Ludwig van Beethoven

Coriolan Overture, Op. 62

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed the Coriolanus Overture (or just Coriolan Overture), Op. 62, in 1807 for Heinrich Joseph von Collin's tragic play Coriolan, a 1904 forgotten drama about the Roman general Gaius Marcius Coriolan. Beethoven constructed an overture with just two musical ideas that conveys the essence of the moral conflict, one representing Coriolan's desire for revenge against his Roman citizens and the other presenting his mother's request that he desist from his plans, something which he agrees to before he takes his own life. The work premiered in March of 1807 at the home of Beethoven's patron Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz for a private concert that also saw the premiere of Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 and the Piano Concerto No. 4. Instrumentation: 2.2.2.2: 2.2.0.0: Timp: Str (9-8-7-6-5 in set).