Life is not fair. We all die…! Harsh but true.
When Beethoven was writing his 7th Symphony in 1811/12, Napoleon was preparing a campaign against the Soviets much to the dislike of Beethoven and also he was starting to loose his hearing as majority of people know, he was deaf by the time he died. With that hopelessness and potential injustice that could be personally construed from his personal and political issues of the time, what can be the conclusion one can get to from this situation…
We all suffer and it all does come to an end. THATS the harsh reality of life.
Have you ever felt guilty of doing something or to someone that you probably regret doing? Or have you felt a sense of injustice at something that didn’t go your way?
BOUM BOUM-BOUM BOUM BOUM is the first phrase heard and is heard by an instrument at every moment of the 8 minute piece and it starts in A minor. Its like a funeral march to the inevitable conclusion that Life is suffering and its not fair. I think that the second half of the opening section is repeated only to hammer home this uncomfortable truth. It sounds simple, complicated and repetitive at the same time. I’m not adding a THATS LIFE to this one as well ;)
The new melody played over the original is played first by the cello is then handed to the violins as it builds up and woodwinds are then added as the movement grows. I personally feel this melody is the individual narrative of your life. This is you telling your story of life over the normality of traditions that the first theme brings. What is your story? What is the issue in your life that haunts you? Did somebody wrong you? Did you wrong somebody? Do you wish things could have turned out differently? The intensity grows and the intensity of the emotions of regret and resentment grow. At 2 minutes 37secs it begin to decline because as you know its in the past.
Suddenly, you remember the good times and have nostalgia for the past. The joy that those particular times brought to you and overall chapter of your life. But as it finishes… you remember and acknowledge your part in the breaking of that and how you had to move onwards.
The original theme comes back and illustrates you cant turn back time and you still have to live your present self. As you can hear, the theme is slightly different with a more frantic (arpeggiated) accompaniment in the strings with two lines talking against each other like conflicting thoughts both positive and negative.
This all climaxes back in the present day at 6 minutes 13 secs where you realise that the tragic story that has been written so far in your life has got to where you are right now and it feels like nothing has changed.
The second theme comes back again in perfect timing for the positive feelings we all crave to keep us going and with a few big chords from the orchestra we have got the final stage of acceptance.
The pizzicato ending sounds eerily exhausted and frail by the end, the theme has been used so many times that it knows that its the end and it knows what happens next when you get to old age. Death.
When listening to this piece do TWO things again:
Listen to the theme, then the addition of the new melody on top of it and how it’s passed around the orchestra, it looses its way into the nostalgic sections then back to the theme before ending.
AND
Think of a time when you have felt a sense of resentment or injustice and as the melody plays, speak your story out in your mind, as the different instruments play out the melody at different times, try and play out the different angles to that particular situation…
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