The first performance of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony took place in March 1807 in the mansion of Prince Lobkowitz, a patron of Beethoven.
Recording & Production
This recording of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with Wilhelm Furtwängler was made live on June 30, 1943, by the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft at the Alte Philharmonie, Berlin.
Critical Reception
Carl Maria von Weber, a German composer and critic, reviewed an early performance of the Fourth Symphony negatively, imagining the orchestra's instruments complaining about its 'no-ideas' and 'musical monstrosity'.
Composition History
Beethoven interrupted work on his Fifth Symphony to compose the Fourth Symphony, which was completed in 1806.
Composition History
Beethoven originally intended to follow his 'Eroica' Symphony with what is now known as the Fifth Symphony, and had already begun work on it.
Critical Reception
Robert Schumann, a German composer and influential music critic, famously described Beethoven's Fourth Symphony as 'a slender Grecian maiden between two Norse giants' (referring to the 'Eroica' and Fifth symphonies).
Critical Reception
Hector Berlioz, a French Romantic composer, greatly admired the Fourth Symphony, praising its 'heavenly sweetness' and the 'skilfully contrived' crescendo in its first movement.
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