Beethoven's Fifth

I recently bought a CD set with classical music entitled "Masterpieces." There are 2 CDs in the set, one is labeled Mars, the other Venus. Seeing that there were more males in the car, I decided to put Mars in the car's CD player as we were headed out of Makati.

When track 3 played, we heard the familiar introduction from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

MacGyver mentioned that the four-note combination was similar to the Morse code letter "V" (· · · —) and he mentioned something about Napoleon Bonaparte and the world war. He said they used that music since V is for Victory.

Interesting ... these are general information tidbits I didn't pick up as a kid. (Mother was not a Music Major. She taught us other things as we were growing up.)

[Thanks, Z, for this youtube link showing Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray playing a married couple in a classic sketch entitled  "Argument to Beethoven's Fifth." ]

A little research in the internet yielded the following :

(1) Ludwig van Beethoven was a great admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte. He had initially intended to dedicate his Third Symphony and call it the "Bonaparte Symphony." However in 1804, Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France which enraged Beethoven. He tore the title page from the score and refused to dedicate his work to his former hero, turned tyrant as far as Beethoven was concerned. When his work was published in 1806, it was not dedicated to Bonaparte, but to Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz, one of Beethoven's most loyal patrons.

(2) During the Second World War, the BBC would use the distinct four notes of the Fifth Symphony to introduce its radio news broadcasts because of the Morse Code equivalent of dit-dit-dit-dah!. Yes, V for Victory!