Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, C Minor

Okay. I’m just going to put it this out there, and if you don’t like it… you can send it right back. I LOVE CLASSICAL MUSIC. It’s my favorite genre of music and something I could never get sick of. All modern music that you kids listen to stemmed from the genius minds of men like Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, et cetera. My little bit on classical music every month will be an expression of nerd and excitement from me to you. I urge you to listen to each piece; they’re all valuable to the development of music.

I’ll start my first piece with an epic composition that is known to all, yet not many seem to know what it’s called or who it’s by. The first movement of this symphony begins with the well-known DUN DUN DUN DUUNNNNNNNNNNN. You all know it, of course you do. It’s Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, in C minor!! My favourite version is done by the Berlin Philharmonic (one of the best groups in the world) under the direction of Herbert Karajan. The entire symphony is a complex, beautiful arrangement of notes into one of the most epic and exciting pieces ever written. E.T.A. Hoffman says about the piece (after attending the premiere of the symphony in December of 1808) “How this wonderful composition, in a climax that climbs on and on, leads the listener imperiously forward into the spirit world of the infinite!...No doubt the whole rushes like an ingenious rhapsody past many a man, but the soul of each thoughtful listener is assuredly stirred, deeply and intimately, by a feeling that is none other than that unutterable portentous longing, and until the final chord-indeed, even in the moments that follow it-he will be powerless to step out of that wondrous spirit realm where grief and joy embrace him in the form of sound…”

I think that is a very powerful and accurate description of how that piece affects people, and certainly describes the reaction that I personally have to it. This symphony is so much more than its famous beginning. The complexities of the melody and the journey that you embark upon while listening to Beethoven’s 5th are a beautiful and spiritual one. To me, classical music is something that is so pure that it can allow you to reflect upon it and truly gain something beneficial from it. This might sound like spiritual mumbo jumbo, but I know this music fosters deep thought and appreciation of the beautiful.