Eroica

There are some extra fellows

coming for today's rehearsal.

Please make sure that they're properly

turned out and given beer before we start.

Good morning, sir.

- Ries, you're here.

- I'm sorry I'm late.

Doesn't matter.

It gave me time to have a shave.

Don't want to look like a wild beast, do we?

And how are you today?

- Happy to find you in such good humor, sir.

- Why wouldn't I be?

Have you seen my good shirt?

I did ask the girl to press it.

Is this it?

They're complaining downstairs. They say

water's coming in through the ceiling.

I only had a wash.

What's the matter with them?

Do you still want to walk, sir?

I could try and find a carriage.

No. It's a lovely day. Let's walk.

The score's on the piano.

- Do you feel nervous, sir?

- What about?

- The new composition.

- No. Why would I feel nervous about that?

I feel invincible. I could conquer the city.

You'll succeed where Bonaparte has failed.

Bonaparte was sent to liberate us,

not conquer us.

To free us from tyranny.

He's got a rather aggressive way of doing it.

My friend Menzel says he'll be back.

No, they won't attack again.

We've signed a peace.

Anyway, that's not

what I was thinking about.

What were you thinking about?

- Good morning. Have you breakfasted?

- Yes, Mother.

People are running everywhere.

Is it music again?

Herr Beethoven is coming.

Come along, children.

- You'll be late.

- I can't play on an empty stomach.

- I'm sorry, Paul.

- Can you play?

Of course I can play.

I just can't get to the damn place.

I don't want to lose my job.

Welcome, dear Count.

We have a special treat for you today.

As a fellow enthusiast,

I think you'll find it rather thrilling.

- Haydn?

- Beethoven.

He has a new symphony. We shall be

the first people to hear it in the entire world.

Where's my E-flat crook?

I need it.

Come on. Give it to me.

No. No, don't. Don't.

Please. Let it go. Come on.

Thank you.

I booked another horn, as you requested, sir.

But won't two be enough?

There's a triadic harmony

in the scherzo, idiot.

How can you perform a harmony

in three parts with only two horns?

- I haven't read it, sir.

- That doesn't make you any less an idiot.

Isn't this magnificent?

I don't think anyone loves nature

as much as I do.

It's as if the trees take root in my heart.

I would have killed myself long before now

if it wasn't for this.

Carry on, you fellows. Carry on.

As soon as all are here, we'll begin.

Wranitsky - the leader.

Wranitsky, Count Dietrichstein.

How many years have you been

with the household? 18? 20?

Never says a word.

Shall we?

- Are we allowed to listen?

- Yes. Rights of man and all that.

We get to listen, for sure.

The prince thinks it's good for us.

- What sort of music is it?

- You can dance to it or you can pray to it.

One or the other. As a rule.

I'm very sorry, Your Highness.

He can hardly walk. I had to hire a carriage.

Don't mention it.

You were dutiful, I admire that.

Let your father rest awhile.

- What did it cost, Paul?

- A florin, Your Highness.

- You'll get it back.

- Thank you.

- Citizen Fisher.

- Citizen.

- You're late for the revolution, Otto.

- I'm always late.

Herr Beethoven,

I should go up the back stairs.

- But you are an artist.

- I'm just a horn player, sir.

We're artists. We go in the front.

Come on.

- The genius.

- You look well.

I don't think you've met Count Dietrichstein,

from Prague.

- Good morning.

- Ludwig van Beethoven.

This is my student Ries.

I hear you're a gifted pianist,

but I know nothing more. "Van" Beethoven?

Are you Dutch?

No. From Bonn.

And what rank? Landowner?

A landowner?

Do I look like a landowner?

- No, I'm a brainowner.

- "Brainowner. " That's good.

Fertile soil.

Our friend thinks his talent exempts him

from customs of deference.

- It does, doesn't it?

- It does, it does. Well, here it does, anyway.

- What's the matter?

- She's not here.

She'll come.

This will all be gone one day, you know.

It will all be swept aside.

Yes. So they say.

All the wealth repossessed by the people.

There won't be much left by then.

These concerts and that -

he's squandered the family fortune.

And to whom

is this third symphony dedicated?

I don't know. It says "Bonaparte" on the front.

- Bonaparte?

- Forgive me for mentioning the name.

I don't mind.

I'm a great lover of everything French.

The guillotine? The Terror?

That's all over and done with, surely. We

have much to learn from our friends in Paris.

Their society will go forwards,

whereas here we'll just stagnate

because we are nothing. We do nothing.

We make the best music in Europe.

Can music exist independently of politics,

Herr Ries?

- I couldn't say.

- Couldn't you?

I could.

Will the peace hold?

Or will the Russians

and the British drag us into war?

What do you think, Lobkowitz?

I don't really know very much about it,

my friend.

I'm not exactly up to the minute

with international affairs.

What are you giving us today?

Will we find it original?

It's original from beginning to end.

That's impossible, surely.

The fact is,

I've taken a new direction, Your Highness.

- A new direction?

- A new path.

I needed a new path through the woods.

Something was wrong with the old path?

Thank you.

- The fingering.

- Have you seen bar 34?

Most Serene Highness.

We've been working round the clock.

The piece is a monster.

Bloody hell.

They're ready, sir.

My wife says it's about Napoleon.

How may a piece of music

be said to be about something?

I have never seen anything like it.

It may not be music at all.

Stop!

- I thought you were supposed to be good.

- It's off the beat.

And there are so many markings.

Gentlemen.

Gentlemen, it is our first attempt.

Patience, please.

Even to my ears, it did sound rather fiendish.

Rather difficult to play, don't you think?

Violent. Needlessly violent.

- Bonaparte.

- I've marked it exactly as I want it played.

- The marking here, you see - sforzando.

- "Sforzando"?

A sharp attack to each note, Your Highness.

Really hammering it.

- How modern.

- You're trained to make a beautiful sound.

But I don't want a beautiful sound.

Elsewhere, yes, but not here.

This is a summons, an imperative.

Play me the first two chords.

I want more intensity, more guts.

Again, please.

- Don't be so tentative. Play louder.

- We never play louder than that.

And some of it's hard to follow.

It keeps changing.

Yes. It changes. The mood shifts all the time.

But are you telling me you can't play it?

- Not at all.

- Then play it, for the love of Christ.

Could we play it a little slower, sir?

No.

Not slow. Urgent.

That's it, yes. Punch every accent.

My God, it's like a dam bursting.

- Fool! Wrong!

- Don't interrupt!

It's a copyist's mistake, is it?

I've left my two eldest in the nursery.

I hope that's all right.

- What's all the fuss?

- The horn came in too early.

- That's my hand. There's no mistake.

- Of course not.

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