The Seventh Symphony shows connections to the Sixth, which preceded it by four years, and to the Eighth, which immediately follows it, through certain points of contact; especially with the Eighth, in terms of rhythmic exaltations, sudden, almost raw chiaroscuros, harsh instrumental cries, and certain expressions in the respective finales that could be described as orgiastic. It can also be compared, due to the contrasting expressive character of the first two movements, with the Eroica (celebration of light, joy, power – shadow, pain, collapse).

The Allegretto, in particular, shares with the Funeral March several formal elements of analogy: the alternation of a prevailing sorrowful expression (minor) with a consolatory or otherwise calmer one (major); the introduction of fugato forms as a developmental element; the melodic-instrumental fragmentation of the theme at the end, creating an effect of dispersion or natural exhaustion.

The first performance took place on December 8, 1813, in the large hall of the University, in a concert organized by Maelzel (the well-known inventor of the metronome and various mechanical musical instruments, as well as certain primitive acoustic devices intended to help Beethoven hear) for the benefit of Austrian and Bavarian soldiers wounded in the Battle of Hanau on October 30–31. The program also included two marches: one by Dussek, the other by Pleyel, for the “mechanical trumpet” (Maelzel’s invention) with orchestral accompaniment; and finally another Beethoven novelty, The Battle of Vitoria, a military symphony celebrating Wellington’s victory in Spain over the French—occasional music of an imitative and descriptive character, which was much more successful than the symphony.

The introduction (Poco sostenuto) is broader in scope and more organically connected to the first movement than in Beethoven’s other symphonies. In the First and Second Symphonies, this preliminary section primarily served a decorative function, almost like a peaceful preamble to the symphonic action; in the Fourth, following a practice of Haydn and Mozart further developed by Beethoven, it functioned as an element of contrast. Here, however, despite the difference in themes and tempo, it already reveals the character of that radiant celebration that pervades the entire following Vivace and reaches its fullest brilliance in the final Presto. (The character of the two inner movements is different, though still within the general concept of enhancing rhythmic expression.)

A typical feature is the transition from the introduction to the first movement (Vivace), with the transformation and growing rhythmic animation, within which the main theme gradually takes shape. The basic rhythm is the same as that introduced in the Finale of the Fifth Piano Concerto in E-flat major and reappears in the Scherzo of the Ninth Symphony. It was not, in fact, created by Beethoven; yet here—just as the fundamental rhythm of the Fifth Symphony was in its own realm—it is elevated to a primary element of symphonic expression. Its hammering, pulsating insistence imprints the entire movement with a mark of specific individuality.

A minor chord from the wind instruments, evoking sadness that fades into the distance, opens and closes the Allegretto, as if to fix its limits inevitably. A weighty rhythm, recalling dances and metric figures of classical antiquity and embodying a melody of disconsolate passion, gradually pervades the orchestra, reaches full sonority, then diminishes and dies away. In the winds, another melody in major, like a gentle prayer, follows, sustained by the original rhythm though not fully integrated into it. But its final phrase, caught by a descending motion and dragged into the lowest registers, founders against the very rhythm that, rising again, is echoed by the brass and woodwinds as an imperious call to the tragic element; and in this renewed shadowy atmosphere, with something more desolate in the woodwinds’ moaning fluidity, the main melody resumes its arc.

A fugato development based on the rhythm, with a violin figure as counter-subject, leads to the last and most solemn celebration, renewing its triumph again and again. The peroration rises from the murmur of the basses like a panic-stricken voice, growing note by note, light by light, sonority by sonority, gathering momentum from all sides and hurling it into the fiery vortex of the conclusion. The fundamental rhythmic call, repeated twice as at the beginning but with an imperious shift in accentuation, finally breaks the spell, yet reaffirms one last time, in the indelible impression of the very moment it halts, the movement and brilliance.

Schering associates the symphony with scenes from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister, with incidental reference also to Faust —

First movement (Lib. V, ch. XII): Introduction: pompous entrance of the children into the actors’ festival hall. Vivace: Mignon’s wild dance, with triangle and drum.

Second movement (Lib. VIII, ch. VIII): Mignon’s funeral, in the alternating song of the chorus and the children.

Third movement (Lib. II, ch. XI): Philine speaks of the song “The Shepherd Dressed for Faust’s Dance.” Beethoven provides a corresponding picture of the pleasant dance under the lindens; and in the Trio, the mood of Faust during his Easter pilgrimage walk.

Fourth movement (Lib. II, ch. X): Riotous feast of the actors’ company gathered for punch at Wilhelm’s house.

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