The secrets of the world’s most famous symphony - Hanako Sawada
These eight ferocious notes
open one of the most explosive pieces
of music ever composed.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s
Symphony Number Five
premiered in 1808,
on a blisteringly cold Vienna night.
The piece was just one small part
of a lengthy program,
and the orchestra had been hastily
assembled and under-rehearsed.
But despite this inauspicious premiere,
the symphony quickly won acclaim.
One critic likened the piece
to “glowing beams of light,
piercing through the darkness.”
This intensity persists
throughout the composition,
and its dramatic musicality continues
to move listeners today.
So what exactly makes
Beethoven’s Fifth so captivating?
When the symphony premiered, Beethoven
already had a formidable reputation.
While his peers produced music exclusively
for religious functions or private events
held by their wealthy patrons,
Beethoven was one of the first
freelance composers.
He made his living
composing and selling his music
to publishers in multiple countries
and showcasing his compositions
to an adoring public.
This career choice gave him the
flexibility to compose for self-expression
and Beethoven was always pursuing new ways
to translate his powerful emotions
into music.
At the time, most composers worked
within the Classical style,
which offered limited options
for a piece’s overarching structure
and instrumentation.
Beethoven composed most
of his earlier pieces in this tradition,
following in the footsteps
of role models like Mozart and Haydn.
But with his Fifth Symphony, he
experimented with elements of Romanticism.
This blossoming mode of composition was
known for its expressive melodies,
extended forms
and surprising instrumentations.
The first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth
uses a Classical sonata form,
in which a central musical idea
is explored, developed, and repeated
in an altered manner.
Within these parameters, he explores
a simple idea with incredible depth.
A single rhythmic motif serves as the
building block for most of the movement:
three short notes,
followed by a lingering fourth.
One of Beethoven’s biographers would
later call this pattern the “fate motif,”
because it suggests
the figure of fate knocking at the door.
While it's not clear if Beethoven composed
the motif with fate in mind,
these notes certainly create
a gripping hook.
The rhythmic pattern creates
forward movement,
while the prolonged fourth note
signals doom.
This motif haunts the symphony,
including its accompanying parts
and rhythmic flourishes.
Beethoven experiments with dozens
of variations,
playing out across different
instruments and pitches.
Throughout the piece, this motif is passed
around the orchestra like a whisper,
gradually reaching more and more
instruments until it becomes a roar.
The motif’s inventive repetition
is a large part
of what makes this piece so memorable,
but it’s not the only innovation
on display.
This was the first major orchestral
composition to use trombones,
and Beethoven also employs
a high-pitched piccolo
and a low-pitched contrabassoon
to give the orchestra a wider range
than most classical compositions.
Exaggerated musical dynamics
further heighten the drama.
And harmonically, the piece has
a clear emotional arc—
beginning in a somber C minor
and ending in a triumphant C major.
This progression, from ominous unease
to majestic resolution,
is a testament to Beethoven’s ability
to inject raw emotionality into his music.
He wrote this symphony
while battling with hearing loss,
and his anguish can be heard
in the composition’s
thunderous and repeating musical phrases.
Beethoven continued to compose even
after he became completely deaf,
producing innovative music
until his death in 1827.
And the Fifth Symphony’s central motif
has continued to resound through the ages.
Outside of concert halls,
the piece has become a symbol
for suspense, revelation, and triumph.
The fate motif sounds out the letter V
in Morse code,
and during World War II,
the Fifth Symphony became a code
for victory amongst the Allies.
The iconic composition can
be found in film scores,
and it’s even been explored through
musical reinterpretations and visual art.
But whatever the context,
Beethoven’s Fifth takes its listeners
through a dark world,
then guides them into the light.
