ABSTRACT
The fifth Symphony had long since been on the stocks, its commencement dating from 1805. This, the most famous of orchestral works, would have been labelled No. 4 had not Ludwig van Beethoven become engaged to Countess Theresa Brunswick in 1806, and laid it aside in order to give vent to his happiness by writing the lighthearted B flat Symphony. The Choral Fantasia is now generally regarded as one of Beethoven's failures, but it is of importance as forerunner of the Choral Symphony, and also because the long opening section for pianoforte solo is said by Czerny to be a good example of Beethoven's methods in improvising free variations. A few months before this concert Beethoven received an offer of the post of First Kapellmeister to King Jerome of Westphalia at Cassel, with a salary of 600 ducats. Beethoven was strongly disposed to accept, judging from a letter to Breitkopf and Hartel.
