Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 is one of the most frequently performed symphonies and one of the best-known compositions in classical music.

Beethoven began to lose his hearing at age 28. By age 44, his hearing loss was complete, most likely caused by compression of the eighth cranial nerve associated with Paget's disease of bone.

To play without passion is inexcusable! I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet. Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman. To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.

The symphony is clearly indebted to Beethoven's predecessors, particularly his teacher Joseph Haydn as well as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but nonetheless has characteristics that mark it uniquely as Beethoven's work, notably the frequent use of sforzandi, as well as sudden shifts in tonal centers that were uncommon for ...