You would be hard pressed to find a more iconic and well-known opening to a symphony then Beethoven’s “Ba ba ba bum!” opening motif of his Fifth Symphony. Widely considered to be the “world’s most famous symphony” with seemingly endless adaptations and appearances in film, TV shows and commercials, on top of countless articles and reviews of the 216-year-old masterpiece, could there be anything left to say or learn on the piece? Maybe. Here are five Beethoven’s Fifth facts that you might not know.
- Also known as the Fate Symphony, Beethoven himself conducted the premiere on December 22 in 1808 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria. The program was over four hours long and consisted entirely of Beethoven premieres including his Sixth Symphony which was performed before the Fifth. It is said that the premiere did not go well, the orchestra had held only one rehearsal before the concert and the theater was extremely cold.
- Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony was the first symphony to feature trombones, which at the time were seen as religious instruments and not used in secular orchestras. It was also the first to feature contrabassoon and piccolo, expanding and forever changing the tapestry of symphony.
- During World War II, the opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony became widely associated with the Allied victory symbol “V for Victory” because the rhythm of the first four notes closely resembles the Morse code for the letter “V” – “short, short, short, long,” which led to the BBC frequently playing the opening phrase on their broadcasts to occupied Europe, signifying hope and resistance against the Axis powers.
- In 1977 NASA launched both Voyager spacecraft carrying a unique time-capsule of Earth called The Golden Record with the intention of communicating “a story of our world to extraterrestrials.” The 1st movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony was included on the record along with images and a variety of natural sounds, such as thunder, birds, other musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings in 55 languages.
- Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony has been adapted multiple times in popular culture, from Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” and a disco version in the movie Saturday Night Fever to the theme music for TV show Judge Judy.
The Friday, November 15 performance of Beethoven’s Fifth is a Classics with a Twist Performance. Visit the concert page for tickets and more information.