Topic > An account of Ludwig Van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

Symphony No. 5 in C minor was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. He was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven one of the most famous and influential composers. His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass, the Missa solennis, and an opera, Fidelio. He was born in Bonn. Beethoven showed his musical talent at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and the composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn and earned a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna until his death. In his twenties his hearing began to deteriorate and by the last decade of his life he was almost completely deaf. In 1811 he stopped conducting and performing in public but continued to compose. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Fifth Symphony had a long development process, as Beethoven worked out the musical ideas for the work. The first "sketches" date back to 1804 after the completion of the Third Symphony. However, Beethoven repeatedly interrupted his work on the Fifth to prepare other compositions, including the first version of Fidelio, the Appassionata piano sonata, the three Razumovsky string quartets, the Violin Concerto, the Fourth Piano Concerto, the Fourth Symphony and the Mass in C. The final preparation of the Fifth Symphony, which took place in 1807-1808, was performed in parallel with the Sixth Symphony, which was presented for the first time in the same concert. Beethoven was in his mid-thirties at this time. His personal life was troubled by increasing deafness. In the world at large, the period was marked by the Napoleonic Wars, political unrest in Austria, and the occupation of Vienna by Napoleon's troops in 1805. The symphony was written in his lodgings at the Casa Pasqualati in Vienna. The final movement quotes a revolutionary song by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle. The Fifth Symphony was first performed on 22 December 1808 in a gigantic concert at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, composed entirely of Beethoven premieres and conducted by Beethoven himself from the conductor's podium. The concert lasted more than four hours. The two symphonies appeared in the program in reverse order: the Sixth was played first and the Fifth in the second half. Beethoven dedicated the Fifth Symphony to two of his patrons, Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz and Count Razumovsky. The dedication appeared in the first printed edition of April 1809. The symphony consists of four movements. The first movement is Allegro con brio, this movement opens with the four-note motif which is one of the most famous motifs in Western music. There is considerable debate among conductors regarding how to play the opening four bars. The next movement is the second movement which he calls Andante con moto. Is this movement in A? major, the subdominant key of the relative key of C minor, is an opera in the form of a double variation, which means that two themes are presented and varied in alternation. After the variations there is a long queue. The third movement is a Scherzo Allegro, composed of a joke and a trio. It follows the traditional mold of Classical-era symphonic third movements, sequentially containing the main Scherzo, a contrasting trio section, a Scherzo return, and a coda. The fourth movement is Allegro. This movement begins without pause from the transition. The music resonates in C major, an unusual choice on the composer's part since a.