Walter Meyer correctly wrote:

>>Wouldn't Beethoven's 5th be di-di-di-dah? (i.e.  short, short, short,
>>long).  I don't know Morse code.  What letter would that be?
>
>V...for "Victory" and also the Roman numeral for 5, the number identifying
>the symphony.

Very true, of course.  However, I must say that every time when I read
discussions like this I'm somewhat amazed.  As far as I know the usual
European nickname of the symphony is not Victory symphony, but Fate
symphony, thanks to Beethoven's (in)famous biographer Schindler who wrote
that Beethoven would have said about those notes:  "Thus fate knocks on the
door." Since Schindler is our testimony this is somewhat doubtful.  He also
pointed to the call of a bird as the source of Beethoven's inspiration, but
don't ask me to mention the correct American name.  It's not difficult to
devote a whole book to speculations and digressions on the correct German
name of the bird, let alone the correct translation.  The animal has become
a true source of confusion, due to translation troubles.

Joyce Maier (mail to: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] or jev1945@)hotmail.com)
www.ademu.com/Beethoven