Overture to Coriolan, Op. 62
One of history’s pivotal composers, Ludwig van Beethoven was born on December 15 or 16, 1770 in Bonn, and died in Vienna on March 26, 1827. His Overture to Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s 1804 drama, Coriolan, was composed in 1807.
The Coriolan Overture is composed in the key of C Minor. Much has been written about this tonality being Beethoven’s choice for some of his most dramatic music. Think of his Piano Sonata, op. 13 (Gran Sonata Pathétique), his String Quartet, Op. 18, no. 4, the Piano Concerto no. 3, and above all, his Symphony no. 5 and you get the idea. The Coriolan Overture, whose compositional dates overlap with his work on the Fifth Symphony, comes closest in spirit to that titanic symphony. Indeed, the tautness of its structure, its aggressive and restless nature (representative of Coriolan’s personality), and relentless sense of forward motion make the first movement of the Fifth Symphony and the overture kinsmen. It opens with a powerful gesture-a long unison note that explodes into a dramatic chord. Beethoven repeats the gesture twice more before launching into its restless first theme. A secondary theme in the major mode, perhaps representing Coriolan’s mother’s futile effort to dissuade her son from attacking Rome, is overtaken by more the more dramatic elements, again suggesting Coriolan’s impetuous temperament.
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