Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)
symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven
The Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (occasionally known as the Fate Symphony, German: Schicksalssinfonie), is a symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1804 and 1808. It is one of the best-known of all symphonies and one of the most frequently played. First performed in Vienna in 1808, the work achieved its strong critical reputation not long afterward; E. T. A. Hoffmann described it as "one of the most important works of the time".
The 5th Symphony has 4 movements. It begins with a distinctive 4-note "short-short-short-long" motif, often characterized as "fate knocking at the door", the Schicksals-Motiv (fate motif). Sometimes this motif is remembered as "da-da-da-dum" or "da da da DUM".
History
Composition
The 5th Symphony falls squarely within what is called Beethoven's "Middle Period" of composition, starting from about 1803, when Beethoven chose to launch new works of unprecedented scope and ambition, often emphasizing the musical portrayal of heroism, as in the 3rd Symphony and the opera Fidelio. The process of composition for the 5th Symphony was lengthy and had frequent interruptions; the first sketches date from 1804, following the completion of the 3rd Symphony.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q188709. VIAF identifies the subject as 177809800. The Library of Congress control number is n81072943. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1804, 1808 and 1803.
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This entry incorporates text from “Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.