Ludwig van Beethoven – Op.91 Wellingtons Sieg (Wellington's Victory or 'Battle Symphony')

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Wellington’s Victory, or the Battle of Vitoria (also called the Battle Symphony; in German: Wellingtons Sieg oder die Schlacht bei Vittoria), Op. 91, is a 15-minute-long orchestral work composed by Ludwig van Beethoven to commemorate the Marquess (later Duke) of Wellington’s victory over Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Vitoria in Spain on 21 June 1813. It is known sometimes as “The Battle Symphony” or “The Battle of Vitoria”, and was dedicated to the Prince Regent, later King George IV. Composition stretched from August to first week of October 1813, and the piece proved to be a substantial moneymaker for Beethoven.

Orchestration

Wellington’s Victory is something of a musical novelty. The full orchestration calls for two flutes, a piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, six trumpets, three trombones, timpani, a large percussion battery (including muskets and other artillery sound effects), and a usual string section of violins I and II, violas, cellos, and double basses.

In the orchestral percussion section one player plays the timpani, the other three play the cymbals, bass drum and triangle. On stage there are two ‘sides’, British and French, both playing the same instruments: two side drums (englisches/französisches Trommeln in the score), two bass drums (Kanone in the score), two (four) ratchets, played by eight to ten instrumentalists.

The work has two parts: the Battle (Schlacht) and the Victory Symphony (Sieges Sinfonie). The first part is programme music describing two approaching opposing armies and contains extended passages depicting scenes of battle. It uses “Rule Britannia” for the British side and “Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre” (“Marlborough has left for the war”, also popularized today as “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”) for the French side.[4] Beethoven may have elected to not use “La Marseillaise” to represent the French forces, as Tchaikovsky later did in the 1812 Overture, perhaps because playing “La Marseillaise” was considered treasonous in Vienna at the time.

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