Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 "Eroica", Movement 2 (Ocarina of Time Soundfont)
As requested by Nietzsche Bietzsche !, here's a rendition of the Marcia Funebre from Beethoven's Third Symphony in the Ocarina of Time soundfont.
As an added point of interest, I decided to follow Beethoven's metronome markings as closely as possible so, to those previously acquainted with this music, this may sound faster than you're used to!
The second movement of the "Eroica" Symphony is a funeral march, presumably for the hero presented in the first movement or, for that matter, any heroic figure. It is also known for being a landmark in the history of music, its unparalleled expressivity and emotional ambition sowing the seeds for the Romantic period that would follow after Beethoven's death.
The music begins its somber procession right away in its main key of C minor, a key that Beethoven apparently reserved for especially dramatic compositions, this being one prominent example of this tendency. Almost every detail in this funeral march is as close to perfect as can be, every change in volume or mood meticulously fine-tuned for maximum effect.
A contrasting Trio in C major (3:24), with both its gentle demeanor and assertive proclamations, provides an episode of consolation, but almost without effort we return to the darkness of the funeral march (5:12).
Or so it would seem. Here, Beethoven does something that, just as this symphony as a whole, is incredibly bold for the time: he delays the return of the original funeral march as much as possible. First, he presents a mighty double fugue (5:39) that grows to enormous proportions in its emotional intensity. Even when compared to the more heart-on-the-sleeve music of the following Romantic period, the amount of grief displayed here is still staggering (6:55) and words are simply powerless to describe it.
Eventually, the fugue reaches a dead-end (7:27), and it looks as though the funeral march will make its return now (7:40), but perceptive listeners might notice that it's in a different key from when it first appeared. Sure enough, its melody falters mid-sentence (7:45), hanging unto a single note (7:49). The bass strings forcefully seize this note for themselves (7:51) and inaugurate the beginning of an extensive, dramatic, and suspense-filled retransition towards the true return of the funeral march in its full and original form (8:36).
However, Beethoven takes one step further away from convention by not having this be a literal reprise. Instead, everything is given a new orchestration, looked at from a different lens, and further embellished.
The coda begins somewhat bizarrely by repeating two notes over and over (10:25), leading into, perhaps even more bizarrely a brand-new theme (10:36) that gives us a small glimpse of what we experienced in the consoling C major Trio, which by now might already feel like a distant memory.
In the end, however, the mournful atmosphere prevails (11:06). The way in which the funeral march's main theme returns one final time but now hesitating between each of its phrases (11:53), like a sobbing singer that's barely able to keep going at all, is incredibly poignant.
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major "Eroica", Op. 55
Movement II. Marcia funebre: Adagio assai
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Soundfont: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Movement 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsRyWw0OP2o
Pokémon DPP version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7VZbTRda1k
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