Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7

Ludwig van Beethoven's 5th Symphony is well known for it's first movement, which is fiery and has been used in lots of TV Shows. Beethoven's 7th Symphony is also exceptionally well composed. In this album, we have Carlos Kleiber as the conductor, and the orchestra is the Vienna Philharmonic.

## Beethoven's 5th Symphony

Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, was written between 1804 and 1808. It is one of the best-known compositions in classical music and one of the most frequently played symphonies, and it is widely considered one of the most essential pieces of classical music ever written. It was first performed in Vienna's Theater an der Wien in 1808 and the work achieved its famous achievement soon afterwards. E. T. A. Hoffmann described the symphony as "one of the most important works of the time". Like symphonies during the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is in four movements. It begins with a very well-known four-note "short-short-short-long" motif. The symphony, and the four-note opening motif in particular, are both known worldwide, with the motif appearing many times in popular culture, from disco versions to rock and roll covers, to uses in film and television. Like Beethoven's Eroica and Pastorale Symphonies, the Symphony No. 5 was given a precise name besides the numbering, but it wasn't named by Beethoven himself. It became popular under "Schicksals-Sinfonie" (Fate Symphony), and the famous five bar theme was called the "Schicksals-Motiv" (Fate Motif). This name is also used in translations.

### Composition

The Fifth Symphony had a long development process, as Beethoven worked out the musical ideas for the work. The first "sketches" date from 1804 following the completion of the Third Symphony. Beethoven repeatedly interrupted his work on the Fifth to prepare other compositions, including the first version of *Fidelio*, the *Appassionata* piano sonata, the three *Razumovsky* string quartets, the Violin Concerto, the Fourth Piano Concerto, the Fourth Symphony, and the Mass in C. The final preparation of the Fifth Symphony, which took place in 1807–1808, was carried out in comparison with the Sixth Symphony, which was premiered at the same concert.

### Premiere

The Fifth Symphony was premiered on 22 December 1808 at a mammoth concert at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna consisting mostly of Beethoven premieres, and conducted by Beethoven himself. The concert lasted for more than four hours. The two symphonies appeared on the programme in reverse order: the Sixth was played first, and the Fifth appeared in the second half. The programme was as follows:

1. The Sixth Symphony
2. Aria: 'Ah! perfido', Op. 65
3. The Gloria movement of the Mass in C major
4. The Fourth Piano Concerto (played by Beethoven himself)
5. *(Intermission)*
6. The Fifth Symphony
7. The Sanctus and Benedictus movements of the C major Mass
8. A solo piano improvisation played by Beethoven
9. The Choral Fantasy

Beethoven dedicated the Fifth Symphony to two of his patrons, Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz and Count Razumovsky. The dedication appeared in the first printed edition of April 1809.

### Movements

The movements are named as follows:

1. Allegro con brio
2. Andante con moto
3. Scherzo: Allegro
4. Allegro – Presto

A typical performance is normally between 30-40 minutes.

### Instrumentation

The instrumentation consists of 2 flutes (one doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B Flat and C, 2 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 2 horns in E Flat and C, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones (alto, tenor and bass), timpani and strings.

### Reception

Most of the responses were very positive to the premiere performance, which took place under adverse conditions. The orchestra didn't play well—with only one rehearsal before the concert—and at one point, following a mistake by one of the performers in the Choral Fantasy, Beethoven had to stop the music and start again. The auditorium was freezing and the audience was exhausted by the length of the programme. However, a year and a half later, publication of the score resulted in a delightful unsigned review (actually by music critic E. T. A. Hoffmann) in the *Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung*. He described the music with dramatic imagery: "Radiant beams shoot through this region's deep night, and we become aware of gigantic shadows which, rocking back and forth, close in on us and destroy everything within us except the pain of endless longing—a longing in which every pleasure that rose up in jubilant tones sinks and succumbs, and only through this pain, which, while consuming but not destroying love, hope, and joy, tries to burst our breasts with full-voiced harmonies of all the passions, we live on and are captivated beholders of the spirits."

Apart from the fantastic praise, Hoffmann dedicated by far the largest part of his review to a detailed study of the symphony, in order to show his readers the devices Beethoven used to awaken particular affects in the listener. In an essay titled "Beethoven's Instrumental Music", gathered from this 1810 review and another one from 1813 on the op. 70 string trios, published in three instalments in December 1813, E.T.A. Hoffmann further praised the "indescribably profound, magnificent symphony in C minor": "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...."

## Beethoven's 7th Symphony

Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, is a symphony in four movements composed between 1811 and 1812, while improving his health in the Bohemian spa town of Teplice. The work is dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries. At its premiere, Beethoven was noted as explaining that it was one of his best works. The second movement, Allegretto, was the most popular movement and had to be encored. The popularity of the Allegretto resulted in a performance of its own rather than playing the movement from the complete symphony.

### Composition

When Beethoven began composing the 7th symphony, Napoleon was planning his invasion against Russia. After the 3rd Symphony, and possibly the 5th too, the 7th Symphony seems to be another of Beethoven's musical contests with Napoleon, this time in the situation of the European wars of democracy from years of Napoleonic domination. Beethoven's life at this time was notable by his hearing getting worse, which made "conversation notebooks" crucial from 1819 onward, with the help of which Beethoven communicated in writing.

### Premiere

Beethoven's 7th Symphony was premiered on 8 December 1813, Vienna and with Beethoven himself conducting at a charity concert for soldiers wounded in the Battle of Hanau. In Beethoven's address to the members, the motives aren't fully named: "We are moved by nothing but pure patriotism and the joyful sacrifice of our powers for those who have sacrificed so much for us."

The program also included the loyal work Wellington's Victory, glorifying the victory of Wellington's British over Napoleon's France. The orchestra was led by Beethoven's friend Ignaz Schuppanzigh and included some of the finest musicians of the day: violinist Louis Spohr, composers Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Giacomo Meyerbeer and Antonio Salieri. The Italian guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani played the cello at the premiere.

### Instrumentation

The instrumentation consists of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in A (E and D in the inner movements), 2 trumpets in D, timpani, and strings.

### Movements

The movements are named as follows:

1. Poco sostenuto – Vivace
2. Allegretto
3. Presto – Assai meno presto
4. Allegro con brio

### Reception

Critics and listeners have often felt disappointed or amazed by the Seventh Symphony. For example, one program-note author writes: "... the final movement zips along at an irrepressible pace that threatens to sweep the entire orchestra off its feet and around the theatre, caught up in the sheer joy of performing one of the most perfect symphonies ever written." Composer and music author Antony Hopkins says of the symphony: "The Seventh Symphony perhaps more than any of the others gives us a feeling of true spontaneity; the notes seem to fly off the page as we are borne along on a flood tide of inspired invention. Beethoven himself spoke of it fondly as "one of my best works". Who are we to dispute his judgement?" Another admirer, composer Richard Wagner, who is on about the lively rhythms which seep the work, called it the "apotheosis of the dance". On the other hand, appreciation for the work has not been universal. Friedrich Wieck, who was present during rehearsals, said that the consensus, among musicians and laymen alike, was that Beethoven must have composed the symphony in a drunken state; and the conductor Thomas Beecham said about the third movement: "What can you do with it? It's like a lot of yaks jumping about." The oft-repeated claim that Carl Maria von Weber treated the chromatic bass line in the coda of the first movement evidence that Beethoven was "ripe for the madhouse" seems to have been the invention of Beethoven's first biographer, Anton Schindler. His possessive applause of Beethoven is well-known, and he was criticised by his contemporaries for his compulsive attacks on Weber. According to John Warrack, Weber's biographer, Schindler was characteristically false when defending Beethoven, and there is "no shred of concrete evidence" that Weber ever made the statement.

## Program Note - Carlos Kleiber: A Man for the Exceptional Occasion

In the world of recording there are three kinds of artist. One kind regards the medium as a permanent opportunity to place themselves and their musical comrades before the public. They treat discs as pages in an audio diary. A second, minute group turns its back. They refuse to document big musical occasions, insist on the impossibility of repeating an experience, and thus place all their faith in their listeners' memories. A third group, also rather a small one, does not dismiss the medium altogether but is very, very choosy. Carlos Kleiber is one of these last. The list of his recordings for Deutsche Grammophon reflects that fact, but every music lover must have registered their outstanding quality. They may be few, but what works they are! Weber's *Der Freischütz*, Verdi's *La traviata*, Wagner's *Tristan*, Johann Strauss's *Die Fledermaus*, Richard Strauss's *Der Rosenkavalier* (on video), Symphonies by Beethoven (the C minor, op.67, and the A major, op.92, on this recording), by Schubert (no.3 and no.8, the "Unfinished"), and by Brahms (no.4 in E minor). Few, then, but not so small after all, in terms of the stature of the individual works, and we also have to make allowances for the fact that Kleiber's recordings have always scored bull's-eyes, making the critics babble of "première performances" - in the case of works which have been taken out, turned to and fro, and illuminated by generations of conductors. Yet the quantity is small compared to what some of his more prolific colleagues have produced, and if one dares to contemplate how much more brightly some jewels of the operatic and concert repertory would sparkle if Kleiber were to turn his mind to them.

But there we are: Carlos Kleiber always was and still is an exceptional man, and in his recordings shows himself to be a man for the exceptional occasion. When he produces a piece of work, whatever else it is, it will be a milestone. His career has been out of the ordinary, too, from the start. He was born in Berlin in 1930, the son of the famous conductor, Erich Kleiber. His father had to leave Hitler's Germany in 1933 and worked at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires from 1936 to 1949. So the young Carlos grew up in Argentina, studied music privately, and started work in the opera house in La Plata in 1952. The next staging-posts were Potsdam (1954), the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf-Duisburg (1956), Zurich (1964) and the Württemberg State Opera in Stuttgart (1966). From 1968 onwards, Kleiber opted for being "permanent guest conductor" at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, an arrangement which left him the space he needed to work in. His appearance at Bayreuth, conducting *Tristan und Isolde*, his tours with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, his engagements at the operas of Vienna and Milan, his long-desired concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the - all too infrequent - "Philharmonic Subscription Concerts" in Vienna, have each and every one set the musical world ablaze, and, like these performances of Beethoven here, left it in a state of enlightened, redeeming enchantment.

*Peter Cossé*

*(Translation: Mary Whittall)*

## Reviews

It has become utterly impossible to keep track of all recordings of Beethoven's music. For nearly a century the most famous conductors and most proficient orchestras have entrusted their individual insights into into this inexhaustible subject to a medium which exists first and foremost to capture transience, but which somehow has also become a yardstick of vitality, endurance and the exceptional. So who would predict that anything new could possibly be added to what has so often been done, and done well? Thus we might have reasoned in the mid-1970s, but then the seemlingly impossible came to pass. When Carlos Kleiber's recording of Beethoven's Fifth was issued in 1975, and the Seventh the next year, the great clock of Beethovenian interpretation resoundingly struck the hour. Milestones were planted: in these recordings, Carlos Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra unite the inspiration of a live, concert performance with the painstaking, detailed accuracy that can be achieved only in the studio, as if contradiction between the two was unheard-of. The critics responded with superlatives:

"Kleiber's reading [of the Fifth] has an electricity, a sense of urgency and fresh discovery which puts it in a class of its own." Gramophone Good CD Guide

"Carlos Kleiber's Fifth stands out among all others." Penguin Guide

"A great performance [of the Seventh] fully meriting the enormous acclaim it has received. Beethoven comes over with keen ferocity in this sharply-etched reading which, for all its urgency, still retains all the majesty implicit in the music." International Music Guide

"... thrilling beyond measure [the performance of the Seventh Symphony]." Records and Recording

## Links

For the playlist of the album, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF\_2RdOFNv4&list=OLAK5uy\_labY0gZzv64534i4HcAA1sFy3C9E1viJE

For more details on the album, click here: https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/beethoven-symphonies-nos-5-7-kleiber-321

For the official Deutsche Grammophon website, click here: https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en

## Notes

* Art Direction - Hartmut Pfeiffer
* Composer - Ludwig van Beethoven
* Conductor - Carlos Kleiber
* Engineers - Hans-Rudolf Müller, Jobst Eberhardt, Jürgen Bulgrin, Wolf-Dieter Karwatky, Hans-Peter Schweigmann, Klaus Washer
* Executive Producer - Hans Hirsch
* Orchestra - Vienna Philharmonic
* Photographers - Siegfried Lauterwasser, Fritz Peyer
* Producers - Werner Mayer, Hans Weber
* Sound - Stereo
* Recording dates - March & April 1974 (5th Symphony), November 1975 & January 1976 (7th Symphony)
* Recording venue - Vienna, Musikvereinssaal
* Total duration - 72'08