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Symphony No. 5 in C minor,
Op.
67
is a
symphony
by
Ludwig van Beethoven
. It is the fifth of his nine symphonies. It was written between 1804 and 1808. This symphony is one of the most popular and well-known works of
classical music
.
There are four
movements
: an opening
sonata allegro
, a slower
andante
, and a fast
scherzo
which leads straight in to the
finale
.
The symphony was first performed in
Vienna
's
Theater an der Wien
in 1808. His
Sixth Symphony
was also performed for the first time at the same concert. The Fifth Symphony soon became recognized as one of the most important musical works.
The symphony begins with a four-note "short-short-short-long"
motif
which is heard twice (slightly lower the second time):
(
listen
(
help
·
info
)
)
The opening of the symphony is so famous that it has often been quoted. Other composers have used it in their compositions, e.g.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
in his
song
Fate
. It has often been used in
popular culture
, from
disco
to
rock and roll
, and in
film
and
television
. During
World War II
, the
BBC
used the four-note motif to introduce its radio news broadcasts because "short-short-short-long" spells the letter "V" in
Morse code
. The "V" meant "Victory". It was played very quietly on a
drum
.
The third movement of the symphony uses this rhythm sometimes as an accompaniment.
When Beethoven wrote this symphony he was in his mid-thirties. He was becoming more and more
deaf
. He found this terribly hard to bear. He thought that he, of all people, should have perfect hearing. He felt very
depressed
, but he decided not to commit
suicide
, but to stay alive and write down all the music he had in his head. He wrote about this in a letter called the
Heiligenstadt Testament
.
The opening of the Fifth Symphony sounds very bold and heroic. The whole symphony sounds like a struggle which starts from those four notes. People have often said that those four notes represent
fate
knocking at the door. By the time we get to the last movement (the finale) the music has become
major
instead of minor. It sounds as if Beethoven has overcome his depression.
The fourth movement of this symphony is one of the first times a
trombone
or a
piccolo
is used in a symphony.