Music and Art

Lecture

Music and Art Storytelling in Music Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”

Tom Cimarusti, Ph.D., Program Coordinator and Professor of Music History, Florida Gulf Coast University

Beethoven's “Eroica” Symphony, officially titled Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, was not well received at its 1805 Viennese premiere. Critics argued the work was too long, not well-rehearsed and loud. Beethoven himself, discontent with his works thus far, declared that this symphony would “take a new path.” What did Beethoven mean by this? How did this work become one of the most influential works in the symphonic tradition? And what do we make of the work’s dedication to Napoleon? Come learn how this work presents a narrative of Beethoven's troubled life (and perhaps humanity in general) and how it forever changed the history of the western symphonic tradition.

This presentation is part of Tom Cimarusti's Music and Art series.

Tom Cimarusti

Tom Cimarusti

A native of Los Angeles, Tom Cimarusti received his Ph.D. at Florida State University and is currently a professor of music history at Florida Gulf Coast University. Although his primary research interests include 18th- and 19th-century Italian opera and song, chamber music and the music of communal utopias, he also lectures on world music and is an avid accordionist. He has presented his research at conferences in Europe, Asia and the United States. He is currently working on an edition of hymns associated with the late 19th-century religious cult, the Koreshan Unity. He has been the recipient of numerous research grants and excellence-in-teaching awards. In 2016, he founded the Center for Public Musicology, an organization that provides lectures, demonstrations and performances at venues throughout Southwest Florida. He lives in Naples with his wife, Christy, and two boys, Paul and Christopher.