As we have seen, Beethoven interrupted work on a symphony in C minor to
write his Fourth Symphony. That done, he returned to the C minor
Symphony, finishing it late in 1807 or early in 1808. Both this Fifth
Symphony and its successor, the Sixth, were brought out in Vienna at the
same concert on December 22, 1808. The Fifth Symphony has turned out to
be the most unreservedly admired, the most generally beloved, and the
most frequently performed of all Beethoven’s nine, in fact, of all
symphonies. It is the drama in tone of man’s victorious struggle with
destiny and it was largely composed at Heiligenstadt, Beethoven’s own
spiritual battlefield. In 1801 Beethoven had made himself this promise:
“I will take Fate by the throat; it shall not wholly overcome me.” The C
minor Symphony opens with an intensely dramatic figure of four notes
which Beethoven explains as “Fate knocking at the door”:
[Illustration: play music]
This rhythmic group not only dominates the concise first movement, but
appears in every succeeding movement. The second movement (“Andante con
moto” in A-flat major) consists of a graceful, flowing set of variations
on a brave and lovely theme:
[Illustration: play music]
The uncanny Scherzo (Allegro in C minor), introduced merely by the
common chord of C minor in arpeggio, is the musical embodiment of the
terror that walketh by night. Berlioz said of the opening, “It is as
fascinating as the gaze of a mesmerizer.” An extraordinary bridge
passage, a supreme example of musical suspense, leads from the nightmare
of the Scherzo finally in a breathtaking crescendo to the triumphant
proclamation of the C major Finale. The effect produced by this symphony
on a contemporary composer is indicated in the frenetic outburst of the
veteran composer Lesueur to the youthful Berlioz: “Ouf! Let me get out;
I must have air. It is unbelievable! Marvellous! It has so upset and
bewildered me that when I wanted to put on my hat, _I could not find my
head_!”