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Listening guide for the 2011 WCFSO Youth Concerts

Ludwig van Beethoven [1770-1827] is a towering presence in the history of western music, a fact which needs no further validation than these four notes:

Perhaps the most famous musical motif of all time, this stark and foreboding opening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony begins a journey through one of the most inventive and intense works in the entire repertoire. This year’s WCFSO Youth Concerts will take a unique in-depth look at a piece that was nearly sabotaged at its premiere by its own novelty and difficulty but grew in stature over time to become a paradigm of its genre and one of the most widely known pieces of music. In addition to learning about the musical substance of Beethoven’s Fifth, students will be introduced to broader ideas connected to the composer’s work, including his place in the development of the symphonic tradition, the concept of artistic inspiration, and the world of Vienna during the transition between the classical and romantic periods.

The Orchestra
The orchestra that students will see and hear in April reflects the enlargement and standardization of the 18th-century ensemble familiar to Mozart and Haydn. During Beethoven’s lifetime the orchestra began a process of greater formalization, growing in size and gaining greater consistency of instrumentation. By the time of his Fifth Symphony the Mozartian orchestra of double winds and occasional trumpets and timpani had evolved to include all of those instruments plus piccolo, contrabassoon and trombones. Classroom exercises could involve listening for various instrumental techniques Beethoven used, including massing of homogenous instruments [as in the famous first theme and other passages below from the first, third and fourth movements] and contrasting use of strings and winds [as in Track 2 below].

The Symphonic Tradition
The symphony as a musical form had just reached its maturity when Beethoven first tried his hand at the genre in the mid-1790s. Composers like Mozart and the Haydn brothers had each developed highly individual symphonic styles during this period, and Beethoven himself experimented with several different modes and approaches in his early symphonies. The Fifth Symphony shows how much control he had acquired over the principles of symphonic design, particularly in his mastering of large-scale structure and his skill with motivic development. Students should learn about the typical four movement symphonic layout that became standard when Beethoven was a young man, as well as the characteristics of each individual movement as generally observed and, in the case of Beethoven, altered and expanded.

Vienna at the turn of the 19th century
Vienna was a busy musical capital when the aspiring Beethoven arrived there in 1792. Mozart, Salieri, Haydn and Martín y Soler had dominated the court scene in preceding decades, and musical literacy was particularly high among the ruling and moneyed classes. But in the wake of revolutionary events in France and America the dynamics of aristocracy and patronage had begun to shift, affecting musical life in particular. As a result Beethoven’s success in Vienna came in a more independent manner, initially as a performing pianist and later through concerts of his own works [but never primarily as an employee of a single patron]. Possible topics for introducing Vienna to students include the influences exerted by various composers on one another, the connection between classical music and political or religious institutions, and the extent to which the development of democratic society affected the arts and artists.

Beethoven and inspiration
Beethoven’s working methods offer unique insight into the creative process. He filled notebooks with fragmentary ideas and musical sketches, a practice that has often been contrasted with that of Mozart. Furthermore, a mid-life onset of deafness greatly affected the composer’s creative output. In the nearly two centuries that have elapsed since Beethoven’s death questions surrounding both his working methods and his hearing loss have shaped perceptions of his music and his aesthetic outlook. These and other elements of the composer’s creative biography – such as his interest in nature and the outdoors – provide students with a wonderful example of genius expressed through struggle, work and inspiration.

The Fifth Symphony

First movement
The opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is as striking as it is famous. The four note motive – played by the entire orchestra in unison – is presented twice, out of time. The starkness of this unmeasured unison is immediately contrasted by a layered unfolding of the motive, which almost immediately leads back to another unison outburst. [Track 1 – First movement theme]

After an increasingly tense build up to yet another unison – this time the horns play it in major – Beethoven presents a radically contrasting section of instrumental dialogue between the winds and strings. [Track 2 – First movement, second theme]

The alternation of the two main themes and an ever-increasing sense of tension form the substance of what is otherwise a fairly traditional [albeit superbly crafted] movement in terms of structure. [Track 3 – Allegro con brio]

Second movement
Beethoven’s gift for melody is most readily apparent in his slow movements, and the Andante of the Fifth Symphony is no exception. It begins with a beautiful song-like refrain in the violas and cellos. [Track 4 – Second movement opening]

This melismatic theme gives way to a fanfare, in which Beethoven highlights a full complement of brass instruments. [Track 5 – Second movement fanfare]

The movement is defined by the contrast between these two elements as well as Beethoven’s subtly diverse approach to instrumentation and his application of variation technique. [Track 6 – Andante con moto]

Third movement
After a brooding opening line in the low strings, an abrupt horn call erupts. Its four note rhythm and extreme dynamic recall the opening of the first movement. [Track 7 – Third movement horn call]

Later in the movement the horn call returns transformed. Beethoven’s use of pizzicato in the strings to accompany solo wind instruments playing softly in turn creates a forlorn, distant quality. [Track 8 – Third movement horn call transformed]

The movement’s darker-toned outer sections surround a joyous interlude, whose earthiness and energy seem to spring from Beethoven’s love of the outdoors and folk culture. [Track 9 – Scherzo: Allegro]

Fourth movement
The subdued mood of the third movement offers one last surprising contrast, this time with a massive outburst of C major tonality in the last movement. [Track 10 – Fourth movement ending]

The finale of the Fifth Symphony is Beethoven at his most exuberant. He taps into an unprecedented orchestral energy to lay out a triumphant resolution to this wide-ranging and tension-filled symphony. [Track 11 – Allegro]