The trouble with writing something as bold as the ‘Eroica’ is that whatever comes next is bound to be a disappointment. From the start, where the third symphony was declamatory and brash, the fourth is subdued and moody. In fact, the fourth symphony has some of Beethoven’s most outstanding and poignant writing in it.
This work, theoretically, should have followed Beethoven’s second symphony, as it shows a heavy degree of influence from Haydn, and is a more typical symphony of the Classical period than the Eroica.
From 2004, Seiji Ozawa is seen here conducting the Saito Kinen Orchestra from Japan in Beethoven’s fourth Symphony in B flat.