Contrapunctus

Compare performersLudwig van Beethoven

Beethoven’s Fifth, first movement, in four recordings

Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 — first movement

In each of four recordings the conductor sets how long the held notes of the opening motto last.

Player

Recordings in
this comparison

Choose a recording and press Play. Selecting another card continues playback from the matching point in that recording.

1911Performance 01

Odeon Orchestra

Odeon Grand Orchestra; conductor disputed (Friedrich Kark / Eduard Künneke)

Odeon’s house orchestra made the first complete recording of a symphony, Beethoven’s Fifth, in Berlin in August 1911.

6:29
1913Performance 02

Arthur Nikisch

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Arthur Nikisch

Nikisch took the first movement unusually broadly with the Berlin Philharmonic and left out the exposition repeat.

6:44
1940Performance 03

Willem Mengelberg

Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Willem Mengelberg

This opening side has Mengelberg with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, which he had led since 1895.

4:43
Date unknownReference recording

Skidmore College Orchestra

Skidmore takes the exposition repeat, so the horns’ call and the soft E♭ major violin tune are heard twice.

8:20
Selected recordingSkidmore College Orchestra
0:00 / 8:20

Loading the player…

Each strip shows changes in volume within one recording.

The comparison

In November 1913, Arthur Nikisch recorded Beethoven’s Fifth with the Berlin Philharmonic, playing into a recording horn. Odeon’s house orchestra had recorded it two years earlier. Mengelberg’s Concertgebouw and the Skidmore College Orchestra are compared with them here at the first three Gs. Each conductor sets how long the fourth note is held.

Tempo

Tempo map

Time taken compared with Skidmore College Orchestra: above 1×, the performer takes longer over the same music; below it, less time.

Time taken compared with the reference recordingEach gold line follows a performer. Above 1×, the recording takes longer over the same music. Numbered lines mark the passages below.0.25×0.5×0.75×1×1.25×1.5×1.75×2×0:002:004:006:008:001. Opening motto, repeated · 1:4212. Rising string passage · 2:1023. Horn call and second subject · 2:3034. Development · 3:2345. Start of the coda · 6:425Odeon Orchestra, 1911Arthur Nikisch, 1913Willem Mengelberg, 1940Skidmore College Orchestra (reference)
The reference recording’s clock runs left to right. Each line is smoothed over about eight seconds; pauses can create peaks. Numbers mark the passages below.
  • Odeon Orchestra, 1911
  • Arthur Nikisch, 1913
  • Willem Mengelberg, 1940
  • Skidmore College Orchestra · reference
Passages

Passages compared

Each version plays in card order, for up to 12 seconds of reference music or until the next marked passage, whichever comes first.

  1. 01

    Opening motto, repeated

    1:42 in the reference

    Three Gs fall to E♭; three Fs follow and fall to a held D. Beethoven marked fermatas here, and their length is left to the conductor.

  2. 02

    Rising string passage

    2:10 in the reference

    The strings climb, passing the short rhythm from part to part. Woodwinds and horns answer before the orchestra plays louder.

  3. 03

    Horn call and second subject

    2:30 in the reference

    A short chord and a pause precede the horns. Their wide call leads into the violins’ soft E♭ major tune.

  4. 04

    Development

    3:23 in the reference

    The horns, in the familiar rhythm, move down to G; the strings play D♭ against it.

  5. 05

    Start of the coda

    6:42 in the reference

    The violins hold a high C while the bass changes beneath it. The cadence that would end the movement leads instead into a long coda.

Durations

Length of each recording

  1. Odeon Orchestra, 19116:29
  2. Arthur Nikisch, 19136:44
  3. Willem Mengelberg, 19404:43
  4. Skidmore College Orchestra8:20

These times include the lead-in and final fade. Cuts, repeats and disc-side breaks also affect a recording’s length.

Performers and sessions

Recording notes

Sources & method

Further reading

How the recordings are matched

The matching follows sequences of pitches, using a method called dynamic time warping. Every recording is mapped to the reference, so switching between two versions goes through that shared clock. Where several reference times match one point, the middle time is used.

  • Odeon Orchestra, 1911: match score 0.885. Matched passages available.
  • Arthur Nikisch, 1913: match score 0.924. Matched passages available.
  • Willem Mengelberg, 1940: match score 0.906. Matched passages available.

Switching stays within the matched span, and trimmed recordings keep their original clock times. Match scores describe similarity in the sound.