm section of theme one before staccato strings ascend, gathering momentum until the entire orchestra joins in. A melody based on the transition in the low strings into theme two then appears at 4:10, at first quietly in the clarinets and bassoon but then echoed enthusiastically by the orchestra. The music quiets with a 4-note descent in the flute and tense string tremolos but are loudly interrupted by orchestral chords. The string tremolos get larger and lead into a syncopated string theme (4:41). The end of the exposition is highlighted by 8 “rapid ascent” motives before either returning to the beginning of the exposition or continuing into the development.
[Since the exposition is repeated, I'll skip to the development. Note that the times I record will reflect the 2:15 or so that it takes to repeat the exposition.]
The development begins with the gaudy line of theme one (7:01) which gets steadily softer. The music quiets into almost nothing, with quiet “rapid ascent” motives playing but not much else going on. At 7:24 the flute rescues us by lifting the music back into theme one. Notice that this time the calm response to the staccato part of the theme has changed and is played concurrently. At 7:46 we hear the rapid ascent motive followed by the staccato part of theme one. We hear this a total of three times, after which the music quiets into a very introduction-like passage in which we don’t really know where we are or where we’re going. Rapid ascent motives and short timpani rolls tease us and are followed by repetitions of the calm section of theme one. Out of the depths, a solo flute once again comes to the rescue brings us to more rapid ascents. Alternating rapid ascents over an ever-louder timpani build to a huge string tremolo and the recapitulation of theme one (9:09).
In the recapitulation both the staccato and calm parts of theme one have doubled in length. The transition is much the same as it was in the exposition, leading into the graceful pastoral melody begun by the bassoon (9:44) before the tip-toe melody returns. The tip-toe leads to the exciting, high-energy cadence followed by the clarinet/bassoon conversation from the exposition. After being repeated by the orchestra, the tense string tremolos and loud chords return as well as the syncopated strings. Seven rapid ascents signal the end of the recapitulation and the beginning of the coda (10:53).
Theme one’s staccato part begins the coda and is played through twice, followed by two iterations of the calm part. The movement concludes with rapid ascents in the violins over a triadic bass line in the winds and brass, all above a timpani roll.
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If you are interested in listening to a recording, I recommend Leonard Bernstein’s 2004 release with the Vienna Philharmonic on Deutsche Grammophone. You can buy this recording from Amazon by clicking on the image below. Alternatively, you can purchase this recording from the iTunes Music Store often at a reduced price by following the link below.
This article is part of the Music 365 series. To find out more about this project, please visit the project homepage.
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