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Ludwig van Beethoven completed nine symphonies between 1800 and 1824, and together they moved the form from the elegant world of Haydn and Mozart to something larger, more personal and more dramatic. You do not need to hear them in order, but doing so lets you follow the change. This guide takes them one at a time, with the key, the opening-night facts that are well documented and one thing to listen for.
Dates below are for first performances, which are better recorded than composition dates. Some details, such as exactly when sketches began, are still debated among scholars.
Think of the cycle in three stretches. Nos. 1 and 2 belong to the Classical tradition he inherited. Nos. 3 to 8 show him enlarging every proportion, from the length of movements to the size of the orchestra’s role. No. 9 breaks the mould by adding voices to a symphony. For the composer’s life behind them, see the profile of Beethoven and his deafness.
An easy place to start. It opens with a chord that does not sound like C major’s home key, a small joke on listeners’ expectations. The minuet is quick enough that later composers would call it a scherzo. Listen for how Haydn’s influence is present, yet the energy is unmistakably his own.
Bright, extroverted and full of wit. It was written around the time Beethoven was facing his hearing loss, yet the music sounds anything but gloomy. Listen for the long, ceremonial slow introduction, then the sudden surge of energy in the main allegro.
The turning point. It is far longer than any previous symphony and opens with two hammer-blow chords. The second movement is a funeral march. Beethoven is widely reported to have withdrawn a dedication to Napoleon Bonaparte, although the exact account varies between sources. Listen for the finale, built on variations of a tune he had used before.
Often overshadowed by its neighbours, it is graceful and playful, with a mysterious slow introduction. Robert Schumann is often quoted as calling it a slender Greek maiden standing between two Norse giants, meaning the Third and the Fifth. Listen for the tension that gathers before the main theme arrives.
The best-known opening in classical music: four notes, short-short-short-long. The idea is then used in all four movements. The work was given its first performance in Vienna on 22 December 1808 in a very long concert that also included the Sixth. Listen for the way the third movement slips into the finale without a break and bursts into C major.
A symphony about the countryside, with five movements and a descriptive title for each, such as scene by the brook and a storm. Beethoven described it as more an expression of feeling than painting. Listen for the thunderstorm, where timpani and low strings create the most vivid weather in the repertoire of its day.
Driven by rhythm. Nearly every movement is built on one pattern repeated until it takes over. The slow movement, in A minor, has been hugely popular since the first performances. Listen for the finale, where the orchestra seems to be pushed to its physical limits.
Shorter, lighter and wittier than the Seventh, and deliberately so. It looks back affectionately to Haydn’s style. Listen for the second movement, with its ticking accompaniment, often linked to the metronome though that connection is also debated by historians.
Premiered in Vienna on 7 May 1824. It is the first symphony by a major composer to bring in soloists and a chorus, setting words from Friedrich Schiller’s poem “An die Freude” (Ode to Joy). Listen for the moment late in the finale when the orchestra seems to reject earlier themes and a baritone sings the first words. The Ninth has since become a symbol of unity and celebration, and UNESCO added the Ninth’s autograph score to its Memory of the World Register in 2001.
If you are new to the set, this order tends to work:
Different performances can feel quite unlike each other. Orchestras playing on period instruments often take faster tempos than larger modern ensembles, and conductors disagree about repeats and metronome markings that Beethoven himself wrote.
He wrote nine completed symphonies. He sketched a tenth, but only fragments survive, and later reconstructions are not complete works by him.
The Fifth and Sixth are common choices because their themes are memorable and their structures are clear. The Seventh is another good entry point for listeners who enjoy rhythmic drive.
It was the first major symphony to include a choir and vocal soloists, and its closing hymn to human brotherhood has become widely recognised and performed at ceremonies.
Nine symphonies cover a huge emotional range, from the polite surprises of the First to the open-air ambition of the Ninth. To hear where this language came from, read about Mozart and the Classical style, or step back further to the Baroque architecture of Bach.
