In June 1809, Beethoven finished the composition of a set of incidental music pieces for a new production of Goethe’s drama Egmont. The Overture, published separately the following year, is an example of Beethoven’s heroic sound from the first decade of the 19th century. Four years later, on December 8, 1813, the German composer conducted his 7th Symphony at the University of Vienna. It enjoyed such a resounding success that the audience made him encore the second movement. The constant presence of well-marked rhythms, particularly in the final Scherzo, would lead Wagner to refer this work as “the apotheosis of the dance”.