The Beethoven Symphonies - Symphony No. 5

The 5th Symphony (C minor, Opus 67, first performed on 22.12.1808) is one of Beethoven's famous works and one of the most popular pieces of classical music. It is also known as the Symphony of Fate. The four-movement symphony is often identified with its concise opening motif, with the three striking quavers on G, followed in the same dynamic (fortissimo) by a long drawn-out E-flat. In the so-called romantic Beethoven reception, which extended into the 20th century, Beethoven's "Fifth" was interpreted in the sense of a drama of fate as a musically objectified narrative of defeat and triumph, of the eternal human struggle for destiny, of suffering and redemption. Similar to the 9th Symphony with its "Ode to Joy", according to this interpretation it deals with a fundamental idea of European culture with its per aspera ad astra, its path through night to light, from C minor to C major. Even if this interpretation is sometimes regarded as pathetic in modern times, it can in any case be stated that Beethoven's Fifth, together with the 3rd Symphony, in whose parallel key it is written, and even more so the 9th Symphony, had a decisive influence on the symphonic output of the 19th century.