Symphony No 5 in C minor, Op 67 1808 Allegro con brio Andante con moto Allegro - attacca - Allegro The third movement Scherzo (in all but name) opens in an unusually mysterious männer before fortissimo horns take us unmistakably back to the driving rhythm and relentless drama of the opening movement. One cannot help but smile at the furious scurrying of cellos and double basses as they dig into the central Trio section - rarely had the basses had such a starring role in earlier symphonies. MISUNDERSTOOD There remains a question about the overall form of the third movement as Beethoven clearly had doubts about whether to prescribe a complete repeat of the opening Scherzo and Trio before the return to the Scherzo in its truncated form (ABABA) that eventually leads to the Finale. Jonathan Del Mar (in his comprehensive Bärenreiter Urtext edition, 2001) comes firmly down in favour of omitting this longer Version, taking as evidence Beethoven’s final instruction to his publisher in 1809 for the shorter ABA format. However, David Wyn Jones, in his introduction to Roger Norrington’s 1988 recording, argues strongly that Beethoven’s instructions were misunderstood and that the fuller ABABA keeps the movement in line with its neighbouring symphonies, Nos 4,6 and 7, together with the Contemporary Cello Sonata, Op 69, and his second Razumovsky String Quartet, Op 59. Denis Matthews supports this view, citing as evidence remarks by Beethoven’s close friend Franz Olivia in a conversation book when he expressed surprise at the omission of the second repeat at a performance in 1820. Although Beethoven’s reply is not noted (the conversation books only recording comments made to Beethoven), it seems probable that Beethoven was expecting the ABABA Version to be performed, despite his earlier ‘final instructions’. And so the jury will probably remain out on this matter and it will come down to a matter of personal preference. However, the main innovation here lies in the dramatic link between Scherzo and Finale. Before the bridge to the Finale, the Scherzo returns in ghost-like fashion, semprepianissimo with plucked strings and bassoons outlining the thematic material. This gradually peters out to land onppp string drone withpp timpani beating out the rhythm The first violins’ slowly rising arpeggios eventually lead to a short crescendo, paving the way for the start of the dramatic Finale, with sonorous trombones entering the Symphonie orchestra for the first time. This journey towards the light remains one of the most spine- tingling moments in music and echoes the transforming journey undertaken in his Contemporary opera Fidelio. The ideals of the French Revolution remain central to Beethoven’s Vision despite his shock at Napoleon’s coronation as Emperor that led to the famous destruction of the title page of his Eroica a few years earlier. There is a further dramatic twist as the Scherzo returns when the Finale’s development section reaches its climax. This is not unprecedented, as the ever-experimental Haydn had curiously brought back his Minuet towards the end of the Finale in Symphony No 46 thirty years earlier in 1772. But Beethoven’s use ofthis device takes the idea to a new dramatic level and leads to the triumphant Symphonie coda, with piccolo blazing through the orchestral texture as the tempo increases steadily to its presto ending. @ Timothy Dowling, 2018 9 www.leedsconcertseason.co.uk
