S2 Ep 19. Beethoven 3rd symphony. Part 1. Battle and triumph.

The opening movement of Beethoven's 3rd is the first stage of the hero's journey – struggle and victory. The hero myth has many variations in its death and resurrection themes. Mythologically it involves the bringing of new consciousness to humanity. 

It therefore represents in Beethoven’s day the revolts, insurrections and revolutions that were emerging in Europe and its colonies. However, Beethoven is tapping into an archetypal structure and therefore this music is as relevant now as it was then. For we too, in the contemporary age, live in a civilization in crisis and transition where radical change needs to be fought for.

Individuals also seek their own renewal which is partially an independent activity, something, in the inner world – it’s not exactly a programme but an archetype, a template of immense possibility deep in the psyche. At its core the 3rd symphony demonstrates this within a death and rebirth archetype that takes music into the Romantic period and places the individual's relation to the sublime or transcendent at the centre of consciousness.

This is the first of three podcasts on Beethoven's 3rd symphony. 

Thanks to the BBC radio 3 recording 2005 of Beethoven’s 3rd symphony and made available on the Internet Archive on a Creative Commons label. All musical extracts in these podcasts taken from that source.   https://archive.org/details/BBCSymphony3Beethoven_1