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CHILDREN’S SPECIAL: TEN PIECES FEATURE

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BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH SYMPHONY begins with a group of four notes – ‘Da-da-da-DAAA!’ – which some said were the sound of Fate or Destiny knocking on the door. Whether you believe that or not, the opening of this masterpiece certainly grabs your attention! By the time Beethoven had started writing the work in 1805, he had also begun to go deaf. Imagine not being able to hear yourself or others play music or talk. For Beethoven this was real torture. The Fifth Symphony, however, shows him being determined to compose amazing music in spite of his deafness, and we hear those four knocks again and again as he fights against the unfairness of losing his hearing. On our CD, we hear just the first ‘movement’ of the Fifth Symphony. A movement is the name given to each part of a symphony, and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which lasts about 40 minutes, has four of them. Many other symphonies also have four movements, but not all do – some have just one, and some have as many as six!

Every month, we introduce one of the BBC’s ‘Ten Pieces’, each specially chosen to bring the wonders and joys of classical music to children of primary school age

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Five crucial Beethoven facts! BEETHOVEN

SYMPHONY NO. 5

Beethoven was born in Bonn in Germany in 1770.As far as we know, he wrote his first pieces at the age of 12 (above).He started to go deaf when he was just 25.He is best known for his Nine Symphonies.Although he fell in love, he never married and had no children.

Part 1 Listen to the music on your

cover CD!

B B C M U S I C M A G A Z I N E 6 3

6 4 B B C M U S I C M A G A Z I N E

CHILDREN’S SPECIAL: TEN PIECES FEATURE

Beethoven’s Sixth SymphonyAt the same concert at which Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony was first heard, the orchestra also played his Sixth Symphony. The Sixth is all about taking a trip into the countryside, and the music reminds us of green fields and singing birds (above). There’s even a thunder storm!

Haydn’s Creation In 1798, the Austrian Joseph Haydn wrote a piece that tells about the beginning of the world. The Creation is for orchestra and singers too, and

there is a famous moment when the choir sings ‘And there was light!’ very loudly. It’s great fun.

Mozart’s 41st Symphony Beethoven may have written nine symphonies, but Mozart (left)

wrote 41 of them – that’s a lot! The last of these, which is also the longest, is nicknamed the ‘Jupiter’. Mozart wrote

his 41st Symphony in 1788, just three years before he

died. He may never even have heard it performed in his lifetime.

How much did you like this music?

I hated it! Not a lot… It was OK I liked it I loved it!

Now explore other great music!

Things to do!1. Put on the CD and listen to the famous ‘Da-da-da-DAAA!’ How many times can you hear this in the piece? ................................2. At 0:40 we hear an instrument on its own. Do you know what it is called? ........................................................................................................3. We hear another instrument on its own at 2:54. What is this one called? ..........................................................................................................4. Sometimes, we hear the ‘Da-da-da-DAAA!’ played by a drum. What type of drum is it? ..............................................................................5. How did the music make you feel? .........................................................................................................................................................................................

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