Well, I think my favorite movement has to be the utter perfection and
precision of the Beethoven 5 first movement.  You might say it's hackneyed,
or overplayed, or any of a number of adjectives reserved for "old
warhorses;" however, there is no other movement more finely wrought than
"Fate knocks on the door."

The greatest of music critics, Robert Schumann, said in his book "Of Men
and Musicians" (I know book titles are underlined and not in quotes, but
pico doesn't do underlines..:), that the Fifth is music for the ages, and
enduring masterpiece of giant stature.  Indeed, with the exception of Bach,
I believe that no other piece stays with you more than the Beethoven 5.
Sure, I love deeply the huge and great Adagio of the Bruckner 8, and the
lyrical charm of the Menuet from Mozart 39, the unbridled nationalistic
passion of the firstmovements of the Shost 5 and Tchaik 4.  I am smitten
with the Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream.  I am in jaw dropping awe
of the five voiced fugue that Mozart weaves into the last movement of the
Jupiter.  I weep tears of respect and intense, soul-searing pain at the
climax of the slow movement of the Bruckner 9.  I marvel at the polish and
stately grace of any of Brahms's movements.  I laugh at the wit of the last
movement of the Franck D Minor, and I stand and shout praises to the
heavens as the mighty chords of the organ's deepest sounds resonate as the
last movement of the Saint-Saens Symphony #3 thunders to the earth's core.

But I still come back to the simplest of the simple:  a four note
motif with more power, vision, and emotion than all of them put together.
Beethoven was fuming at his deafness in the depths of despair.  He penned
the four note motif as "Fate knocking at the door." Not only is there not
one wasted note in the entire movement, but there is not one note too many.
It is perfectly wrought.  You can also hear Beethoven's inner
fortitude...his passion for hig genius's contribution to life as we know
it.  The despairing man standing tall, full of joy at having lived and
having created perfection.  As the thunderous C-Major triad sounds
beginning the fourth movement, one can see the gates of heaven being
knocked asunder by Beethoven's overpowering spirit.

Maybe you think I am overly melodramatic or sentimental, and that's your
right.  I invite any and all comments about this selection of Beethoven 5
first movement as my favorite/greatest of all movements.

Charles Dalmas
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