Classical Music | Orchestral Music

Recorded on 07/01/2006, uploaded on 08/20/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

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

                "Can there be any work of Beethoven's that confirms all this to a higher degree than his indescribably profound, magnificent symphony in C minor? How this wonderful composition, in a climax that climbs on and on, leads the listener imperiously forward into the spirit world of the infinite!...No doubt the whole rushes like an ingenious rhapsody past many a man, but the soul of each thoughtful listener is assuredly stirred, deeply and intimately, by a feeling that is none other than that unutterable portentous longing, and until the final chord -- indeed, even in the moments that follow it -- he will be powerless to step out of that wondrous spirit realm where grief and joy embrace him in the form of sound. The internal structure of the movements, their execution, their instrumentation, the way in which they follow one another -- everything among the themes that engenders that unity which alone has the power to hold the listener firmly in a single mood. This relationship is sometimes clear to the listener when he overhears it in the connecting of two movements or discovers it in the fundamental bass they have in common; a deeper relationship which does not reveal itself in this way speaks at other times only from mind to mind, and it is precisely this relationship that imperiously proclaims the self-possession of the master's genius."

                E.T.A Hoffman wrote this about Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in C minor. Of all Beethoven's symphonies, and perhaps all symphonies ever written, is the most widely known to the point of being "the symphony in C minor." It was also the composition that made Beethoven known to the general public and spread his name beyond Vienna and Austria.

According to Sir George Grove, it was the C minor Symphony that ushered in the Romantic movement. Several of Beethoven's earlier pieces, such as the Eroica and Fourth Symphonies and the "Leonora" Overture, possessed in part that impassioned spirit of the later 19^th century. However, it was the Fifth Symphony that was the first to be utterly consumed by that Romantic fire. It is true that the Fifth stands as much apart from the previous four as the Eroica does from the first two. What the First to Fourth Symphonies only hint at, the Fifth puts on full display.

Most memorable is the symphony's opening motive-three shorts notes by a long one a third below. It's been reused countless times and not just in classical music but all throughout pop culture as well. This motive forms the source of the entire piece, recurring in different guises in each movement.  It is offset beautifully by the lyrical second subject of the first movement. Yet, the motive is unrelenting and appears underneath the melody as an accompaniment. The second movement is a set of variations in the key of A-flat major, although unusual in several aspects of form. Beethoven once described A-flat major as the "blackest" of keys. However, it is difficult to understand Beethoven's description in the face of such a beautiful music. The motive returns to the fore, declared fortissimo by the horns, in the following scherzo. The scherzo is mysterious and evokes a feeling of the supernatural. The Trio, however, is nearly the scherzo's exact opposite, abandoning the shadowy tones of the opening for the brilliance of C major and vigor of a fugato. The scherzo returns, greatly altered, and serves as the transition to the finale. The finale bursts in with a triumphal march-the resolution of all the conflict that has taken place in the previous movements. The scherzo briefly returns later in the movement, perhaps as a reminder to the previous struggles. The march returns and it is exuberant, joyful triumph through to the end.        Joseph DuBose

Courtesy of The International Festival-Institute at Round Top

Located in historic Round Top, Texas, The James Dick Foundation for the Performing Arts and its sole project, The International Festival-Institute at Round Top, were founded in 1971 by world-renowned concert pianist James Dick. Begun with a handful of gifted young pianists in rented space on the town square, the project is now an internationally acclaimed European-styled music institute for aspiring young musicians and distinguished faculty. Over a thirty eight year period and with the help of its patrons and friends, The James Dick Foundation for the Performing Arts has developed superb year round education and performance programs.