Beethoven Fifth Symphony Essay

716 Words2 Pages

Beethoven’s fifth Symphony was a piece that was not recognized as a masterpiece until long after its original composition. One is lead to believe it was at the figurative top of the charts with how often it is used today in commercials, film climaxes and its infamous “da-da-da-DA” used to convey a feeling of imminent doom. Symphony No. 5 is comprised of a large orchestra of strings, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets and timpani. The rhythms differ by movement beginning with Allegro con brio, followed by Adante con moto, Scherzo Allegro and Allegro.
The first movement is in Allegro con brio. The motive are the four basic notes in descending sequence repeated twice. The first theme grows from the repeating motive followed by a cadence and pause. The violins beginning an ascending patter by alternating with the cellos and basses. Leading to the climax of pitch and dynamic with two chords followed by another pause. The second theme begins with …show more content…

This was in a ternary form with the main scherzo in contrast with the trio and then returning to scherzo. The opening theme is comprised of wind instruments followed by horns playing loudly. The scherzo returns with a repeat of the opening winds. The strings then take over in pizzicato and then ending with a repeat of the first movement into the fourth movement. The transition from the third into the fourth movement was said to be one of the most famous in all of classical music. The fourth movement is in sonata form with a fortissimo ending. It is a compressed version of all three previous movements. The tempo increases to presto and harshly stops with a dominant cadence. With a recap crescendo. I chose to put the third and fourth movements together because they have a lot in common and have a bridge connecting the two. They seemed to be linked together better than any of the other movements had to another. The ending was beautiful but did leave me wanting

More about Beethoven Fifth Symphony Essay

Open Document