Re: Beethoven's 5th Symphony
From: Michael (mschaffer_at_gmx.net)
Date: 02/05/05
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Date: 5 Feb 2005 15:54:32 -0800
Actually I think "understanding" and appreciating the 6th is crucial to
"understanding" the 5th. I find it very telling that LvB wrote both of
them at the same time, and originally, the numbering was reversed, if I
remember correctly, still at the time of the first performances and
only put in the order known today later.
Why did he change the numbering?
Maybe it was simply for practical considerations, maybe for no reason
at all.
Maybe LvB saw the 2 symphonies as one larger structure and wanted the
6th to be played after the 5th. There is some justification in doing
so, even though it is very rarely done when the 2 symphonies are played
next to each other. The 5th is so much more applause-driving, it always
gets placed last.
Without wanting to read too much into the music, it is clear that the
5th is a "story" of great conflict and final resolution and triumph
after a long and intensive struggle. The 6th is a vision of harmony,
only briefly interrupted, and if you follow the music attentively and
openly, you will find that the finale of the 6th is maybe even more
exciting than that of the 5th, because it carries you away on wave
after wave of exhilaration.
When you get scores of both pieces, you will easily be able to see that
in the first movement of the 5th, the classical principle of building
up phrases across even numbers of bars (e.g. 4,8) is almost constantly
interrupted. In the development section (after the repeat), the music
is pulled apart by conflicting motifs and interjections. Even the very
lyrical 2nd theme (after the horn call) which goes in phrases of 4
bars, is constantly "bothered" by the hammering main motif.
It might be interesting for you to know that the 2nd movement's long
main theme is actually based on a popular Viennese street song, the
kind that was sung by travelling singers with hand-cranked organs (I
don't know the correct English term). The text roughly ran something
like "I have no money and nothing in the world, I am eternally floating
around looking for a little piece of luck and happiness".
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