SL: What is it about the Allegretto? Melody, motion, and maybe a little mystery-all part of the genius of Beethoven. On December 8, 1813, he unveiled two works in a Vienna concert organized to benefit troops wounded five weeks earlier fighting the French: his descriptive symphonic fantasy WellingtonвЂ™s Victory, or The Battle of Vitoria, and his Seventh Symphony. The audienceвЂ™s response to the Symphony rose to the point of ecstasy according to contemporaneous reports, and adoring admirers demanded an encore of the second movement Al-legretto. SD: There is something subliminal that makes this rhythm we hear all the time. Beethoven enthusiastically lent his talent to AustriaвЂ™s anti-Napoleon efforts. Beethoven would conduct, due to his growing deafness. SD: Then, finally, when the theme arrives, itвЂ™s fabulous because it has this element of nostalgia.В You have the feeling you have direct access to the heart of Beethoven. StГ©phane DenГЁve: It starts by the way within a minor chord, and then suddenly what you hear is not the theme, but the counter theme. SL: What is it about the second movement of BeethovenвЂ™s 7th symphony that draws us in? MUSIC: Jazz pianist Jacques Loussier, Variation 1 on Beethoven's Allegretto. Its first audience enthusiastically welcomed its rhythmic energy. Susan Lewis: The Allegretto has been performed on its own, used in The KingвЂ™s Speech and other films, and inspired composers from Schubert to jazz pianist Jacques Loussier. Beethoven regarded his Seventh Symphony as one of his best works.

Beethoven 7th symphony allegro