He was connected by family ties and acquaintance with many families of the Austrian nobility; among them was that of Prince Lichnowsky, whose castle was a day’s journey from his own. It was during a visit by Lichnowsky, accompanied by Beethoven, in the autumn of 1806—when the Second Symphony was performed—that the noble proprietor had the idea to commission the maestro to compose another work of the same kind.

Beethoven, who was already working on two symphonies, in C minor and F major, intended to rival the previous Third (the Eroica), initially thought of dedicating the C minor symphony to Oppersdorf. However, he soon changed his mind: he temporarily set aside these two works (which would later become the Fifth and the Pastorale) and set about composing an entirely new symphony.

Thus was born the present Fourth Symphony in B-flat major, which was first performed at a concert at Prince Lobkowitz’s in March 1807, alongside two other major premieres: the Coriolan Overture and the Fourth Piano Concerto with orchestra. Its first public performance took place in December 1808 at the Theatre an der Wien. One theory, although purely conjectural, attributes the particular character of this work to the state of relative wellbeing and serenity Beethoven experienced through his love for Therese Brunsvik—a romantic episode for which, however, there is no firm documentary evidence. What is certain is that the Fourth, compared to the Third and Fifth (Schumann likened it to “a slender Greek maiden among two Nordic giants”), appears simpler in line and sustained by less grandiose ideas; as if the artist wished to sculpt from the sonic material a particular feeling of sweetness and delicacy.

The contrast between the gravity of the introduction (Adagio) and the lively spirit of the first movement (Allegro vivace) is not without Haydnian and Mozartian formal precedents. Haydn’s Symphony No. 102, also in B-flat major, is a particularly apt example. Yet Beethoven’s Adagio is darker and more profound, and the Allegro more spiritual; although the two movements share the same basic instrumental figure—staccato notes, which in the former evoke a mysterious anticipation, in the latter a lightness.

The Allegro is described as spiritual to characterise, in some way, its “lack of weight” in a dramatic and passionate sense, and also for a certain episodic gentle melodiousness peculiar to it; but that is not all, especially when one considers the variety of musical aspects (not conflicting but mutually complementary within a lively, poetic and spirited framework, which even contains touches of humour) that emerge from the principal theme during the development section.

Novelty and finesse of symphonic character are especially revealed in the transitional episode leading to the recapitulation; here, amid the thematic pulse, reduced to an elementary kernel of motion, the insistent timpani roll gradually clarifies as the fundamental note of the key, while the repeated surges of the violins ultimately restore the theme in its full form and orchestral sonority.

In the Adagio (the only movement of the four in which the playful or burlesque element does not appear), Beethoven’s art blends into a single, unified meaning the clear melody, the ornamentation, and the ostinato rhythm (of which we have already seen, and will see again, other episodic forms—for example in the first movement of the Third Piano Concerto op. 37 and in the second movement of the Second Quartet of op. 59) that runs through it from beginning to end with varying functions: sometimes as simple accompaniment, sometimes as expressive complement; sometimes contrasting, sometimes yielding to the melody, sometimes almost propelling it, like the beat of a heart in which the emotional pulse resonates physiologically.

Unusual in the first two sections of the third movement is the structure of the theme: an entrance in duple rhythm embedded within the 3/4 time signature alternates with an enveloping legato figuration, more or less developed, which clearly defines the rhythm within the 3/4 measure, reaffirming it also at the end in the emphatic cadence phrase. In the Trio, the pastoral-type cantilena of the wind instruments is followed by a sharp phrase from the violins, which seems almost to comment on it ironically. The murmur of the strings that accompanies the cantilena in its repetition also has a whimsical character. At the end of the reprise of the first two parts, a four-measure horn cadenza—considered by Schumann as a burlesque harmonic and instrumental figure—repeats the rhythm and tone.

Regarding the finale (Allegro non troppo), many commentators echo Berlioz’s brief judgment: “chatter of notes, interrupted by some hoarse and wild accents,” “angry outbursts.” Terms such as “perpetual motion,” “study figure,” and the like are also frequently used. But this is too little, as is the mere comparison to the finales of the First and Second Symphonies, where the spirit is different and simpler. The driving theme with which the movement begins animates and characterises it thoroughly, although it is sometimes interrupted by brief melodic episodes, which are soon carried away in its rapid course.

The instrumentation is fluid and light, despite some stubborn passing insistence on rhythms and harmonies; and the brief solos of the bassoon and later the clarinet, which restart the theme, also contribute to increasing its spirit. In an article published in the Zeitschrift für Musikwissenschaft in February 1943, Schering called this symphony “Schillerian” for the first three movements, illustrating their correspondence respectively with the following poems: First movement: Die Erwartung (Expectation) — Second movement: Sehnsucht (Longing) — Third movement: Die Gunst des Augenblicks (The Favour of the Moment) — “The Fourth movement might then be called: ‘Stroll by the brook,’ but here the brook is understood differently than in the Pastoral Symphony, as a lively, silvery, persistent companion that loses itself in whirlpools and rocky gorges, and to whose multifaceted aspects Beethoven associates, time after time, his joy as a walker.”

 [By Biamonti Giovanni – Catalogo cronologico e tematico delle opere di Beethoven comprese quelle inedite e gli abbozzi non utilizzati, Torino, ILTE 1968]