Robert Schumann famously said that Beethoven’s 4th Symphony was “like a slender Greek maiden between two Norse giants” (the giants being the 3rd and 5th symphonies) except that nobody can find a good source for this quotation, and it’s not a good description anyway.
Another take: “Poised between the two staggering yang peaks of the Third and the Fifth, the Fourth Symphony is a rich, verdant valley of yin expressiveness.” (David Tame, Beethoven and the Spiritual Path as quoted by Mark Ferraguto in Beethoven 1806, p. 13) OK!
What’s most obvious is that Beethoven hates repeating himself or writing sequels. He prefers contrasts. The 4th Symphony is not like the 3rd, and the 5th is not like the 4th. Whereas the 3rd and the 5th are heroically triumphant (ultimately), the 4th is mostly joyful throughout.
His decision to return to a smaller scale, to reduce length and density but also to invest a smaller framework with subtlety, action, and lyricism, showed that, paradoxically, he was aiming to broaden his new symphonic framework still further by showing that the epic, heroic model was only one of a number of potential aesthetic alternatives. The Fourth showed that less could be as much, perhaps more. — Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven, p. 214
With the Fourth Symphony Beethoven confirmed his pattern of maximal contrast in pairs of symphonies: dramatic unto tragic in the odd-numbered, joyful unto comic in the even-numbered; muscular and bold scoring in the odd numbered, warm and rich scoring in the even (though each of the symphonies has its distinctive orchestral sound). In other words, the Fourth Symphony is virtually the anti-Third. — Jan Swafford, Beethoven, pp. 468–9
#Beethoven250 Day 199
Symphony No. 4 in B♭ Major (Opus 60), 1806
Part of a complete Beethoven cycle conducted by Daniel Barenboim at the Proms in July 2012.
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 takes us back down to the dungeon where Florestan is held prisoner, and where Beethoven too is confined by his encroaching deafness. Will there be a Leonore who will rescue Ludwig as well? Or can only Beethoven’s music perform that heroic feat?
A few minutes later, it’s the music that takes us into the sunlight. This is an exhilarating celebration that nevertheless incorporates drama in contrasting dynamics and an increased use of timpani. Enough joy erupts for this to be a last movement rather than just the 1st.
The slow second movement of Beethoven’s 4th Symphony weaves together long spinning cantabile melodies and a dotted rhythm accompaniment into a celestial beauty, and the timpani solo right at the end is a great touch.
Third movements were traditionally times of relaxation. Not this one. The 4th Symphony’s 3rd movement is a jittery dizzying scherzo with a contrasting Trio section that slows everything down to almost a waltz tempo. A Trio redux and Scherzo give this a five-part structure.
The finale of the 4th Symphony has been termed a perpetuum mobile for its running 16th notes, but it periodically abandons the perpetuum for gloriously vigorous shouts of joy.