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{{Listen|type=music
|filename=JOHN MICHEL CELLO-BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY 7 Allegretto.ogg
|filename=
|title=III. Poco sostenuto – VivaceAllegretto
|filename2=JOHN MICHEL CELLO-BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY 7 Finale.ogg
|filename2=
|title2=IIIV. AllegrettoAllegro con brio}}
|filename3=Beethoven Symphony no 7, III. Presto Ormandy.ogg
|title3=III. Presto – Assai meno presto
|filename4=Beethoven Symphony no 7, IV. Allegro Con Moto Ormandy.ogg
|title4=IV. Allegro con brio
|description4=[[Philadelphia Orchestra]], [[Eugene Ormandy]], 1945}}
The '''Symphony No. 7''' in [[A major]], [[opus number|Op.]] 92, is a symphony in four [[movement (music)|movement]]s composed by [[Ludwig van Beethoven]] between 1811 and 1812, while improving his health in the [[Bohemia]]n spa town of [[Teplitz]]. The work is dedicated to [[Count Moritz von Fries]].
At its premiere at the university in Vienna on 8 December 1813, Beethoven remarked that it was one of his best works. The second movement, "Allegretto", was so popular that audiences demanded an encore.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5481664 "Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92"] at [[NPR]] (13 June 2006)</ref> The "Allegretto" is frequently performed separately to this day.
== History ==
When Beethoven began composing thehis 7thSymphony No. symphony7, [[Napoleon]] was planning his [[French invasion of Russia|campaign against Russia]]. After theBeethoven's [[Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)|3rd Symphony No. 3]], (and possibly the [[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|5thSymphony No. 5]] as well), theSymphony 7thNo. Symphony7 seems to be another one of Beethoven'shis musical confrontations with Napoleon, this time in the context of the European wars of liberation from years of Napoleonic domination.{{sfn|Goldschmidt|1975|pp=29–33, 39–43, 49–55}}
Beethoven's life at this time was marked by a worsening [[hearing loss]], which made "conversation notebooks" necessary from 1819 on, with the help of which Beethoven communicated in writing.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/363133953|title=Die 9 Sinfonien Beethovens|first=Renate|last=Ulm|isbn=978-3-7618-1241-9|year=1994|publisher=[[Bärenreiter]]|location=Kassel|oclc=363133953|page=214}}</ref>
==Instrumentation==
The symphony is scored for 2two [[Western concert flute | flute]]s, 2two [[oboe]]s, 2two [[clarinet]]s in A, 2two [[bassoon]]s, 2two [[French horn|horns]] in A (E and D in the inner movements), 2two [[trumpet]]s in D, [[timpani]], and [[String section|strings]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92 (1812) – Beethoven Symphony Basics at ESM - Eastman School of Music |url=https://www.esm.rochester.edu/beethoven/symphony-no-7/ |access-date=2023-02-05 |language=en}}</ref>
Although there is no [[contrabassoon]] part in the score, a letter from Beethoven himself shows that two contrabassoons were used at the premiere to add strength to the bass parts.
==Form==
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A typical performance lasts approximately 33–45 minutes depending on the choice of tempo, and ifwhether the repeats in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th movements are omitted
The work as a whole is known for its use of rhythmic devices suggestive of a dance, such as [[dotted rhythm]] and repeated rhythmic figures. It is also tonally subtle, making use of the tensions between the key centres of A, C and F. For instance, the first movement is in [[A major]] but has repeated episodes in [[C major]] and F major. In addition, the second movement is in A minor with episodes in A major, and the third movement, a [[scherzo]], is in F major.<ref>{{cite web|title=Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92 (1812)|url=https://www.esm.rochester.edu/beethoven/symphony-no-7/|publisher=University of Rochester |access-date=2022-03-13}}</ref>
==Reception==
Critics and listeners have often felt stirred or inspired by the Seventh Symphony. For instance, one program-note author writes:
<blockquote>...{{quote|… the final movement zips along at an irrepressible pace that threatens to sweep the entire orchestra off its feet and around the theater, caught up in the sheer joy of performing one of the most perfect symphonies ever written.<ref>{{cite web|author=Geoff Kuenning|title=Beethoven: Symphony No. 7|url=http://www.lasr.cs.ucla.edu/geoff/prognotes/beethoven/symphony7.html|publisher=(personal web page)}}</ref>}}
</blockquote>
Composer and music author [[Antony Hopkins]] says of the symphony:
<blockquote>{{quote|The Seventh Symphony perhaps more than any of the others gives us a feeling of true spontaneity; the notes seem to fly off the page as we are borne along on a floodtide of inspired invention. Beethoven himself spoke of it fondly as "one of my best works". Who are we to dispute his judgment?{{sfn|Hopkins|1981|p=219}}}}
</blockquote>
Another admirer, composer [[Richard Wagner]], referring to the lively rhythms which permeate the work, called it the "[[apotheosis]] of the dance".<ref name="grove" />
The oft-repeated claim that [[Carl Maria von Weber]] considered the [[Chromatic line|chromatic bass line]] in the coda of the first movement evidence that Beethoven was "ripe for the madhouse" seems to have been the invention of Beethoven's first biographer, [[Anton Schindler]]. His possessive adulation of Beethoven is well-known, and he was criticised by his contemporaries for his obsessive attacks on Weber. According to [[John Warrack]], Weber's biographer, Schindler was characteristically evasive when defending Beethoven, and there is "no shred of concrete evidence" that Weber ever made the remark.<ref>{{cite book|last=Warrack|first=John Hamilton|author-link=John Warrack|title=Carl Maria von Weber|edition=reprint, revised|publisher=Cambridge University Press Archive|year=1976|pages=98–99|isbn=0521291216}}</ref>
== In popular culture ==
* The 1934 horror film ''[[The Black Cat (1934 film)|The Black Cat]]'' features the second movement prominently.<ref name="Hope">{{Cite web|last=Hope|first=Sarah |title=Beethoven's 7th symphony in movies and TV|date=2014-06-01|url=https://www.postandcourier.com/features/arts_and_travel/beethovens-7th-symphony-in-movies-and-tv/article_46e3e92e-da3a-5603-9615-87371ddd3fdb.html|access-date=2021-01-10|website=[[The Post and Courier]]|language=en}}</ref>
* The 1944 film ''[[This Happy Breed (film)|This Happy Breed]]'' features the second movement playing on the radio just before the announcement of the King's passing.
* The 1974 science fiction film ''[[Zardoz]]'' (1974), directed by [[John Boorman]]. An excerpt from the Second Movement is played in the first few minutes, and later over the closing montage and the end credits.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EyXTDwAAQBAJ&dq=zardoz+AND+beethoven%27s+7th+Symphony&pg=PA230 ''The Oxford Handbook of Music and Medievalism.'' Eds. Stephen C. Meyer and Kirsten Yri. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. p. 230.]</ref>
* The first episode of ''[[Cosmos: A Personal Voyage]]'' (1980) features the first movement to "underscore the vastness and diversity of Earth with its 'resplendent spaciousness'".<ref name="Hope"/>
* The 1995 drama film ''[[Mr. Holland's Opus]]'' uses the second movement to underscore the high school music teacher Mr. Holland recounting the tragedy of Beethoven's hearing loss, with Holland's son being deaf and unable to share his father's passion for music.<ref name="Hope"/>
* In the 1995 Seinfeld episode "The Maestro," "the maestro" is listening to the finale in his convertible as he pulls up to Elaine and Jerry, conducting along with the final bars.
* The 2006 film ''[[The Fall (2006 film)|The Fall]]'' uses the second movement at several points in the film.<ref>{{Cite web|first1=Alexander|last1=Ulloa|first2=Lola|last2=Landekic|url=https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-fall/|title=''The Fall'' (2006)|website=Art of the Title}}</ref>
* The 2006 live-action adaption of ''[[Nodame Cantabile]]'' uses the first movement as the opening theme. The 2007 anime adaptation uses it as the ending theme.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/227272801|title=Nodame Cantabile: The Essential Guide|date=2007|publisher=Cocoro Books|first1=Walt|last1=Wyman|first2=Kazuhisa|last2=Fujie|first3=Sian|last3=Carr|first4=Naohiko|last4=Sasaki|isbn=978-1-932897-33-3|location=Tokyo|oclc=227272801}}</ref>
* The 2007 comedy-drama film ''[[The Darjeeling Limited]]'' uses the fourth movement.<ref name="Hope"/>
* The 2009 science fiction film [[Knowing (film)|''Knowing'']] uses the second movement during the climactic scene, a mass exodus from apocalyptic Boston.<ref name="Helligar">{{Cite web|last=Helligar|first=Jeremy|date=2011-01-25|title=How Beethoven Saved the King's Speech and Almost Ruined the Movie|url=http://www.thefastertimes.com/pop/2011/01/25/how-beethoven-saved-the-kings-speech-and-almost-ruined-the-movie/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150314224639/http://www.thefastertimes.com/pop/2011/01/25/how-beethoven-saved-the-kings-speech-and-almost-ruined-the-movie/|archive-date=2015-03-14|access-date=|website=The Faster Times}}</ref>
* In the 2010 historical drama film ''[[The King's Speech]]'', the second movement is used during [[George VI|King George]]'s climactic speech at Buckingham Palace after the commencement of the country's involvement in World War II. The slow build up of the movement "accents his struggle and his perseverance".<ref name="Hope"/><ref name="Helligar"/>
*In ''[[Les Écorchés]]'', the seventh episode of the [[Westworld (season 2)|second season]] of the ''[[Westworld (TV series)|Westworld]]'' television series, it is played as the copied mind of Robert Ford takes control of Bernard whilst waxing poetically about the human urge to destroy beautiful things.
* In the 2016 superhero film ''[[X-Men: Apocalypse]]'' the second movement is played during the launch of all the world's nuclear weapons.<ref>{{cite web |title=X-Men: Apocalypse Soundtrack |url=https://www.tunefind.com/movie/x-men-apocalypse-2016 |website=tunefind |access-date=October 12, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A List of Beethoven's Music That Has Appeared in the Movies |url=https://www.liveabout.com/beethoven-music-used-in-the-movies-724193 |website=liveabout |access-date=October 12, 2021}}</ref>
* In the 2023 Gothic horror miniseries ''[[The Fall of the House of Usher (miniseries)]]'', the second movement is played when the titular family has their last supper together in the first episode. It also plays over the credits of the episode.
* The 2020 video game ''[[Ultrakill]]'' uses the song after the Act 2 climax's boss, Gabriel, Apostate of Hate, during the ending cinematics, which detail Gabriel's murder of the council of Heaven.
==References==
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