Ludwig van Beethoven’s Third Symphony ‘Eroica’, completed in 1804, is a revolutionary work. Originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, on hearing that First Consul of the Republic had crowned himself Emperor, the composer scratched his dedication away in fury. Christoph Eß, principal horn of the Bamberg Symphony, introduces this essential and extraordinary orchestral work.
Can you introduce yourself, and talk about your current musical role and responsibilities?
My name is Christoph Eß, and I am the principal horn of the Bamberg Symphony. Alongside my orchestral work, I am also a professor of horn at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg, so teaching and performing are very closely connected in my musical life.
As a principal horn, one of my main responsibilities is, of course, to shape the sound of the horn section and to contribute to the overall sound and musical direction of the orchestra. But being a principal player is also very much about listening and reacting. You have to understand what is happening around you and find the right balance between leading and supporting.
Beethoven’s Third Symphony is a revolutionary piece of music, leaving a profound impression on music of the 19th century. Can you talk a little about the importance of this piece?
The Eroica is one of those works that changed the idea of what a symphony could be. Beethoven took the symphonic form to a completely new level – in length and in musical and emotional ambition.
What is revolutionary about the Eroica more generally is that the music feels as though it is constantly searching, struggling and developing. The individual movements seem to belong to one enormous dramatic process.
For an orchestra, this is incredibly exciting. You have to think on a much larger scale. Every small musical decision has a connection to something much bigger. And perhaps that is one reason why the piece still feels so modern. It has enormous power, and there is vulnerability, darkness, humour, tenderness and violence. Beethoven allows all of these things to exist next to each other.
While horns had been commonly used in the 18th-century orchestra, Beethoven expanded their use significantly – as well as a much larger wind section. What kinds of challenges did Beethoven set for woodwinds and horns in this symphony?
For the wind players, Beethoven suddenly asks for a much more prominent and independent role. The winds are no longer simply there to add colour or reinforce the strings. They often become protagonists themselves.
For the horns, one of the great challenges is the enormous range of expression Beethoven demands. We have to be powerful and heroic, but also extremely soft and lyrical. And often the transition between these worlds happens very quickly.
One particularly interesting detail is Beethoven’s use of three horns. Traditionally, horns were used in pairs, and composers would often use either two or four horns. Beethoven’s decision to use three horns in the Eroica was therefore quite unusual. What is especially clever is that the third horn is not simply an additional voice. The first and second horns are paired in the usual way and use the same transposition, while the third horn is in a different transposition. This gives Beethoven considerably more harmonic flexibility.
Beethoven is already beginning to think of the horn section in a much more modern way: as an independent and flexible musical voice. Technically, the natural horns of Beethoven’s time also had very different possibilities from the modern instrument. When we play the work today on modern horns, we have to be careful not to make everything too easy or too polished. The character of the writing is still connected to the limitations and colours of the historical instrument.
The horn solos in the first movement are famous – notably one which is deliberately ‘early’. Even the movement’s main theme itself seems designed especially for the horn. What are your feelings about the horns’ role in the first movement?
The first movement is an extraordinary experience for a horn player because the horn is present almost from the very beginning as an important colour and as part of the main musical idea.
And then, of course, there is the famous moment towards the end of the exposition, where the second horn enters with the main theme before the expected recapitulation. It is one of the most famous “wrong” entries in orchestral literature – except, of course, that it is absolutely right!
The main theme itself has something very natural for the horn: its shape, its intervals and especially its mixture of strength and openness. It almost feels as if Beethoven had the sound of the horn in his imagination when he wrote it.
Later, in the Trio of the third movement, the horns have a starring role as a group. Can you talk a bit about this special passage?
The Trio of the Scherzo is one of the great moments for the horn section. Suddenly the three horns become almost like a chamber music ensemble within the orchestra.
What makes it special is the combination of virtuosity and transparency. The three parts have to communicate with each other very precisely, and at the same time the passage has to sound completely natural.
For three horn players, it is also a wonderful test of ensemble playing. You really have to breathe and phrase together. At the same time, each player needs to have enough confidence and individuality to make their own line speak. That combination of individual responsibility and collective musicality is what makes the passage so special.
Can you talk a bit about the practicalities of rehearsing and performing a long work like this? In Bamberg, are there clear ideas about how the symphony should sound?
A work like the Eroica requires a very clear understanding of the large-scale structure. It is easy to become absorbed in individual details because there are so many fascinating things happening. But the orchestra has to keep the overall direction in mind throughout the entire piece.
At the Bamberg Symphony, we also have a very distinctive orchestral sound. Historically, people often spoke about the “Bohemian Sound”, reflecting the tradition and musical heritage of the orchestra. Today, we often refer to it simply as the “Bamberg Sound”. For me, it is particularly noticeable in the strings: the sound is very much supported and shaped from the bass upwards. This creates an incredibly warm, round and rich foundation.
What impression did the symphony make on you when you first heard it?
The Eroica has a very special place in my musical life because it was the very first major symphonic work that I had the opportunity to play in an orchestra. I played it as a 14-year-old young musician in the Landesjugendorchester Baden-Württemberg, where I was playing third horn at the time.
So my relationship with this symphony goes back much further than my professional career. I remember the feeling of discovering this enormous piece of music as a young horn player. At that age, you obviously experience a symphony differently from how you do later as a professional musician. You are perhaps more overwhelmed by the sheer power and scale of the music, but at the same time you discover the orchestra and its possibilities through the piece.
Since then, I have performed and studied the work many times, and my understanding of it has changed enormously. I hear different things in it now, and I understand much more about its structure, its harmonic language and the role of the individual instruments.
But that first experience has never disappeared. I think that is why the Eroica will always remain something very special to me. It is connected with the beginning of my own journey as an orchestral musician.
Is there a recording or a memory of a performance that is particularly special to you?
There are several performances of the Eroica that have stayed particularly vividly in my memory. The first, of course, was my very first performance with the Landesjugendorchester Baden-Württemberg, when I was playing third horn. As I mentioned before, this was the first great symphonic work I ever played in an orchestra, so that performance has a very special personal significance for me.
Later, I had the opportunity to perform the symphony several times with the Bamberg Symphony, and some of these performances have also remained particularly memorable. One was a performance under Herbert Blomstedt, whose very profound understanding of the classical and early Romantic repertoire made a strong impression on me.
And then there was a completely different kind of performance during the Covid pandemic, with Christoph Eschenbach. We were playing with approximately 1.5 metres of distance between every musician. That was an incredibly unusual situation for an orchestra. Normally, orchestral playing is based so much on physical proximity, eye contact and the feeling of breathing together. Suddenly, all of that was different. And yet Beethoven’s music still connected us. In retrospect, that performance is particularly memorable because of the circumstances in which we had the opportunity to make music together at all.
Do you have a personal favourite passage in this symphony?
For me, one of the most fascinating moments is the horn solo after the development section of the first movement. The first horn suddenly has to move from E-flat major to F major. On a modern horn, this is already an interesting moment, because the change of tonal centre requires a very clear sense of the new harmony and colour. But when you think about how this passage would have worked on the natural horn, it becomes even more fascinating. The player would actually have had to change the crook in order to play in the new key.
I also love the famous ‘early’ horn entrance before the recapitulation. You suddenly hear this theme from the horn in a moment when, according to your expectations, it should not yet be there. It creates an extraordinary sense of tension. And I also have a great affection for the Trio of the Scherzo. From a horn player’s perspective, it is simply fantastic writing.
Beyond the obvious horn moments, I love the funeral march in the second movement. The contrast between the intimacy of some passages and the enormous dramatic weight of others is incredibly powerful.
Why should one come to hear a performance of Beethoven’s Third Symphony?
Because the Eroica is not a museum piece. It is music that still has something to say. It is about struggle, uncertainty, hope, energy, loss and transformation.
For me, the most exciting thing about performing the Eroica is that the audience can experience this development together with the orchestra. You begin with two very simple chords – and from there Beethoven creates an entire world.
The Bamberg Symphony perform Beethoven’s Eroica with Jakub Hrůša in Bamberg, Prague, Dusseldorf and Vienna from May 2027.
See upcoming events from the Bamberg Symphony.
This article was sponsored by the Bamberg Symphony.
