Beethoven: Symphony No. 5, I. Movement | OSC Sala Digital

Composed between 1807 and 1808, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony was dedicated to his two patrons, Prince Lobkowitz and Count Razumovsky. It premiered on Dec. 22, 1808 at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, in a program that also included other works by Beethoven himself: some excerpts from the Mass in C Major, Op. 86; the Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58; an aria from Ah! Perfido, Op. 65; the Fantasia for Piano, Op. 77; and the Choral Fantasy, Op. 80. The composer himself was the conductor and soloist at the piano in this concert and for the Choral Fantasy. However, the reviews of the event were not positive due to last-minute unforeseen events involving some of the singers and the lack of rehearsals, so Symphony No. 5 went relatively unnoticed at first.

The importance of this symphony was initially asserted in an article about the first edition of the work written by E. T. A. Hoffmann and published in 1813 in a magazine from the Breitkopf und Härtel publishing house in Leipzig, Germany: “Beethoven’s Instrumental Music.” Hoffmann defended the autonomous role of romantic music, Beethoven being for him the most romantic of the classical composers of German music. In this article, Hoffmann predicted that Symphony No. 5 would become “one of the most important works of all time.”

We give you the first movement of this iconic symphony.

Director: Maestro Augusto Carrión
Cuenca Symphony Orchestra
Cuenca, Ecuador – 2023

Credit:
Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca, Ecuador – https://www.youtube.com/@sinfonicacuenca