I like to claim that I enjoy classical music, but that seems rather untrue—not only am I woefully lacking in knowledge about classical music, I in fact do not even like what is supposedly classical music’s highest form: the symphony. In truth, the classical-music figures I like are headed by Bach, and my preferred genre is the concerto—that is, music centered on one instrument such as the violin, cello, organ, piano, harpsichord, or flute, with several other instruments or the piano in a supporting role. I also quite like solo piano or solo string pieces, and from time to time I will listen to choral works; as for symphonies performed by the entire orchestra, perhaps because they are too noisy, in any case I seldom listen to them.
In fact, the symphony probably really is a kind of higher order, just as in the art of painting, some beautiful landscape paintings or figure paintings may be easy for everyone to appreciate, while other schools or kinds of painting require people who already have a certain amount of experience and understanding, and who approach them in a particular frame of mind, in order to appreciate them well. Symphonies may be like that too: they make demands on the listener’s cultivation and state of mind.
But it won’t do to go on like this forever; one should at least try to take a look. So a while ago I casually bought a complete set of Beethoven’s nine symphonies to listen to—Beethoven can be said to be the pinnacle of symphonic music; if I can’t get used to even the nine symphonies, then I really will have to lose confidence in symphonic music. Fortunately, Beethoven is still quite good.
Beethoven’s most widely beloved symphony is of course none other than the Fifth, the “Symphony of Fate”; its first four notes may even be said to be among the most universally known notes in history. But in the past I usually only listened to the first movement of the “Fate” symphony; here I’m posting its fourth movement, whose final movement echoes the first and is likewise magnificent and imposing. The title “Fate” is probably a later addition, but it is an apt one; in fact, “fate” should be said to be the overarching theme of Beethoven’s nine symphonies.
Symphonic music can express rich and grand scenes, but if I had to listen to it every day, I would probably still find it hard to bear; heard only occasionally, it has a rather good effect of broadening the mind and lifting the spirit.
Translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The original text is authoritative.
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