''Egmont'', Op. 84 by Ludwig van Beethoven, is a set of

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

pieces for the 1787

play of the same name Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It consists of an

overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...

followed by a sequence of nine pieces for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

, male narrator, and full symphony orchestra. The male narrator is optional; he is not used in the play and does not appear in some recordings of the complete incidental music. Beethoven wrote it between October 1809 and June 1810, and it was premiered on 15 June 1810. The subject of the music and dramatic narrative is the life and heroism of 16th-century nobleman

Lamoral, Count of Egmont Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Prince of Gavere (18 November 1522 – 5 June 1568) was a general and statesman in the Spanish Netherlands just before the start of the Eighty Years' War, whose execution helped spark the national uprising that eventuall ...

from the Low Countries. It was composed during the Napoleonic Wars when the First French Empire had extended its domination over vast swathes of Europe. Beethoven had famously expressed his great outrage over Napoleon Bonaparte's decision to crown himself Emperor in 1804, furiously scratching out his name in the dedication of the ''

Eroica Symphony The Symphony No. 3 in E major, Op. 55, (also Italian ''Sinfonia Eroica'', ''Heroic Symphony''; german: Eroica, ) is a symphony in four movements by Ludwig van Beethoven. One of Beethoven's most celebrated works, the ''Eroica'' symphony is a l ...

''. In the music for ''Egmont'', Beethoven expressed his own political concerns through the exaltation of the heroic sacrifice of a man condemned to death for having taken a valiant stand against oppression. The Overture became an unofficial anthem of the

1956 Hungarian revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

. Beethoven composed Klärchen's songs "''Die Trommel gerühret''" ("The drum is a-stirring") and "''Freudvoll und leidvoll''" ("Joyful and woeful") with Austrian actress

Antonie Adamberger Antonie "Toni" Adamberger (31 December 1790 – 25 December 1867) was an Austrian stage actress. Biography Born to the tenor Valentin Adamberger and the actress Maria Anna Jacquet, she was raised after the death of her parents by the poet H ...

specifically in mind, and she often spoke enthusiastically of her collaboration with him. The music was praised by

E.T.A. Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; 24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist. Penrith Goff, "E.T.A. Hoffmann" in E ...

for its poetry, ''et sa réussite à s'associer à la pièce'' (and its success in associating with the play) and Goethe himself declared that Beethoven had expressed his intentions with "a remarkable genius." The overture is powerful and expressive, one of the last works of Beethoven's middle period. It has become as famous a composition as the '' Coriolan Overture'' and is in a style similar to the Fifth Symphony, which he had completed two years earlier.

Outline of sections

The incidental music comprises the following sections, among which the overture, the lieder ''Die Trommel gerühret'', ''Freudvoll und leidvoll'' and ''Klärchens Tod'' are particularly well-known: # Overture: Sostenuto, ma non troppo – Allegro # Lied: "Die Trommel gerühret" # Entracte: Andante # Entracte: Larghetto # Lied: "Freudvoll und leidvoll" # Entracte: Allegro – Marcia # Entracte: Poco sostenuto e risoluto # Klärchens Tod # Melodram: "Süßer Schlaf" # Siegessymphonie (''symphony of victory''): Allegro con brio

Cultural influences

The Hungarian film ''

Overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...

'' by János Vadász, which won the 1965 Cannes Film Festival's

Short Film Palme d'Or The Short Film Palme d'Or (french: Palme d'Or du court métrage) is the highest prize given to a short film at the Cannes Film Festival. Since the creation of the Cinéfondation La ''Cinéfondation'' is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes ...

, uses the complete ''Egmont'' Overture as the soundtrack for a series of images featuring a hatching bird and was described as "among the most ingenious pairings of music and image in the history of the festival."''Overture'' (1965)
''mymoviepicker.com''

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Music based on works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven Incidental music Overtures 1810 compositions Compositions with a narrator Stefan Zweig Collection Cultural depictions of Dutch men Cultural depictions of Belgian men Cultural depictions of counts