Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Scherzo returns to the C minor key and its corresponding tone from the first movement. It emerges from the darkness quietly and ominously, before the horns suddenly blast a theme quite reminiscent of the first movement's "Fate" motif (0:21). These two moods, the creeping and the boisterous, are alternated throughout.
The vigorous (1:32) Trio section abruptly turns to C major and plays out almost like a fugue. Despite its relatively small presence in this symphony, its delightful display of counterpoint is one of the work's most entertaining highlights. It also offers us a glimpse of what's to come.
The quiet end of the Trio leads us back into C minor and the main Scherzo section (2:45) which, interestingly, is now played in a hesitant, tip-toe style, the strings playing pizzicato (Pokémon Colosseum lacks the sound of pizzicato strings, so I used harps here instead) almost the whole way.
Instead of just ending, as any third movement from a symphony prior to this one would have done, this one lands on a deceptive cadence and a quiet Timpani drumming (3:42). This eccentric move will turn out to be an extraordinary bridge between this movement and the next.
Indeed, the fourth movement eventually bursts from the darkness in C major like a ray of sunlight (4:13), and one of the most triumphant finales ever composed unfolds.
Beethoven went all out for this finale, introducing a variety of inspired tunes, one of them declamatory (4:49), another playful (5:16), and the last one both charming and valedictory (5:43).
Even with triumph being so obviously attained, however, the "struggle" at this symphony's core is far from over. If you pay close attention, you'll hear the "Fate" motif continuing to be heard, sometimes subtly, other times not so much.
On top of that, at the height of the development section, we hear the most conflicted music heard since the first movement (8:46 to 9:22) and, in yet another eccentric move, there's a short reprise of the third movement's main theme (9:56) shortly before triumph reemerges and the recapitulation can begin in earnest (10:26).
Said recapitulation follows the finale's exposition quite closely.
In the coda that follows (12:30), Beethoven seemed to concern himself with really letting us know that C major is the ultimate destination of this work, emphasizing it over and over (almost obsessively) until the very end.
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
III. Scherzo. Allegro
IV. Allegro
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Soundfont: Mother 3
Movement 1: youtube.com/watch?v=U0BDTGEoEAo
Movement 2: youtube.com/watch?v=lAKTDepzGX4
Majora's Mask version: youtube.com/watch?v=t_lZKSrNVWw
Pokémon BW version: youtube.com/watch?v=Kaqn4Ro0S04
Pokémon Colosseum version: youtube.com/watch?v=xGjsnVuSXbA
Super Mario 64 version: youtube.com/watch?v=-Kc5bq5PK3U
The Scherzo returns to the C minor key and its corresponding tone from the first movement. It emerges from the darkness quietly and ominously, before the horns suddenly blast a theme quite reminiscent of the first movement's "Fate" motif (0:21). These two moods, the creeping and the boisterous, are alternated throughout.
The vigorous (1:32) Trio section abruptly turns to C major and plays out almost like a fugue. Despite its relatively small presence in this symphony, its delightful display of counterpoint is one of the work's most entertaining highlights. It also offers us a glimpse of what's to come.
The quiet end of the Trio leads us back into C minor and the main Scherzo section (2:45) which, interestingly, is now played in a hesitant, tip-toe style, the strings playing pizzicato (Pokémon Colosseum lacks the sound of pizzicato strings, so I used harps here instead) almost the whole way.
Instead of just ending, as any third movement from a symphony prior to this one would have done, this one lands on a deceptive cadence and a quiet Timpani drumming (3:42). This eccentric move will turn out to be an extraordinary bridge between this movement and the next.
Indeed, the fourth movement eventually bursts from the darkness in C major like a ray of sunlight (4:13), and one of the most triumphant finales ever composed unfolds.
Beethoven went all out for this finale, introducing a variety of inspired tunes, one of them declamatory (4:49), another playful (5:16), and the last one both charming and valedictory (5:43).
Even with triumph being so obviously attained, however, the "struggle" at this symphony's core is far from over. If you pay close attention, you'll hear the "Fate" motif continuing to be heard, sometimes subtly, other times not so much.
On top of that, at the height of the development section, we hear the most conflicted music heard since the first movement (8:46 to 9:22) and, in yet another eccentric move, there's a short reprise of the third movement's main theme (9:56) shortly before triumph reemerges and the recapitulation can begin in earnest (10:26).
Said recapitulation follows the finale's exposition quite closely.
In the coda that follows (12:30), Beethoven seemed to concern himself with really letting us know that C major is the ultimate destination of this work, emphasizing it over and over (almost obsessively) until the very end.
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
III. Scherzo. Allegro
IV. Allegro
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Soundfont: Mother 3
Movement 1: youtube.com/watch?v=U0BDTGEoEAo
Movement 2: youtube.com/watch?v=lAKTDepzGX4
Majora's Mask version: youtube.com/watch?v=t_lZKSrNVWw
Pokémon BW version: youtube.com/watch?v=Kaqn4Ro0S04
Pokémon Colosseum version: youtube.com/watch?v=xGjsnVuSXbA
Super Mario 64 version: youtube.com/watch?v=-Kc5bq5PK3U
