The Secret of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony





























‘Nous jurons tour, le fer en main’


Drawing of the Pantheon in Paris

Drawing of the Pantheon in Paris

Article in Gramophone magazine by John Eliot Gardiner on this subject.














6 thoughts on “The Secret of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

  1. Many people describe those four notes as fate knocking on Beethoven’s door, his deafness was steadily advancing as he composed it. In 1802 he was already thinking about suicide, but this symphony was premiered in 1808, he obviously didn’t compose it while depressed (nobody can anyway). Nevertheless, I think his learning process about his despair and how he overcame is encoded in this symphony.

    Beethoven 5th
    First movement. Allegro con brio.

    My own interpretation:

    Personally, those famous four notes repeated all through the movement -and hidden in some segments of the rest of the symphony- are nothing but your worst fear stuck in your mind. The kind of fear that lurks inside and that only you can stop and own.

    The first movement to me is a story of how: 1) fear lurks and chases you, 2) how you first try to escape or look the other way with no results, 3) how you finally decide to fight it back, and 4) your struggle to look at the monster into the eyes and vanish its power over you; when you purposefully decide to put an end to the nightmare.

    Breaking it down:

    1) Exposition (2 times) [0:00-2:56] (Show the main themes. The second theme happens at 0:51 beautifully introduced by the french horns)
    2) Development [2:58-4:51] (Work and play around with the material of the exposition. The development section ends to me with the Oboe solo, the cadenza)
    3) Recapitulation [4:51-5:54] (Repeat the themes, but in a slightly different way. In 5:11 the second theme is not played by the french horns anymore, but by the bassoons. It is kind of a change of perception).
    4) Coda [5:54 onwards]

    Emotionally (for me of course):
    1) How fear scares you and you first run or look away
    2) How you keep running, but it is pointless ’cause you cannot hide. The cadenza for the oboe feels like hitting bottom to me. It is like being in the eye of the storm.
    3) How you come back from hitting the bottom. You cannot go lower, so you have to fight back. You are transformed.
    4) Struggle with fear (kind of a Ultimate Fighting bloody round) and end of the nightmare.

    In the recapitulation the mood changes, the repetitions are there but instrumentation is a little different. I could go into more detail about each section, but this is a nice overview of the first movement. A friend told me once that she didn’t like it because it sounded scary to her.

    The whole symphony truly feels like a transition from darkness to light. The finale of the symphony is grandiose and full of the optimism of a hero. I just love it!!! It is an amazing piece of art!


    • That was beautifully summed up Leonardo! I agree with you, we are in the eye of Beethoven’s storm, and also our own. What we resist persists, in life as in this music. Thank you for the detail you have taken the trouble to share, it has enriched the content immeasurably! Here’s to being heroic! Ginny 🙂


  2. Pingback: The Transformation of Pain Helps us see Value in Suffering | in words

  3. Pingback: The Most Exhilarating Music Concert I’ve Ever Seen | in words

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