Beethoven 250 | Symphony Series 05: THE HANOVER BAND - BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C minor Op.67

Beethoven 250 | Symphony Series 05: THE HANOVER BAND - BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C minor Op.67

The Hanover Band plays Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, the ‘Symphony of Fate’ as part of their Beethoven 250 celebrations at Stationer’s Hall.

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The C minor Symphony was first heard in a benefit concert or Musical Akademie (whereby the proceeds went to the composer or soloist) on Thursday 22 December 1808 in the Theater an der Wien. Inadequate rehearsals, mistakes in the parts and a total lack of heating plagued the concert. Prince Lobkowitz, one of Beethoven’s most important patrons, had to leave before the end. The Fifth Symphony came apart in performance owing to errors in the parts to the point that Beethoven ‘suddenly and loudly called out “Once Again!” Such a thing had never happened to them (the musicians) before. The public showed its enjoyment of this’. (Letter to Breitkopf and Härtel dated 7 January, 1809).

The autographed manuscript of the Fifth Symphony is in the Berlin State Library. The repeat in the Scherzo, returning to the first C minor theme after the Trio, is very rarely made in performance. Indeed, until Peter Gülke’s new edition of the Symphony was published by Peters in 1978, it was not indicated in modern scores. However, it is marked on the autographed manuscript and, one assumes, would therefore have been played at the first performance. That it was abandoned some years later could be due to nothing more than an error in printing not picked up by Beethoven, or perhaps a feeling that such a traditional ‘Minuet & Trio’ da capo was old-fashioned and unsuited to such an extended composition. Sir Donald Tovey suggested that the reason was that “the long repeat proved detrimental, not to the great darkness that leads to the finale, but to the reappearance of the scherzo in the development of the finale”.

Whatever the reason, re-establishing the repeat certainly alters the structural emphasis normally apparent in this Symphony. It makes the Scherzo less of a transitional make-weight, and, by allowing the listener more time to become involved with the main thematic motif of the Scherzo, the sideways step into the bridge passage leading to the Finale seems all the more unexpected and extraordinary in its intensity.

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BEETHOVEN 250 - An online festival of Beethoven’s Symphonic and Chamber Music brought to you by The Hanover Band & Consone Quartet.

Recorded during these unprecedented times at Stationers’ Hall in the City of London and the orchestra’s home in Arundel in West Sussex, during August and September 2020, the series celebrates the Orchestra’s 40th Anniversary year and Beethoven’s 250th Birthday.

Watch a new performance premiered every week, from Wednesday 23rd September to 16th December 2020, on our website or on The Hanover Band's YouTube channel.

For further information and to make a donation to help us continue our work, please visit https://thehanoverband.com/
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Видео Beethoven 250 | Symphony Series 05: THE HANOVER BAND - BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C minor Op.67 канала The Hanover Band