Ludwig van Beethoven
Egmont Overture Op. 84

Famous Dutch military leader, Count of Egmont (1522-1568) served in the armies of Charles V. For his merits, he was appointed governor and general commander of Flanders and Artois, and he sought an agreement between Catholics and Protestants. With his firm and dignified demeanor, he became a symbol of Flemish resistance against the Spanish government, represented by the Duke of Alba.
Goethe made him the protagonist of his five-act tragedy in 1787, depicting him as a solid and serene character who did not renounce his military past. He accepted the role of mediator because on one hand, he was a faithful servant of the monarchy, but on the other, he shared the sufferings of his people. He was a hero who refused to flee in the face of threats, did not give up his ideal of freedom, and was executed despite the attempts of his beloved Klärchen to mobilize the people who once celebrated him but eventually abandoned him.

When Joseph Marti von Luchsenstein, director of the Hofburgtheater in Vienna in 1809, asked Beethoven, a great admirer of Goethe, to write the incidental music for a revival of the drama, the composer accepted enthusiastically. The composition, which includes an Overture and nine pieces (four interludes, two Lieder for soprano and orchestra, two "melodramas," i.e., spoken scenes with instrumental accompaniment, and a Victory Symphony, which recalls the themes of the Overture) began in October 1809 and was completed in June 1810. The first performance took place at the Hofburgtheater on the 15th of that month. On April 12, 1811, Beethoven sent Goethe the score, requesting his opinion, which was positive, highlighting the perfect alignment of the music with his poetic ideas. Indeed, the composer saw in Goethe's drama the moral ideals of Kantian derivation that he cherished: freedom, heroism, sacrifice, aimed at a higher purpose and the common good, as well as the theme of the death of a hero that greatly inspired him.

In the Overture, in F minor, constructed on the same Lento-Allegro model as the Coriolan Overture, Beethoven adheres to the principles of sonata form but transforms the music into a condensation of action both on a dramatic and psychological level. He imprints it with an eloquent and moving character, avoiding grandiosity to emphasize the pride and dignity of his protagonist. The slow introduction opens with a unison chord of the entire orchestra, then alternates the deep chords of the strings and the evocative accents of the winds, allowing a brief lyrical phrase to emerge, supported by the insistent rhythm of the strings and timpani. The Allegro follows, corresponding to the moment of struggle, filled with immense energy and skillfully constructed with a series of motifs, each extracted from previously heard passages. The strings create a large crescendo until a transition from major to minor eases the tension and introduces a theme that is a variant of the first theme of the introduction, reiterating the contrast between strings and winds. After the development, which evokes the same tension and anticipation as the introduction, the recapitulation is extended by a coda, again played on the timbral and dynamic opposition between the fortissimo of four horns and a mournful phrase of the strings. Everything suddenly halts on a pianissimo chord, a moment of calm before the crescendo and rhythmic acceleration that culminate in a joyful fanfare of the winds, coinciding with the triumph of the hero's ideals.