Numbers

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

How It's Used

“I wish I could interest the Environmental Protection Agency in looking into the symphony managers and conductors — almost all of them — who have so mercilessly exploited the mighty Beethoven Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, reducing them to pop-culture clichés and deadening their amazing qualities to the public ear.”

"The deep drawback of 'Taking Sides' is that it forgets to be interested in music. It is swayed by the idea of music as a calling, and as a tool of civilization, but not by the surges of the stuff itself. When a director uses the beginning of Beethoven’s Fifth three times in one picture, you know that he has decided to play it safe."

"After these two works were performed, it was somehow exactly the moment to hear Beethoven’s Fifth. Mr. Salonen and his players were not striving for a performance to enter the annals of immortal Beethoven playing. Rather, here were adventurous musicians eager to bring freshness and enthusiasm to a repertory staple. And what a relief this well-played, vigorous and lucid performance was."

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