Beethoven's "Scherzo" from Symphony 3

Ah, ladies and gentlemen, tonight we observe a revolution - and no less! This piece, Beethoven's Symphony 3 (nicknamed the "Eroica"), was the music which immortalized Beethoven as the bridge between the Classical and Romantic eras. There is risky innovation throughout this whole symphony, as well as great tides of emotion, ranging from the supremely joyful (as we see in this movement) to the deeply despairing (look for movement 2, or the "Marcia Funebre"). An interesting fact: this symphony would have been far more scandalous than it actually was, had Beethoven follwed through in dedicating and naming the symphony after Napoleon Bonaparte, whose Republican values Beethoven admired. However, after hearing that Napoleon had crowned himself emperor, Beethoven viciously erased Napoleon's name from the dedication page and said, "So he too is nothing more than an ordinary man. Now he also will trample all human rights underfoot, and only pander to his own ambition, he will place himself above everyone else and become a tyrant!" Ferdinand Ries' whole account of the symphony's creation can be perused here. So, after the composer's decision to remove Napoleon from the score, the symphony merely came to be called "Eroica," or "Heroic." And boy, is it bold - this symphony would surely go in my saving-the-world playlist, if I had one of those on my iPod.
In any case, for another perspective on this third movement specifically - there is a part in one of my most favorite books, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, in which one of the main characters, teenage Mick Kelley, is sitting beneath the window of someone's house, someone who owns a radio. Here, the music-loving girl encounters Beethoven for the first time in the form of this mind-blowing symphony. I shall not describe her entire experience with the music, as everyone should read this book and I don't want to ruin it - however, as for the movement you are about to hear, it is described (paraphrased) thus: "(The third movement) was like all the greatest people in the world springing up in a hard, free way." Enjoy the 6/8 amazingness.