Symphony No. 5 in C minor of Ludwig van Beethoven, Op. 67, was composed over many years, between 1804 and 1808. He had the habit of working on more project simultaneously and often put them on halt for longer periods. The first performance of the Symphony was in Vienna’s Theater an der Wien, 1808.
The instrumentation of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is the following
Strings
violins I, II
violas
cellos
double basses
Brass
2 horns in E♭ (first and third movements) and C (second and fourth movements)
2 trumpets in C
3 trombones (fourth movement only, alto, tenor, and bass)
Woodwinds
1 piccolo (fourth movement only)
2 flutes
2 oboes
2 clarinets in B♭ (first, second, and third movements) and C (fourth movement)
2 bassoons
1 contrabassoon (fourth movement only)
Percussion
timpani (in G–C)
Beethoven sought to introduce wider dynamics than the usual contemporary orchestral works had. In it’s last movement, the Fifth Symphony was the first major work to have the trombone, the high-pitched piccolo and the low-pitched contrabassoon.
