To study such a masterwork as Beethoven's Eroica symphony without some knowledge of the composer's response to the ideals of the French Revohition and Napoleon's unique political position in 1806 is to study music in a vacuum.Needless to say'it was not created in a vacuum.Among the elements of stylistic validity are tempi and dynamics.Amozart allegro differs by far from a Tchaikovsky allegro.Similarly'aforte in Haydn is an enarely different matter from a Wagner forte.