The Seventh Symphony's premiere concert was performed to benefit the soldiers wounded a few months earlier in the battle of Hanau. It was one of Beethoven's most successful concerts. Viennese audiences, miserable from Napoleon's 1805 and 1809 occupations of Vienna and hopefully awaiting a victory over him, embraced the symphony's energy and beauty. The celebratory symphony, dedicated to both Count Moritz von Fries and Russian Empress Elisabeth Aleksiev, was performed three times in 10 weeks following its premiere. The second movement of the Seventh often is performed separately from the complete symphony, and might have been one of Beethoven's most popular compositions. In spite of the symphony's popularity, Beethoven was not the most performed or most published composer of the time, and he competed for prestige with emerging composer Rossini.
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