# A famous work...



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The radio is playing Beethoven’s 5th, Reiner. Is there any point at all to saying how astonishing this work is?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Possibly. But if you try to, a certain member will swoop in with half a dozen YouTube clips of Mozart's counterpoint and complain about the Beethoven cult.


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## Littlephrase (Nov 28, 2018)

Just a few weeks ago I was obsessed with this symphony. 

It always happens that I neglect Beethoven’s symphonies for prolonged stretches of time, in the hopes of eluding the disenchantment that attends the over-exposure to a thing, no matter how great it is. However, one cannot escape the 5th symphony. Somewhat miraculously, I’ve yet to weary of the angst in the first movement or become cynical to the C Major triumph of the finale. It still resounds as powerful as ever.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Woodduck said:


> Possibly. But if you try to, a certain member will swoop in with half a dozen YouTube clips of Mozart's counterpoint and complain about the Beethoven cult.


I don't think anyone will do that, not even Hammerklavier.


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

KenOC said:


> The radio is playing Beethoven's 5th, Reiner. Is there any point at all to saying how astonishing this work is?


Yes. My go-to is Kleiber/VPO, unleashes the fresh energy of the 5th like no other.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

KenOC said:


> The radio is playing Beethoven's 5th, Reiner. Is there any point at all to saying how astonishing this work is?


It's a bit like describing Mount Everest as "quite high"......:angel:


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

I listened to Klemperer's Beethoven 5th yesterday, 1959 Philharmonia. While it was indeed WAY TOO SLOW for my tastes, he managed to bring something new out of it that I hadn't heard before. Indeed a famous piece, but totally worthy. The only reason I don't count it as a favorite Beethoven symphony is due to over-familiarity (indeed, this is why I don't listen to any of his symphonies very much outside of 1, 2, 4, and 8, and even those sparingly).


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Woodduck said:


> Possibly. But if you try to, a certain member will swoop in with half a dozen YouTube clips of Mozart's counterpoint and complain about the Beethoven cult.


I wasn't even thinking of doing such a thing since this is one of Beethoven works that I also seriously admire, 
but when I read your comment, it gave me strong urge to troll.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

I’ve heard the 5th so many times. Long periods will occur without hearing it and then when I finally do, I’m reminded of what a magnificent work it is. And then he went and composed the 6th, a completely different, but equally magnificent work.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

KenOC said:


> The radio is playing Beethoven's 5th, Reiner. Is there any point at all to saying how astonishing this work is?


Beethoven 5 is a great work..I've played it more often than any other symphony, but I still love it...always a fun challenge...
Reiner's is a great recording also...white hot intensity throughout....the cosmic C major explosion at the Finale still wipes me out every time..


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

There's always plenty to say about this marvelous work, the main that it never becomes boring or tedious. In virtually any accounting or listing of "greatest" classical music works Beethoven's 5th is normally among the top 5 pieces listed. Even the worst recordings of it sell well. 

Herbert Russcol, in his 1968 book "Guide To Low-Priced Classical Recordings," said this: "If anyone shrugs at the Fifth it is only because of overexposure. However (I) just emerged from many hours of living with an assortment of many recordings (he reviewed 14 in his book) and can faithfully report (I) found (it) utterly moving and sublime."

I think what makes it evergreen is its compactness, its thematic unity, and the essence of Beethoven -- its heroism. The only piece I can compare it to in classical music is the Vaughan Williams 4th symphony which, to me, is the Beethoven 5th of the 20th century.


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2019)

A great work that resists overexposure. I think my favorite part is the scherzo. My favorite recordings are Karajan '77, Immerseel, Harnoncourt CMW.


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## Botschaft (Aug 4, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> Possibly. But if you try to, a certain member will swoop in with half a dozen YouTube clips of Mozart's counterpoint and complain about the Beethoven cult.


In all seriousness, though: the finale of Mozart's Prague symphony tends to remind me of the opening movement of this one. A possible influence?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Recordings: In a receptive mood, Gardiner's performance of the 1st movement is terrifying, the more so as it progresses.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Possibly. But if you try to, a certain member will swoop in with half a dozen YouTube clips of Mozart's counterpoint and complain about the Beethoven cult.


What!? There's a Beethoven cult?

How do I join? (Is this the cult that gives its members their own free baton? I hope so.)


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

flamencosketches said:


> I listened to Klemperer's Beethoven 5th yesterday, 1959 Philharmonia. While it was indeed WAY TOO SLOW for my tastes, he managed to bring something new out of it that I hadn't heard before.


You've spurred me to dig that one out again. Thanks!


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

larold said:


> There's always plenty to say about this marvelous work.


Personally, this piece taught me how to overcome temptation/fear: get away from yourself and your dark thoughts and get into community, into someplace self-affirming.

The symphony starts out with a struggle, but in the second movement, he leaves the struggle by making a small move - the chord C Eb G moves up a half step to C Eb _Ab_, and that small step puts him in the major key, and the light breaks through. After that, the thing feared becomes a weak skeleton of itself until the C major breakthrough occurs.

That may be subjective, but it works for me, and that is what art is all about.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Waldesnacht said:


> In all seriousness, though: the finale of Mozart's Prague symphony tends to remind me of the opening movement of this one. A possible influence?


They seem worlds apart to me. As in many of his finales, Mozart evokes opera buffa.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Woodduck said:


> They seem worlds apart to me. As in many of his finales, Mozart evokes opera buffa.


I too was surprised at the comparison.

Mozart has composed similar finales - for example, the finale to the haffner symphony, and the Linz - fast, punchy and high spirited music but far from the all conquering triumph of Beethoven's finale.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

I had the 5th and 6th on a DG tape (probably Karajan's 1970s performances) - probably my first serious purchase of classical music - 30 years ago. I probably listened to nothing else for several months. Im not sure why I did not start exploring other Beethoven - as I was new to it all - maybe I felt those 2 symphonies were all I needed.

It is odd - with that Beethoven start - that it was Mozart that really made me start to explore.

Still - I would say that these works, most of the Beethoven symphonies (3,5,6,7,9) belong to that elite class of works that ought to stop anyone in their tracks and be struck with awe.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

stomanek said:


> I would say that these works, most of the Beethoven symphonies (3,5,6,7,9) belong to that elite class of works that ought to stop anyone in their tracks and be struck with awe.


Whenever I played these great symphonies, I always tried to get my mindset that this was the first time they had ever been played, that the audience had never heard them before....it allows you to approach it with a freshness, a "first time thru", new discovery mentality


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

_"It will be generally admitted that Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the ear of man."_

E.M. Forster, 'Howard's End'.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

One of those war horses that I loved three decades ago, and still listen to with enormous pleasure. I still like the 6th even better, but this is an essential symphony for me.


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