Beethoven's Symphony No. 5

What are you going to listen to?

Things can change. Ligeti was one of the most progressive composers of our time. But his Concert romanêsc is an extremely "conservative" harmonic piece. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was boldly modern at its premiere, but is today a true classical evergreen.

Opening tonight is young composition student Virág Anna Virág in her One Minute Symphony, the collaboration between Residentie Orkest and Royal Conservatoire The Hague. Her inspiration came from a "silent" interview with flutist Eline van Esch in Westduin Park. "When we found the right spot, a higher point from which we could overlook the whole area, we sat in silence for a while and looked at the view. It was a fantastic sight to see the small vibrations of nature creating a constantly undulating landscape. A funny moment was when we both noticed the same strange bird, which enthusiastically flew close to us, flapped its wings in one spot, pooped and then flew away. It was an extremely comical phenomenon and this scene reminded me of a conspiracy theory called "birds aren't real," which Peter McIndoe once devised as a joke."

Romanian folk music

György Ligeti grew up in the Hungarian-speaking northwestern part of Romania. He studied partly at the Bucharest Folkloric Institute, where he deciphered and recorded in notes a large amount of folk music recorded on old wax rolls and glass plates. This gave rise to his 1951 Concert romanêsc for orchestra. It was a composition entirely in line with the communist Romanian regime, which, as in the Soviet Union, attached importance to music in the style of socialist realism: simple music that directly appealed to the steeled worker. Ligeti therefore turned it into a light-hearted suite in four short movements in which the simple directness of the folk music used forms the basis. Only very occasionally did he allow himself a few harmonic and melodic piquancies that immediately cost him dearly. The piece was immediately banned and only experienced its very first performance years after its completion.

Comprehensive fantasy

Robert Schumann could have become an excellent pianist had he not been too zealous. By using ingenious devices to perfect his fingers, he damaged his hands to the point where he had to abandon a career as a solo pianist. But as a composer, the piano remained his favorite instrument, and during 1841 he wrote an extensive fantasy for piano and orchestra to the delight of his wife Clara, who was herself a successful concert pianist. However, it was not until 1845 that he added two movements to it, turning it into a complete piano concerto. The premiere took place at the end of 1845 in their hometown of Dresden, of course with Clara as soloist.

Those who hear the Piano Concerto in its entirety hardly notice that the first movement, with its classical close-knit structure, is originally a fantasy. The Last movement is a cheerful but really romantically elaborated rondo. In between, Schumann wrote a subtle middle movement that really lives up to its name Intermezzo . It is a small and simple interlude, like a resting point between the two large-scale corner movements.

Legend of fate

Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is surrounded by the most fanciful legends. How terrible the composer's suffering had to be. Nearly deaf, desperately searching for true love, and struggling with his progressive views on music. And then also a premiere that ended in failure because the audience did not understand the depth of the music. The famous opening bars, according to his secretary Anton Schindler, Beethoven is said to have interpreted as, "so fate knocks at the door. But the truth is significantly more unruly. The failure of the first performance in late 1808 was primarily due to the fact that it took place during one of Beethoven's infamous monster concerts in an unheated hall, where the audience, blue with cold, shivered as they listened to the bizarrely ill-prepared notes. Subsequent concerts did bring the great success, and it was his most played orchestral work during his lifetime.

Beethoven himself did not reveal anything about the how and why of this symphony. Actually, the most extraordinary thing is that, along with the Third symphony , it was groundbreakingly innovative. But where the Third was still received with some reservation, the Fifth had overwhelming success after its unsuccessful premiere. Apparently Beethoven had managed to win over a large audience with his radically new ideas. And to think that in this symphony he still follows the structures of the classical symphony of Mozart and Haydn. For example, the first movement still has the usual sonata form with two themes set opposite each other along the usual paths. But within this, Beethoven goes completely his own way. The first theme is no more than a single motif, which will dominate the entire movement as a motto of four notes. And in the other movements, too, the composer seeks the outer limits of form and structure. It makes the symphony a benchmark in a musical revolution that would leave its mark well into the twentieth century.

Kees Wisse

🔔 Important: noise measurement

Our Concert Hall has been in use for three years now and we, as Residentie Orkest , are very happy with it. During the summer some minor acoustic adjustments were made to make the hall sound even better. Today measurements will be taken to test this improvement. To this end, after the break you will hear a sound that determines the so-called response of the hall to the sounds that the orchestra will produce on stage. That sound is a so-called "sweep. It is important that the hall be completely silent during the measurement. We will give a clear signal when the measurement is complete. The sound will first sound as a trial so that you know what to expect. Thank you for your cooperation during the real measurement which will take place immediately afterwards.