The Symphony No. 3 in E♭ major, Op. 55, (also Italian Sinfonia Eroica, Heroic Symphony) is a symphony in four movements by Ludwig van Beethoven. One of the composer's most celebrated works, the Eroica symphony is a large-scale composition that marked the beginning of Beethoven's creative middle-period. Composed mainly in 1803–1804, the work is grounded in the Classical symphonic tradition while also stretching boundaries of form, length, harmony, and perceived emotional and possibly cultural content. It has therefore widely been considered an important landmark in the transition between the Classical period and the Romantic era.

Beethoven originally dedicated the third symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte, who he believed embodied the democratic and anti-monarchical ideals of the French Revolution. In the autumn of 1804, Beethoven withdrew his dedication of the third symphony to Napoleon, lest it cost him the composer's fee paid him by a noble patron; so, Beethoven re-dedicated his third symphony to Prince Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz – nonetheless, despite such a bread-and-butter consideration, the politically idealistic Beethoven titled the work "Buonaparte".

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