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Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op. 67
Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven's creative life in Vienna , where he moved from Bonn in 1792 at age 21, has been conveniently divided into periods--Early, Middle, and Late.  The "Early Period" is an extension of Viennese Classicism (Haydn on steroids) while the "Late Period" possessed an introspective expressiveness via music reaching a sublimity beyond philosophy.  (But to many of his contemporaries, this was Beethoven as deaf and debatably daft.) The "Middle Period," where the Fifth Symphony firmly resides, is that of the Revolutionary Beethoven (a challenger to the gods, fate, and tyranny) that is so cherished by music lovers.

Beethoven made some money from the publication of his compositions as well as gaining some recompense from his performances as a piano virtuoso.   However, this latter form of income dried up as Beethoven's advancing deafness made it impossible for him to perform after about 1810.  Mostly, he was supported by stipends from connoisseurs from the nobility, notably Prince Karl Lobkowitz and the Archduke Rudolph as well as the Russian Count Razumovsky, the czar's envoy to Vienna.  This was not to say that Beethoven didn't desire to support himself from concerts of his music.

However, it was difficult to get royal permission to use a concert venue for an "academy," the term used in Vienna of that time for a paid-admission concert. Fortunately, Beethoven was finally rewarded for all his donated performances in previous charitable concerts by obtaining the use, on December 22nd, 1808, of the Royal Theatre an der Wien (where both Mozart's Magic Flute and Beethoven's opera, Fidelio, had been premiered). For those who imagine that the premiere of Beethoven's mighty Symphony No. 5 was presented, gem like, in a setting of smaller works, be prepared to be amazed!  Beethoven was not going to miss an opportunity to get a significant amount of his music before the public, so he organized a truly monster concert. 

It began with the Symphony No. 6 now known as the "Pastoral."  Yes, Symphony No.6 was actually premiered before No.5 for those wanting to win Beethoven trivia bets.  The first half continued with the soprano scene and aria, "Ah, Perfido!" followed by the "Kyrie" and "Gloria" from his new Mass in C for solo vocal quartet, chorus and orchestra.  And the first part of the concert concluded with the Vienna public premiere of his Piano Concerto No.4

It was only after these little “appetizers” that the second part of the concert opened with the premiere of the Symphony No. 5 in C minor.  But the second half of the concert was no shorter than the first! After the Fifth, there followed another excerpt from the Mass, as well as Beethoven solo improvising at the piano (Fantasy for Pianoforte op. 77). 

Evidently, however, even this was not enough for Beethoven. Having hired all these forces for the concert, he hit upon the idea to unite them in one great finale which he rapidly composed in the weeks before the concert. We know this as the Choral Fantasy op. 80 for solo piano, vocal quartet, chorus, and orchestra.  Worst of all, the poorly heated theater was freezing (remember this was late December). One attendee’s comment summed up the situation:  "one can easily have too much of a good thing.”  Indeed.

While Beethoven was a great improviser at the piano, his compositional method is the opposite of improvisation. He worked, refined, inter-connected and reworked his compositions until he achieved” rightness," as Leonard Bernstein put it, that would stand the test of time. If each theme in a sonata-form movement can be considered as a character in a play, then Beethoven's Fifth Symphony can almost seem a "one-man show." Many commentators (with Sir Donald Tovey being the prime exception) feel that almost all the Symphony's thematic material was rigorously derived from the basic, iconic, opening measures. 

It's true that most listeners won't consciously think that the second theme is merely the horn-call variation of the opening, inverted with passing tones in the relative major key. However, the unremitting, pile-driver power of the first movement marked, "Allegro con brio" (Fast with vigor) is beyond analysis.  One shocking moment occurs in the development section where the theme becomes fragmented to the point where the winds and strings tensely answer each other with single notes achieving a terror of anticipation. The movement ends with a brutally rude abruptness.

The second movement, "Andante con moto" (a walking tempo with movement) is organized as a type of double variation. But the alteration between the two themes isn't strict and almost immediately after the second theme appears, a noble fanfare in C major breaks out.  This may well act as a prequel of the final C-major triumph of the Symphony

The third movement is merely titled, "Allegro" though it seems to be organized into the usual Beethovenian Scherzo and Trio form without those terms. The shadowy opening creeps around until another noble horn theme (with an undeniable heredity from the first-movement's rhythm) bursts in. The middle section has one of classical music's most famous figures for cellos and basses.  This sweeps through the orchestra in an increasingly impatient fugue texture. The opening returns as a mere plucked wisp of itself and the horn theme is also reduced to soft plucking and woodwind murmuring. Then, what follows is one of the most amazing transitions in all of music with timpani tapping out a pulse leading directly into the triumphal fourth movement (also "Allegro"). There is a ghost-like return of the third movement and a re-transition to a victorious, exuberantly drawn-out conclusion.