Beethoven's Fifth: Four Notes
Three short notes and one long one: four notes that carry a whole symphony. Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, first performed in Vienna in 1808, opens with G G G E♭, then the same idea one step lower, F F F D. Take the motif apart (one rhythm, short-short-short-long, that comes back in all four movements in some form; two falling thirds that outline C minor), separate the "fate knocking at the door" legend from the facts, and hear how a motif grows, with demonstrations of our own: repeat, sequence, change the interval, the rhythm alone, and the motif in major, before the journey from C minor to a triumphant C major finale. Then develop a motif of your own. The first lesson of Inside the Classics 3.
In this lesson you'll
- Know the opening of Beethoven's Fifth (Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, Vienna 1808): G G G E♭, then F F F D, one step lower — a motif of four notes and one rhythm, short-short-short-long, which returns in all four movements in some form.
- Explain why it works: G falls a major third to E♭ (4 half steps), F falls a minor third to D (3 half steps), and the two thirds outline C minor (lesson 12); know that "fate knocking at the door" is a legend from Anton Schindler that many historians doubt, and that the symphony travels from C minor to a triumphant C major finale.
- Develop a motif with five tools — repeat, sequence (the same shape a step lower), change the interval, the rhythm alone on one note, turn it major (E♭ → E) — and apply them to a four-note motif of your own (D D D F → C C C E♭ → C C C E); recognise by ear the motif's rhythm, a falling major or minor third, and C minor or C major.
Music in this lesson
- Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67Ludwig van Beethoven · first performed in Vienna, 1808 (public domain: opening motif played)
Remember
A motif is a few notes with one rhythm: Beethoven's Fifth opens with G G G E♭ and F F F D, short-short-short-long, and that rhythm comes back in all four movements in some form.
Its two falling thirds, G to E♭ (a major third, 4 half steps) and F to D (a minor third, 3 half steps), outline the world of C minor; the symphony travels from C minor to a triumphant C major finale, darkness to light.
Four notes can carry a whole symphony if you develop them: repeat, sequence a step lower, stretch the interval, strip it to its rhythm, or turn it major — like theme and variations (lesson 71) built from a tiny cell, and like a leitmotif (lesson 76) it keeps returning.