Beethoven's Symphony No. 5: Analysis
Motasem Ashour
Listening Journal #1
Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 in C minor is one of the most popular compositions in classical music of all time. The tempo of the traditional symphonic performance was much slower than its modern/contemporary counterpart. The traditional orchestra’s tempo was moderato which means Moderate in terms of speed of the beats. The modern performance’s tempo was much faster and livelier. The reason for this is that the modern performance consisted of electric guitars and modern technology which made it easier to manipulate the music. Dynamics means the amount of loudness in music. In this symphony there is a wide dynamics range. For example in the first part of the orchestral symphony the dynamics were mostly loud. The music continued to be built up then down. In the second part the music started very low and gradually went up then back down as the orchestra introduced the second theme of the song. Harmony is the simultaneous sounding of two or more pitches. This symphony uses both consonant and dissonant harmony. The first part of the symphony has mostly tension which makes it dissonant, it also returns to this tension in later parts of the performance. However In the beginning of the second part of the traditional performance the instruments are playing at an equilibrium which makes it consonant. This means that Beethoven’s symphony uses both consonant and dissonant harmony. The music between the different themes switched from polyphonic to homophonic. For example the first part of the traditional performance was mostly polyphonic while the third part was homophonic. The majority of the song however was polyphonic. Scale is a series of stepwise pitches. From the 18th minute till the 19th minute of the traditional performance the scale continued to increase. Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 is one of the greatest classical pieces I have ever listened to. The reason that I enjoy it so much is because of its ability to create tension and its
Listening Journal #1
Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 in C minor is one of the most popular compositions in classical music of all time. The tempo of the traditional symphonic performance was much slower than its modern/contemporary counterpart. The traditional orchestra’s tempo was moderato which means Moderate in terms of speed of the beats. The modern performance’s tempo was much faster and livelier. The reason for this is that the modern performance consisted of electric guitars and modern technology which made it easier to manipulate the music. Dynamics means the amount of loudness in music. In this symphony there is a wide dynamics range. For example in the first part of the orchestral symphony the dynamics were mostly loud. The music continued to be built up then down. In the second part the music started very low and gradually went up then back down as the orchestra introduced the second theme of the song. Harmony is the simultaneous sounding of two or more pitches. This symphony uses both consonant and dissonant harmony. The first part of the symphony has mostly tension which makes it dissonant, it also returns to this tension in later parts of the performance. However In the beginning of the second part of the traditional performance the instruments are playing at an equilibrium which makes it consonant. This means that Beethoven’s symphony uses both consonant and dissonant harmony. The music between the different themes switched from polyphonic to homophonic. For example the first part of the traditional performance was mostly polyphonic while the third part was homophonic. The majority of the song however was polyphonic. Scale is a series of stepwise pitches. From the 18th minute till the 19th minute of the traditional performance the scale continued to increase. Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 is one of the greatest classical pieces I have ever listened to. The reason that I enjoy it so much is because of its ability to create tension and its