Finale from Symphony 1

THE WORK: The nine Symphonies of Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827) are considered by many to be among the greatest orchestrations of all time and they are often used as models by later, great composers. His Symphony No. 1 was written in 1800 (dedicated to Baron van Sweiten) and shows the powerful influences of Haydn and Mozart. The form is clear and the use of tonality is very traditional. The fourth movement opens with a short 5 measure Adagio section which simply outlines the dominant seventh chord before moving into an Allegro molto e vivace.

THE TRANSCRIPTION: Trumpet 2 takes the majority of the melody while the horn and the piccolo trumpet add colour in various places. There is a lot of interplay between the trumpets and the horns so matching styles is crucial. There are also fairly substantial sections in which the horn has melody and the piccolo “colours” at the octave. For this reason it might be an idea to place the piccolo player next to horn 1 in the setup.

PARTS:

• Bb Piccolo Trumpet
• Bb Trumpet 2
• Bb Trumpet 3
• Bb Trumpet 4
• F Horn 1
• F Horn 2
• Trombone 1
• Trombone 2
• Tubas 1 + 2
• Timpani