What song did beethoven compose for Napoleon?
“Eroica” (heroic), his third symphony. The theme of this symphony was Napoleon. Beethoven had been inspired by Napoleon, he venerated Napoleon. When Beethoven found out that Napoleon crowned himself as Emperor of France, he felt completely betrayed. He had hated emperors. His father had also worked for an emperor and this emperor had treated his father very badly. So when Beethoven found out what Napoleon’s plans were, he immediately erased Napoleon’s name from his third symphony and had an extra piece applied to it: “Marche funèbre” (the dead march). This way he showed how much he hated Napoleon. Beethoven meant to say to Napoleon through his “dead march”: screw you.
