Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor was written in 1804-1808. In the catalog of Beethoven's works it is Opus 67. The symphony is one of the most popular and well-known compositions in all of classical music, and is

The "fate" tale

The idea that the initial motif of the symphony represents Fate knocking at the door comes from Beethoven's secretary and factotum Anton Schindler, who wrote, many years after Beethoven's death:

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:"Den Schlüssel zu diesen Tiefen gab dessen Schöpfer selber, als er eines Tages mit dem Verfasser über die demselben zu Grunde liegende Idee sprach, mit den Worten: So pocht das Schiksal an die Pforte, indem er auf den Anfang des ersten Satzes hinwies."

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:"The composer himself provided the key to these depths when one day, in this author's presence, he pointed to the beginning of the first movement and expressed in these words the fundamental idea of his work: 'Thus Fate knocks at the door!'" (translation by Constance Jolly)

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Schindler's testimony concerning any point of Beethoven's life is disparaged by experts (he is believed to have forged entries in Beethoven's conversation books), and moreover it is often commented that Schindler offered a highly Romanticized view of the composer. Thus, although we cannot know whether Schindler actually fabricated this quotation, it seems a strong possibility.

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There is another tale concerning the same motif; the version given here is from Antony Hopkins's description of the symphony (see References below). Karl Czerny (Beethoven's pupil, who premiered the "Emperor" Concerto) claimed that "the little pattern of notes had come to from a yellow-hammer's song, heard as he walked in the Prater-park in Vienna. Hopkins further remarks that, "given the choice between a yellow-hammer and Fate-at-the-door the public has preferred the more dramatic myth, though Czerny's account is too unlikely to have been invented."

Related Topics:
Karl Czerny - Yellow-hammer - Prater

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Another commentator remarks "Beethoven had been known to say nearly anything to relieve himself of questioning pests", which might be taken to impugn both tales.

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