Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)
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Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 was written in 1804–08. This symphony is one of the most popular and well-known compositions in all of European classical music, and one of the most often-played symphonies.[1] It comprises four movements: an opening sonata allegro, an andante, and a fast scherzo which leads attacca to the finale. First performed in Vienna's Theater an der Wien in 1808, the work achieved its prodigious reputation soon afterwards. E.T.A. Hoffmann described the symphony as "one of the most important works of the time".
It begins by stating a distinctive four-note "short-short-short-long" motif twice: 
The symphony, and the four-note opening motif in particular, are well known worldwide, with the motif appearing frequently in popular culture, from disco to rock and roll, to appearances in film and television. During World War II, the BBC used the four-note motif to introduce its radio news broadcasts because it evoked the Morse code letter "V" (for "victory") (dot-dot-dot-dash).
Form
The work is in four movements:
First movement
The first movement opens with the four-note motif discussed below, one of the most famous in western music. There is considerable debate among conductors as to the manner of playing the four opening bars. Some conductors take it in strict allegro tempo; others take the liberty of a weighty treatment, playing the motif in a much slower and more stately tempo; yet others take the motif molto ritardando (a pronounced slowing through each four-note phrase), arguing that the fermata over the fourth note justifies this.[11]
The first movement is in the traditional sonata form that Beethoven inherited from his classical predecessors, Haydn and Mozart (in which the main ideas that are introduced in the first few pages undergo elaborate development through many keys, with a dramatic return to the opening section—the recapitulation—about three-quarters of the way through). It starts out with two dramatic fortissimo phrases, the famous motif, commanding the listener's attention. Following the first four bars, Beethoven uses imitations and sequences to expand the theme, these pithy imitations tumbling over each other with such rhythmic regularity that they appear to form a single, flowing melody. Shortly after, a very short fortissimo bridge, played by the horns, takes place before a second theme is introduced. This second theme is in E flat major, the relative major, and it is more lyrical, written piano and featuring the four-note motif in the string accompaniment. The codetta is again based on the four-note motif. The development section follows, using modulation, sequences and imitation, and including the bridge. During the recapitulation, there is a brief solo passage for oboe in quasi-improvisatory style, and the movement ends with a massive coda.
Second movement
The second movement, in A flat major, is a lyrical work in double variation form, which means that two themes are presented and varied in alternation. Following the variations there is a long coda.
The movement opens with an announcement of its theme, a melody in unison by violas and cellos, with accompaniment by the double basses. A second theme soon follows, with a harmony provided by clarinets, bassoons, violins, with a triplet arpeggio in the violas and bass. A variation of the first theme reasserts itself. This is followed up by a third theme, thirty-second notes in the violas and cellos with a counterphrase running in the flute, oboe and bassoon. Following an interlude, the whole orchestra participates in a fortissimo, leading to a series of crescendos, and a coda to close the movement.[12]
Third movement
The third movement is in ternary form, consisting of a scherzo and trio. It follows the traditional mold of Classical-era symphonic third movements, containing in sequence the main scherzo, a contrasting trio section, a return of the scherzo, and a coda. (For further discussion of this form, see "Textual questions", below.)
The movement returns to the opening key of C minor and begins with the following theme, played by the cellos and double basses:
The 19th century musicologist Gustav Nottebohm first pointed out that this theme has the same sequence of pitches (though in a different key and range) as the opening theme of the final movement of Mozart's famous Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550. Here is Mozart's theme:
(The derivation emerges more clearly if one listens first to Mozart's theme, then Mozart's theme transposed to Beethoven's key and range, then Beethoven's theme, thus:
While such resemblances sometimes occur by accident, this is unlikely to be so in the present case. Nottebohm discovered the resemblance when he examined a sketchbook used by Beethoven in composing the Fifth Symphony: here, 29 measures of Mozart's finale appear, copied out by Beethoven.[13]
The opening theme is answered by a contrasting theme played by the winds, and this sequence is repeated. Then the horns loudly announce the main theme of the movement, and the music proceeds from there.
The trio section is in C major and is written in a contrapuntal texture. When the scherzo returns for the final time, it is performed by the strings pizzicato and very quietly.
"The scherzo offers contrasts that are somewhat similar to those of the slow movement in that they derive from extreme difference in character between scherzo and trio ... The Scherzo then contrasts this figure with the famous 'motto' (3 + 1) from the first movement, which gradually takes command of the whole movement." [14]
Fourth movement
The triumphant and exhilarating finale begins without interruption after the scherzo. It is written in an unusual variant of sonata form: at the end of the development section, the music halts on a dominant cadence, played fortissimo, and the music continues after a pause with a quiet reprise of the "horn theme" of the scherzo movement. The recapitulation is then introduced by a crescendo coming out of the last bars of the interpolated scherzo section, just as the same music was introduced at the opening of the movement. The interruption of the finale with material from the scherzo was pioneered by Haydn, who had done the same in his Symphony No. 46 in B, from 1772. It is not known whether Beethoven was familiar with this work.
The Fifth Symphony finale includes a very long coda, in which the main themes of the movement are played in temporally compressed form. Towards the end the tempo is increased to presto. The symphony ends with 29 bars of C major chords, played fortissimo. Charles Rosen, in The Classical Style[15] suggests that this ending reflects Beethoven's sense of Classical proportions: the "unbelievably long" pure C major cadence is needed "to ground the extreme tension of [this] immense work."
Notes and references
- ^ Schauffler, Robert Haven. Beethoven: The Man Who Freed Music. Doubleday, Doran, & Company. Garden City, New York. 1933; pg 211
- ^ a b c d e Hopkins, Antony. The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven. Scolar Press, 1977. ISBN 1-85928-246-6.
- ^ Beethoven's deafness
- ^ Kinderman, William. Beethoven. University of California Press. Berkeley, Los Angeles. 1995. ISBN 0-520-08796-8; pg 122
- ^ Parsons, Anthony. Symphonic birth-pangs of the trombone
- ^ Landon, H.C. Robbins. Beethoven: His Life, Work, and World. Thames and Hudson. New York City. 1992; pg 149
- ^ Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, July 1810
- ^ Moss, Charles K. Ludwig van Beethoven: A Musical Titan.
- ^ Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 by Richard Freed
- ^ Rushton, Julian. The Music of Berlioz; pg 244
- ^ a b Scherman, Thomas K, and Louis Biancolli. The Beethoven Companion. Double & Company. Garden City, New York. 1973; p. 570
- ^ Scherman, Thomas K, and Louis Biancolli. The Beethoven Companion. Double & Company. Garden City, New York. 1973; pg 572
- ^ Nottebohm, Gustav (1887) Zweite Beethoviana. Leipzig: C. F. Peters, p. 531.
- ^ Lockwood, Lewis. Beethoven: The Music and the Life. W.W. Norton & Company. New York. ISBN 0-393-05081-5; pg 223
- ^ Rosen, Charles (1997) The Classical Style, 2nd ed. New York: Norton, p. 72
- ^ Jolly, Constance. Beethoven as I Knew Him; London: Faber and Faber, 1966; as translated from Schindler's 'Biographie von Ludwig van Beethoven', 1860
- ^ Cooper, Barry. The Beethoven Compendium, Ann Arbor, MI: Borders Press, 1991, ISBN 0-681-07558-9.; pg 52
- ^ Classical Music Pages. Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No.5, Op.67
- ^ Wyatt, Henry. Mason Gross Presents - Program Notes: 14 June 2003. Mason Gross School of Arts.
- ^ Rosen, Charles. Beethoven's Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002, p. 134
- ^ "Ludwig van Beethoven." Grove Online Encyclopedia. online (subscription required).
- ^ Tovey, Donald Francis (1935) Essays in Musical Analysis, Volume 1: Symphonies. London: Oxford University Press.
- ^ Kallai, Avishai. "Revert to Eggert". Retrieved on 2006-04-28.
- ^ Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, edited by Jonathan Del Mar. Kassel: Bärenreiter (1999), ISMN M-006-50054-3
- ^ Del Mar, Jonathan (July-December 1999). "Jonathan Del Mar, New Urtext Edition: Beethoven Symphonies 1-9". British Academy Review. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
- ^ Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor; Critical Commentary, edited by Jonathan Del Mar. Kassel: Bärenreiter (1999)
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