Beethoven composed the Coriolan Overture in response to the 1804 staging of the play Coriolan by Viennese playwright Joseph Heinrich von Collin. The play traced the tragedy of Roman general Coriolanus, who was viewed as a real historical figure by ancient and medieval scholars, but is now considered semi-legendary by modern historians.
The plot centres around Coriolanus’s fateful decision to turn on the people of Rome, having been banished from the city, and to unite with his former enemies, the Volscians, to attack them. He eventually decides against this betrayal after his mother Volumnia intervenes, but his repentance comes too late to retrieve his honour, and he dies by his own hand. (Here the plot differs from Shakespeare’s treatment of the same character. In the 1605–8 play Coriolanus, he is assassinated by his Volscian conspirators.)
This was the first of Beethoven’s concert overtures, which took their inspiration from theatrical works, but were intended to be performed as short pieces in their own right or alongside the original drama rather than as part of a longer composition setting the whole source material to music. The public premiere of the Coriolan Overture was followed by a brief revival of Collin’s play in which the piece opened the performance, placing it in the context the composer had envisioned.
Beethoven sets the overture in C minor, the dark and dramatic key of many of his most passionate and tempestuous works, including Symphony No. 5. The opening expressions of turmoil and conflict establish the qualities of the anti-hero, and are striking in their forcefulness. They gradually yield to a milder character in E flat major, representing Volumnia’s pleading with her son.
But even this mood soon becomes agitated and is overwhelmed by the tumult of the main theme. Coriolanus is eventually soothed and persuaded by his mother, but his regret turns to anguish in a final crescendo as he contemplates his folly; the strings die away as he takes his life.
Composer: Beethoven Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolan_Overture Title of Musical Work: Coriolan Overture