Introduction
The performance of the Fifth Symphony was a great success; it was the moment of the victory of creative genius over physical weakness – Beethoven was almost completely deaf, and one of the orchestra’s soloists was forced to turn the composer to the audience so that he could see how the audience applauded him. The Fifth Symphony, which impresses with laconism of presentation, conciseness of forms, and aspiration of development, seems to be born in a single creative impulse. These symphonies have a number of features that reflect the principles of the composer’s work with various instruments.
Symphony No. 5
The first part opens with the theme of fate repeated twice by Fortissimo. The main party is immediately actively developing, rushing to the top. The same fate motif starts a side part and constantly reminds of itself in the bass of the string group. The side melody contrasting with it, melodious and tender, ends with a ringing climax: the whole orchestra repeats the fate motif in formidable unison. A visible picture of a persistent, uncompromising struggle overwhelms the development and continues in the reprise.
The composer conceived the slow second part as a minute. In the final version, the first theme resembles a song, light, strict and restrained, and the second theme — at first a variant of the first — acquires heroic features from the brass and oboe fortissimo accompanied by timpani beats. It is not by chance that, in the process of its variation, the motif of fate sounds hidden and anxious as a reminder. Beethoven’s favorite form of double variations is sustained in strictly classical principles (Eastman School of Music). Both themes are set out in increasingly smaller durations, overgrown with new melodic lines and polyphonic imitations, but always retain an evident, bright character, becoming even more majestic and solemn by the end of the part.
It is worth noticing that the anxious mood returns in the third part, and this is a very unusually interpreted scherzo. Clashes continue the struggle that began in the sonata-allegro of the first part. The first theme is a dialogue — a pensive, sad melody of violins and violas, supported by wind instruments, answers the hidden question, sounding barely audible in the deep bass of the string group. After the fermata, the French horns, and behind them, the whole orchestra fortissimo affirm the motif of fate: in such a formidable, inexorable version, it has not yet been met. For the second time, the dialogical theme sounds uncertain, splitting into separate motives without receiving completion, which makes the theme of fate, by contrast, appear even more formidable. At the third appearance of the dialogical theme, a persistent struggle ensues: the motif of fate is polyphonically connected with a thoughtful, melodious answer, trembling, pleading intonations are heard, and the climax asserts the victory of fate.
The final, which begins without a break, floods everything with dazzling light. The triumph of victory is embodied in the chords of the heroic march, enhancing the brilliance and power of which the composer introduces trombones, contrabassoon, and piccolo flute into the symphony orchestra for the first time. The music of the French Revolution era is vividly and directly reflected here — marches, processions, and mass celebrations of the victorious people (Eastman School of Music). They are united by a jubilant character, which is not violated in the development as long as fate’s motive does not invade it. The jubilant reprise confirms the victory of the people. Prolonging the scenes of mass celebration, Beethoven completes the sonata-allegro of the finale with an extensive coda.
Symphony No. 9
The Ninth Symphony sums up Beethoven’s search in the symphonic genre and, above all, in the embodiment of the heroic ideal, images of struggle and victory. In the Ninth, the composer finds the most monumental, epic, and at the same time, innovative solution to expand the philosophical possibilities of music and opens new paths for the symphonists of the XIX century (Rehding 25). The introduction of the word facilitates the perception of the composer’s most complex idea for the widest circles of listeners.
The first part is a sonata-allegro on a grand scale. The heroic theme of the central part is gradually established, being born out of a mysterious, distant, unformed hum, as if from the abyss of chaos. Like lightning flashes, brief, muted string motifs flash by, which gradually grow more substantial, gathering into a harsh energetic theme in tones of descending minor triad, with a dotted rhythm, finally proclaimed by the entire orchestra in unison. The brass group is amplified, and 4 French horns are included in the symphony orchestra for the first time (Rehding 115). However, the theme does not stay on top, it slides into the abyss, and its collection begins again. Thunderous peals of canonical tutti imitations, sharp sforzandos, and staccato chords draw a constant struggle unfolding. A ray of hope immediately flashes: in the gentle two-voice singing of the woodwinds, the motif of the future theme of joy appears for the first time.
The second part is a unique scherzo, full of an equally persistent struggle. To embody it, the composer needed a more complex construction than usual, and for the first time, the outer sections of the traditional three-part da capo form are written in sonata form – with exposition, elaboration, reprise, and coda. In addition, the theme is presented at a dizzyingly fast pace polyphonically in the form of a fugato. A single energetic sharp rhythm permeates the entire scherzo, rushing like an irresistible stream. On the crest of it, a brief side theme pops up — defiantly audacious, in the dance turns of which listeners can hear the future theme of joy. The skillful development — with polyphonic development techniques, comparisons of orchestral groups, rhythmic interruptions, modulations into distant keys, sudden pauses, and threatening timpani solos — is entirely based on the motives of the central part.
Beethoven puts the slow movement in third place for the first time in the symphony — a heartfelt, philosophically in-depth adagio. It is worth noting that two themes alternate in it — both enlightened-major, and unhurried. However, the first one — the melodious one, in the chords of strings with a peculiar echo of wind instruments — seems endless and, repeating itself three times, develops in the form of variations.
The last to appear is a new motif — woodwinds sing it, and the recitative responding to it sounds affirmative in a major, directly passing into the theme of joy. This solo of cellos and double basses is an exceptional find of the composer (Farrell). The former instrumental recitative is now entrusted to the bass soloist and becomes a vocal presentation of the theme of joy in Schiller’s poems. The chorus picks up the choir, and the theme variation continues, in which soloists, ensemble, and orchestra participate.
Conclusion
Subsequently, the Fifth became the most popular in his legacy. It concentrates on the most typical features of Beethoven’s style and most vividly and concisely embodies the main idea of his work, which is usually formulated as follows: through the struggle for victory. The Ninth and last completed symphony is recognized as the pinnacle of Beethoven’s creative genius and one of the fundamental works of the modern symphonic repertoire.
Works Cited
Eastman School of Music. “Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 (1808).” Beethoven Symphony Basics at ESM.
Farrell, Jenny. “The Revolutionary History of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.” People’s World, 2020.
Rehding, Alexander. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Oxford Keynotes). Oxford University Press, 2018.