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the contrasting orchestral timbres of oboe,clarinet,flute and strings.The second subject is essentiaIly melodic and features a similar sequence to the bridge passage played by clarinet, oboe and flute. Afterthe traditional repeat of the exposition,a highly dramatic development section commences, during the course of which a third theme appears, which, with its fluid Orchestration, provides an element of contrast to what has gone before.The recapitulation opens with a passage in which the second horn, anticipating the return to the home key, plays the common chord of E-flat underthe harmony ofthe dominant seventh. At the time of the Symphony’s first performance,this passage was seen as highly unorthodox and aroused much comment. An extensive coda of 120 bars, in scale matching the development section, brings the movement to an end. The second movement, the famous'Funeral March', has been the subject of several interpretations. Accordingto Schindler, Beethoven, on hearing of Napoleon’s death, commented that he had composed hisfuneral march 17years earlier. Marked Adagio, the movement is in the form of a long song.the main theme of which is divided in to three parts, A-B-A, with the third section repeating and developing the first. A second theme in the major key, which has been variously interpreted as representing serenity and an afterlife, and played by the oboe, alternates with thefirst theme.The last appearance ofthe principal theme is veiled and disrupted by syncopations in a way that recalls the ending ofthe Overture to Coriolan, but in an even more sombre mood. The third movement, the Symphony’s scherzo, is marked Allegro vivace, and is an enlarged replica ofthe old minuet form,with a trio and repeats.The main theme is given out by the oboe over a muttered and staccato string accompaniment, played pianissimo.The trio is entrusted to the horns, whose theme has a pronounced 'open-air' character. The finale, Allegro molto, consisted of free variations on a theme previously employed by Beethoven in the incidental musicto The Creatures of Prometheus Op 43, and priortothat in the 15 Variations in E flat Op 35 for Solo Piano.This initial theme is enriched by a melody superimposed upon itfrom the third Variation, and played by the oboe.This secondary theme gives rise to a series of 12 variations. The climax is the penultimate andante Variation, richly harmonised and of great power.The final Variation, marked Presto, provides a peroration to the work of a brilliance entirely in keeping with the Symphony’stitle,‘Heroic’. David Patmore Programme notes
