Beethoven’s Overture to Coriolanus is a short version of the tragedy of the Roman General Coriolanus. The Overture is a primarily homophonic piece that is played by a more intimate ensemble that consists of woodwinds, brass, strings, and timpani. Its genre is classified as a concert overture because it is a one movement orchestral work that tells a story based on a literary figure. It is also in sonata-allegro form. This style fits well into the type of music that Beethoven was beginning to compose as he was beginning to use the orchestra as a way to tell a story. His desire to express his beliefs and the things in life that he enjoyed helped him become the catalyst for the rise of programmatic music.
One of the ways that he conveys a story…show more content… These distinct sections show that it is in the sonata-allegro form, with an introduction, an exposition that introduces two themes, a development section, a recapitulation, and a coda for the conclusion of the piece, thus displaying a sonata-allegro form. The introduction begins with unison of strings and then a few measures later the full orchestra erupts into playing. The eruption of the entire orchestra is a motive that is repeated in the piece and represents the heroic nature of the protagonist. Theme one and theme two are contained in the exposition of the…show more content… One of the first ways in which he notably featured the programmatic music, and thus the decline of absolute music, was to indirectly include a ‘story’ it in his Symphony No 5. He did this by playing the motive throughout the entire piece and by making it seem as though the theme could not be ‘escaped’. That theme uses the same key as the key in his Overture to Coriolanus, which helps give a sense of heroism to the