Parker Brohl! !

Music 1010!
Professor Tyler Oliphant!
May 6, 2015!

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Listening Guide: Ludwig Van Beethoven!

Symphony No.5 in C Minor!

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I chose the Symphony No. 5 in C Minor for my listening guide. Since with all four
movements it is more than 15 minutes I will evaluate just the first and third movements. The
reason I chose this song is because I have always loved this song, but I never knew what it was
called till I read about it during this class. Now I wanted to really study it and see what I can hear
through these movements. !

First Theme!
0:00 The famous opening Motif is played by the strings and clarinets. Throughout the first
movement he plays the same note sequence like short short short LONG.!

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0:14 Crescendo and loud chords lead to a high note by the strings!
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0:18 Transition!
Opening motif played once by the whole orchestra. Strings gradually ascend, with a sudden
stop.!

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0:43 Everyone stops playing then there is a horn call motif!
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0:46 The Second Them begins. A gentle soft melody is played.!
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1:05 Crescendo leads to a different melody by the violins.!
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1:15 Woodwinds and horns rapidly descend, to a rhythm of the basic motif.!
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1:25 The whole first and second theme are repeated.!
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2:50 Opening motif by the horns. Then echoed by the strings, then the woodwinds come in for
another gradual ascent and crescendo.!

3:25 Another horn-call motif by the violins. The woodwinds and brass play some high cords.
There is a sudden decrease in volume, with a sudden horn call with the full orchestra. The
opening motif is played multiple times.!

4:08 First theme again, opening motif in tonic with full orchestra. Slow melody with the oboe,
interrupts the music with another slow melody. To begin my favorite part of the whole movement.!

4:39 Opening motif again with the strings and a gradual crescendo to the full orchestra, sudden
stop once more with another horn call!

5:02 Second theme, gentle melody played alternating with the violins and the flutes. A string
theme that is played two times then the woodwinds and horns descend.!

5:52 Forceful cords with pauses and then a horn call motif with the bassoons and the violins
playing the melody.!

6:17 A new theme in the strings comes that is alternating between the woodwinds in ascending
at four note increments. Full orchestra builds for the finale, and the opening motif.!

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I really love the power and excitement of that opening movement, especially right around
the time 4:30 where right before it gets almost quiet and the quick short short short long by the
full orchestra. That is such a climax in the piece that I really enjoy. Now on to the third
movement.!
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Some of the things that tie this piece to the first is the same short short short LONG
notes and that same horn call that is played throughout the first piece. These two things make it
just like the first but with a few twists. It is a beautiful.!

0:00 Short unison melody of the cellos and the basses. Strings and woodwinds end the phrase,
then then repeat.!

0:19 Sudden horns start a powerful short short short long phrase along with the woodwinds and
strings.!

0:37 The first melody is played again by the cellos and basses then the strings and woodwinds
join in. The melody then intensifies.!

0:57 They repeat the melody in tonic form that is played by the full orchestra. Volume
decreases.!

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1:29 A graceful theme from the violins with some offbeat chords by the woodwinds.!
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1:41 It then concludes the first scherzo by playing the short short short long rhythm.!
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1:47 A melody played by the cellos and basses.!
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2:01 There is a repeat by the melody by the cellos and basses.!
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2:16 There is then a part where the it feels like there are false starts for a few times. Then there
is a syncopated melody in the woodwinds. The orchestra builds.!

2:42 The music dwindles down from the woodwinds to a pizzicato melody but the cellos and
basses.!

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3:11 The original melody returns. They repeat the melody with the bassons and pizzicato cellos.!
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3:30 A powerful horn melody is played. Both themes are combined, as it descends to a lower
volume. The theme returns. Playing the short short short long rhythm, beginning the transition to
the last passage.!

4:17 A low spring tone accompanies repeated notes by the timpani. !

4:27 The melody rises in pitch, with a fast crescendo, leading into the fourth movement without
a break.!

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Parker Brohl!
Music 1010!
Professor Tyler Oliphant!
May 6, 2015!

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Ludwig Van Beethovens Symphony No. 5!

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Symphony No.5 in C Minor by Beethoven was not an immediate success at the time. But
later in the 19th century people began to analyze his music and see that the way his music was
written said so much about the struggles he faced and the way he composed his music. !
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Beethovens fifth symphony was not written at just one time, he began to write this piece
in 1804 when he was gaining his reputation not only as virtuoso pianist, but a composer as well.
He began this symphony, but was interrupted by the many productions he was working on like
his opera, Fidelio. This time is what they call the heroic period of Ludwigs life. Where he
composed so much of his work within just 10 years. On December 6, 1808 Beethoven
composed many of his amazing works in the Vienna Theater. According to records the night
didn't go well due some inadequate musicians that barely kept up during his other pieces, but
when Symphony No. 5 came around it went very well. !
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After December 6 the symphony was not the most popular song. The symphony
dedicated to the Napoleon Bonaparte Eroica took the number one spot for many years. It
wasn't until the 19th century that his fifth symphony began to spark a lot of interest, when many
historians began to study the life of Beethoven and realized that so much of who he was was in
this piece of music. Hector Berlioz says it perfect about the Fifth,it emanates directly and solely
from the genius of Beethoven. It is his own intimate thought that is developed; and his secret
sorrows, his pent-up rage, his dreams so full of melancholy oppression, his nocturnal visions
and his bursts of enthusiasm furnish its entire subject, while the melodic, harmonic, rhythmic,
and orchestral forms are there delineated with essential novelty and individuality, endowing
them also with considerable power and nobility (Philadelphia). !
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In this masterpiece as well you can fully see the genius in his work. From the famous
opening motif with notes playing short-short-short-Long and a full orchestra with such power
and intensity. Not only are those notes incredibly impactful but they are woven throughout all of
the movements. !
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Beethoven composed some of the most incredible masterpieces in the history of music,
and to say that during some of his greatest ones he was unable to hear them. But you could say
that he didn't need to hear them from someone else, he had beautiful notes playing in his head.
And Symphony No. 5 was a product of one of the greatest ten years in music history.!

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Parker Brohl!
Music 1010!
May 6, 2015!
Professor Tyler Oliphant!

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Ludwig Van Beethoven Biography!

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Ludwig Van Beethoven who is now known as one of the greatest composers of
all time was an innovator to classical music, changing the structure of music forever.
Throughout his life he would go on to show how incredibly talented he was by bringing
to the world famous compositions, while suffering with the pain of being deaf.!
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A mediocre singer Johann Van Beethoven and Maria Magdalen Van Beethoven
gave birth to Ludwig Van Beethoven on December 16, 1770 in Bonn Germany. Four
years later Ludwig was given a younger brother named Casper and two years later
another named Johann. Their grandfather who was Bonns most prominent and eminent
musician, would become young ludwigs pride and inspiration. Around 1775 his father
taught him the piano using brutal and rigorous methods. Ludwig would find himself in
the cellar without food or water for hours due to a mistake or hesitation made. Whether
it be in spite of his father or because of, Beethoven was very talented and that lead to a
man revolutionizing classical music.!
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At ten years old Ludwig ended up quitting school to study music full time with a
man named Christian Gottlob Neefe. During his study with Neefe he had the opportunity
to be introduced to the famous Johann Sebastian Bach. It was also an exciting time for
Beethoven as he published his first composition of some Piano Variations. A few years
later his alcoholic father began to loose his voice and could not support the family. Due
to his fathers problem Ludwig then requested a position as an Assistant Court Organist,
where he was accepted and earned a decent salary that was able to help and support
his family. After only three or so years the court sent him to Vienna to continue his study
of music. While attending he met Mozart who had these prophetic words to say, keep
your eyes on him; some day he will give the world something to talk about. After only a
short time in Vienna Beethovens mother Maria had become ill, so he returned back to
Bonn to take the roll again as the most talented musician. !
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In 1792 the French Revolution was approaching the small area of Bonn and
Ludwig decided it was time to return to Vienna to continue his dream. In Vienna he was
able to learn and work with some of the greatest of all time like Joseph Haydn, Antonio
Salieri, and Johann Albrechtsberger. He was on his way to being great with his
reputation as a virtuoso pianist, whose improvisation was setting him apart from the
rest.!
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In 1794 Beethoven made his debut in Vienna, there is great debate on what was
played that evening, but most believe it was what they call the first piano concerto in C
Major. Shortly after, he published what is called the piano trio, Opus 1. This publication
proved to be quite the success financially and in popularity. A few years later at the
beginning of the century he debuted his first symphony called symphony No.1 in C
Major at the Royal Imperial Theater in Vienna. This symphony is what was said to have

established him as a composer and not just a virtuoso pianist, but this was not his
favorite composition he stated, In those days, I didnt know how to compose.!
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A year later Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor of France. Beethoven
admired him and considered him to have superhuman capabilities seeing that he was
only a year older than him. So in 1804 he debuted Symphony No.3 in Napoleons honor.
This piece was later renamed to what is known as the Eroica Symphony. A reviewer of
the piece said, one of the most original, most sublime, and most profound products that
the entire genre of music has ever exhibited."!
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Around the time of some of his great works, Beethoven began to realize that he
was unable to hear the high tones in his music, and as the years go on it would
significantly grow worse. He said in a letter to a close friend Franz Wegeler, "I must
confess that I lead a miserable life. For almost two years I have ceased to attend any
social functions, just because I find it impossible to say to people: I am deaf. If I had any
other profession, I might be able to cope with my infirmity; but in my profession it is a
terrible handicap." He was suffering terribly especially since music was his life. This is
one of the things that shaped Beethoven and who he was. His rough childhood with his
father, never being married or having children, and now going deaf, caused him to be
short tempered, lonely, greedy, and miserable. If you look into his music you can see
that the way he wrote it was apart of who he was and his grievances and trials in life
drove the passion and success as a composer.!
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Over the next ten years of his life he will go on a composing spree called the
heroic period of his life creating an opera, six symphonies, 4 solo concerti, 5 string
quartets, 6 string sonatas, 7 piano sonatas, 5 sets of piano variations, 4 overtures, and
4 trios. This is an unrivaled period by any composer in history. His most historic pieces
being symphonies 3-8, Moonlight Sonata, the Kreutzer a violin sonata and Fidelio, his
only opera. He was able to compose all of these great pieces with almost the complete
lose of hearing, which shows how incredibly talented Ludwig truly was.!
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In his final years of life Beethoven composed his greatest piece, and also a piece
that is probably the most famous in history, Ode to Joy. This composition was sung by
four vocal soloists and a chorus to Friedrich Schillers poem. This was his final piece.
Ludwig Van Beethoven died on March 26, 1827. An autopsy report showed that his
cause of death was post-hepatitic cirrhosis of the liver. But there are others that say he
had typhus or that traces of lead were found in his skull, but those are unvalidated.!
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Beethoven is widely known as the greatest composer of all time, and knowing
that in his final years of his greatness, he never heard a single note or applaud of his
beautiful compositions. He left his mark on this world, maybe not through the things he
said but through his music, he changed the way it was heard and played forever.!

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Ludwig van Beethoven. (2015). The Biography.com website.

Retrieved 03:35, May 07, 2015, from http://
www.biography.com/people/ludwig-van-beethoven-9204862.!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFIe8xoS1jI!

http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/4107/4206309/
pdfs/Ch_8.pdf!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfvMyb4y4sw The
Genius of Beethoven | BBC | Captulo 1 de 3 - "The Rebel!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?
storyId=5473894