Writing the Erocia

Beethoven’s return to Vienna from Heiligenstadt was marked by a change in musical style and is now often designated as the start of his middle or "heroic" period characterized by many original works composed on a grand scale. According to Carl Czerny, Beethoven said, "I am not satisfied with the work I have done so far. From now on I intend to take a new way." An early major work employing this new style was the Third Symphony in E flat Op. 55, known as the Eroica, written in 1803-4. The idea of creating a symphony based on the career of Napoleon may have been suggested to Beethoven by Count Bernadotte in 1798.