The piece
Beethoven finished his Seventh Symphony in 1812; it was first performed in Vienna on 8 December 1813, and the Allegretto, its second movement, was encored on the spot. Its theme rests almost entirely on a single rhythm, a quarter, two eighths, two quarters, repeated over and over while the harmony changes beneath it. The violas, cellos and double basses first play it alone, very low and piano. This easy version, written for Noctave after the Litolff edition, takes that first statement of the theme, an octave higher.
The right hand plays the violas' line, often on a single note, E; the left hand plays two notes at a time, the bass and the cellos' part, in exactly the same rhythm. The whole point is evenness: count the eighths, play them detached, and let the quarters sound full. Listen to how the chord changes under the repeated E. At bar 17 the dynamic drops to pianissimo: lighten both hands without slowing down.
