Coriolan Overture, Op. 62

Composer: BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van
  • Beethoven’s Overture to Collin’s ‘Coriolan,’ op. 62, was composed, and premiered, in 1807.1
  • Though sometimes mistakenly referred to as the “Coriolanus” Overture, this piece is not based on Shakespeare’s play Coriolanus, but on Coriolan (1804),2 a play about the same ancient Roman general, by Beethoven’s friend, Austrian dramatist Heinrich Joseph von Collin (1771-1811)3
  • This work was first performed at a private concert at the palace of Prince Lobkowitz in Vienna along with Beethoven’s 4th Symphony and 4th Piano Concerto.4.
  • Story: Roman General Coriolanus betrays his country by leading an enemy army to invade Rome, despite the pleadings of his family; eventually he accedes to family’s plea for peace, but must sacrifice his own life to stop the invasion.5
  • Listen for: this is a sonata form movement with defiant first theme (perhaps representing Coriolanus’s warlike tendencies) and lyrical second theme (perhaps representing his wife’s and mother’s pleas for peace).6
  • Listen for: the first theme reduced to silence at the end, perhaps representing Coroilanus’s sacrifice/suicide.7

Sources

  1. Douglas Johnson et al, “Beethoven, Ludwig van,” Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2001), accessed July 22, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040026.
  2. Hugh Chisholm, ed, “Collin, Heinrich Joseph von,” Encyclopædia Britannica Vol. 6, 11th ed. (Cambridge University Press, 1911), 690.
  3. Alexander K. Rothe, “The Theater of the Listener’s Imagination in Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture,” Alexander Krothe Musicology (April 25, 2016), accessed July 22, 2019, https://alexanderkrothemusicology.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/the-theater-of-the-listeners-imagination-in-beethovens-coriolan-overture/.
  4. Johnson et al, “Beethoven, Ludwig van,” Grove Music Online.
  5. Alexander K. Rothe, “The Theater of the Listener’s Imagination in Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture,” Alexander Krothe Musicology (April 25, 2016), accessed July 22, 2019, https://alexanderkrothemusicology.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/the-theater-of-the-listeners-imagination-in-beethovens-coriolan-overture/.
  6. Colin Lawson, “Revolution, Drama and Conflict,” liner notes to Beethoven: Symphony no. 5; Overtures: “Coriolan,” “Egmont,” Orchestra of the 18th Century, Frans Brüggen, Philips 434 087-2, CD, 1992.
  7. Ibid.

Cut IDs

19550 20954 40091 40168 40678