How to spoil your shot at a dedication!
Ludwig van Beethoven had recently completed his Symphony No. 3 under the giddy influence of an idealized Napoleon Bonaparte. As a statesman and military leader who was well on his way to conquering (or as Beethoven may have seen it, liberating) most of Europe, Napoleon was deemed by the composer to be on equal footing with the greatest consuls of Ancient Rome.
The egalitarian-minded Beethoven may have been blinded by his revolutionary fervor, but once he learned that Napoleon had been proclaimed Emperor on this date in 1804, the scales dropped from his eyes and his affection curdled. He is alleged to have said, “So he is no more than a common mortal! Now, too, he will tread under foot all the rights of Man, indulge only his ambition; now he will think himself superior to all men, become a tyrant!” In a fury, he scratched out the symphony’s original dedication.
Later, once he had cooled, Beethoven confided to his publisher that the proper title of the symphony should be “Bonaparte.” Instead, it was released under the name “Sinfonia Eroica” – “Heroic Symphony.” The revised dedication reads, “Composed to celebrate the memory of a great man.”
Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony is regarded as one of the most significant works of the early 19th century. With its structural breadth and emotional scope, the work exploded the boundaries of symphonic form as it was recognized at the time. In his way, Beethoven managed to win as much new ground as Napoleon. Unlike Napoleon, however, he was able to keep it. And he holds it still.