Symphony no. 1 in C major, op. 21

The First Symphony was introduced on 2 April 1800 at the Burgtheater, in the first concert Beethoven mounted for his own benefit; the programme also held a Mozart symphony, excerpts from Haydn's Creation and improvisations at the keyboard. He dedicated the score to Baron Gottfried van Swieten. The opening still startles: a dissonant chord that resolves into the wrong key, so that the home key of C major has to be argued for rather than announced. The third movement is called a minuet but is taken so fast that it is a scherzo in all but name.

Beethoven had begun the symphony in 1795 and had its four movements largely in shape within a year, then set the score aside and finished it only four years later. The programme of the premiere also included his own Septet, op. 20.