Beethoven's Eroica Symphony performed in Vienna (1804)
- When
- 1804–1805
- Where
- Prince Lobkowitz's palace (likely venue); Theater an der Wien
- Episodes
- 2
Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, the Eroica, was completed in early 1804. Its earliest rehearsals and performances were private, held at Prince Lobkowitz's Vienna palace, and Beethoven conducted a private performance on 9 June 1804. The first public performance followed on 7 April 1805 at the Theater an der Wien. In autumn 1804 Beethoven withdrew the dedication to Napoleon and re-dedicated the work to Prince Lobkowitz.
Episodes
- Private Performance at Lobkowitz Palace
Beethoven conducted a private performance of the Eroica on 9 June 1804; the earliest private rehearsals and performances took place at Prince Lobkowitz's Vienna palace.
- Public Premiere at Theater an der Wien
The first public performance of the Eroica took place on 7 April 1805 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
Background and detail
Background. Beethoven composed the Eroica mainly between 1803 and 1804, completing it in early 1804. The symphony broke boundaries in symphonic form, length, harmony, and emotional and cultural content. In autumn 1804 Beethoven withdrew his dedication of the symphony to Napoleon, lest it cost him the composer's fee paid by a noble patron, and re-dedicated the work to Prince Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz; nonetheless, he still titled the work "Bonaparte".
Private Performance. The earliest rehearsals and performances of the third symphony were private and took place in the Vienna palace of Beethoven's noble patron, Prince Lobkowitz. Beethoven first conducted a private performance on 9 June 1804; the passages do not state the venue of that specific dated performance, though the palace hosted the earliest private rehearsals and performances. The public premiere followed in 1805 at the Theater an der Wien.
Public Premiere. The first public performance of Symphony No. 3 occurred on 7 April 1805 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. Reviews of this public premiere were decidedly mixed. The concert also included the premiere of a Symphony in E-flat major by Anton Eberl, which received better reviews than Beethoven's symphony.
People involved
- Ludwig van Beethoven · Composer; conductor of the 9 June 1804 private performance
- Prince Lobkowitz · Noble patron and re-dedication recipient; host of the earliest private rehearsals and performances
- Anton Eberl · Composer whose Symphony in E-flat major was premiered at the 7 April 1805 concert
Sources
- Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-25
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.