Secret Stories Behind the Greatest Classical Compositions: Beethoven's 5th Symphony

 

If you start typing “Beethoven” into YouTube’s search bar, “Beethoven 5th symphony” is the first auto fill option. Probably the world’s most popular symphony, everyone has heard it even if they couldn’t name it. Its iconic four-note opening motif is instantly recognizable.

But as always – there’s more to the story of Beethoven’s famous Symphony in C Minor, No. 5. 

About the composition 

Despite the work’s formal title, its famous opening doesn’t reach a true C minor until the third repetition of the four notes. While the symphony does quickly get to C minor, it concludes in a hearty C-major coda. You can hear a lighter, more festive version of the opening of the first movement played in C-major here. 

Beethoven was already growing deaf when he started his fifth symphony in 1804. He began working on it short after finishing his third symphony. Even so, he was working on so many other works at the time, it took him four years to complete it. It wasn’t just the other projects; he was also a notorious editor of his work. The fifth symphony is one the apex symphonies of his Heroic Period (1803 – 1815), during which he composed this third through eighth symphonies, and broke from classical structures and introduced the Romantic era. 

Yet the symphony does follow the classical symphonic structure of four movements. The first movement is defined by the opening four notes. Beethoven’s secretary wrote, after the composer’s death, that Beethoven had described this motif and the foundational idea of the entire work as “fate knocking at the door!”  This story held for so long, the opening is also called the “Fate motif.” 

Alas, his secretary has been found to be an unreliable memoirist who looked back at Beethoven through perhaps too rosy a pair of glasses. Some have suggested Beethoven’s inspiration for this opening motif is the sound of the Yellowhammer birds that lived in the parks in Vienna. Others still say the opening fits the more martial temperament of his Heroic Period that reflects the revolutionary state of Europe at the time. 

The fourth movement provides some support to this last idea. It’s an explosion of sound that quotes from a composition by French Revolutionary War army officer, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, who also wrote the music and lyrics to what would become France’s national anthem, La Marseillaise. 

About its performances 

Symphony No. 5 in C minor debuted in Vienna on December 22, 1808 at the Theater an der Wien. This concert was Beethoven’s famous marathon concert, running four hours long under horrible conditions. The program was all Beethoven, and the badly rehearsed orchestra was conducted by Beethoven. The Sixth Symphony also made its debut at this concert and was in fact played before the Fifth as the numbers of each symphony were reversed in the program. 

The entire concert, including these premieres, was considered a failure due to a combination of not very talented musicians performing in a cold hall in December. One attendee who wanted to leave mid-performance, explained why the audience remained for the entire four hours, “Beethoven was in the middle of conducting and was close at hand.” 

Despite its inauspicious beginnings, it quickly gained popular and critical acclaim. It was performed at the inaugural concerts for the New York Philharmonic (December 7, 1842) and the National Symphony Orchestra (November 2, 1931), as well as during the inaugural week of Carnegie Hall (May 9, 1891). It remains a favorite choice for inaugurating new orchestras or music halls. 

The romantic symphony also made disco history with A Fifth of Beethoven, which was a number 1 hit from the famous disco-era film Saturday Night Fever. You can also find rock, salsa and a mashup with Mambo No. 5 versions.  

The 5th through history 

Critic E.T.A. Hoffmann is credited with establishing the symphony’s reputation. He published a detailed and highly complementary critique of the work in 1813, which he called the symphony a “rhapsody of genius” and “a work that is splendid beyond all measure.” Hector Berlioz likened the third movement to “the gaze of a mesmerizer.” Sir John Eliot Gardiner described the four-note Fate motif as “an alarm call, an incitement, a call to arms,” as it was composed in the context of revolution sweeping Europe. Donald Francis Tovey called it "among the least misunderstood of musical classics." 

The opening four notes were a crucial and (shall we say) instrumental part of Europeans’ passive resistance to Nazi tyranny during World War II. The “V for Victory” campaign began in Belgium as a call for people to write the letter “V” as a sign of resistance. Winston Churchill promoted the campaign and integrated making the fingers raised in a V-sign.  The next day, BBC radio encouraged listeners in Paris to stage a "quiet knocking" demonstration, using The Fifth Symphony’s four notes, as the roman numeral for the five is “V.” 

Soon, the BBC, which broadcast into Nazi-occupied countries, began using the four notes as its station identification call sign. BBC radio programs also instructed people throughout Europe how they could play the same four notes themselves, teachers on blackboard, trains tooting it out through their steam engines, and children clapping their hands. For this reason, the symphony has also been known as the Victory Symphony since World War II.

Lastly, the work was included on the Golden Disc launched into space in 1977 on the Voyager spacecraft. The disc on the spacecraft, perpetually spinning through space, is filled with audio and image files intended to display the creativity and diversity of life on Earth to any extra-terrestrial that might come across it. Here is the first movement recording on the Golden Disc.

This article sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld

Secret Stories Behind The Greatest Classical Compositions: Dvořák’s “New World Symphony”

Officially, the “New World Symphony” is Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, B. 178, and subtitled “From the New World.”  Of course, everyone simply calls it the “New World Symphony.” Dvořák composed the symphony over the first half of 1893, and it was premiered by the New York Philharmonic on December 13, 1893, at Carnegie Hall.

It was a hotly anticipated work. So much so that Carnegie Hall was forced to install a significant amount of extra seating to meet the demand for the premiere. Why so much anticipation? 

At that time, Dvořák was living and working in New York City as the musical director of the National Conservatory of Music of America. The conservatory opened in 1888 with the twin aims of making music education available to talented students from every background, including marginalized communities, and to foster the creation of a particularly American national music. 

Dvořák came on as musical director in 1892. As such, his work on The New World Symphony was an explicitly intentional attempt to bring an American musical sensibility to European classical music. He'd made public comments months earlier that he felt the core of an American sound could be found in Native American communities and African-American spirituals, and it was these sensibilities he'd bring to his new composition. 

His comments on his influences for the symphony caused a stir, and discussions by writers and critics about what could be expected continued until the day before the premiere. In an interview with Dvořák, published by The New York Daily Herald, he reiterated that he was influenced and inspired by Native American music and black spirituals when he composed the symphony to be performed the next night. 

Folk Music at the Core of a Classical Composition 

Before he ever arrived in the United States, Dvořák was already well-known, particularly for his compositions incorporating Czech folk music from his native Bohemia.  From a humble background, he keenly felt the struggle to maintain a cultural and political independence of his homeland from the weight of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As such, he came to America with the approach of drawing on well-formed local folk music. 

He began composing the New World Symphony in New York City but completed it during a summer excursion to Iowa, where there was a large Czech community. Thus, he got to experience a range of American vistas as he wrote, often inspired by America's wide-open spaces. 

Dvořák also studied music that originated in the African-American community. He heard a student singing spirituals at the Conservatory and asked him to sing some more. Quickly, Dvořák and his student Henry Burleigh (soon to be a composer himself) were meeting regularly, with Burleigh teaching Dvořák all he had learned growing-up hearing his mother, a freed slave, sing. In his personal notes, Burleigh wrote that Dvořák had described the spiritual “Go Down Moses” as great as any theme composed by Beethoven. 

The New World Symphony is noted for using elements characteristic of slave spirituals, including syncopated rhythms, pentatonic scales, and flatted seventh. It’s been debated whether Dvořák derived from specific songs in the New World Symphony. For his part, Dvořák said he was inspired by the music without directly using specific melodies.  Yet many, including Burleigh, couldn’t help but hear echoes of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” in the second theme of the first movement. 

n a more abstract level, Dvořák was also inspired by Longfellow’s poem “Song of Hiawatha.” According to Dvořák’s sketch notes and public comments, the symphony’s second movement, the Largo, was inspired by Hiawatha’s journey across the American plains with his wife, Minnehaha. The third movement, a Scherzo, was animated by the feasting and energetic dancing of the magician Pau-Puk-Keewis during the wedding scene of the epic. Indeed, he had thought to use these movements as the basis for a full-scale vocal work of Longfellow’s poem. 

Impact of The New World Symphony 

The work was a huge success. At the premiere, the audience applauded so loudly between each movement that Dvořák stood to bow before the orchestra could continue. It had its first European premiere less than a year later, performed by the London Philharmonic Society on June 21, 1894. It was premiered in Prague and other Czech cities later in 1894. From there, it’s remained a favorite all over the world. 

The New York Philharmonic celebrated the symphony’s 175th anniversary with the performance linked in the opening paragraph, and by starting the New World Initiative, a competition for artists to create new works inspired by the New World Symphony. You can find the winners and performances here. 

The work has been so closely associated with African-American spirituals, that many believed that Dvořák used the popular folk song “Goin’ Home” in the Largo. In fact, it was the symphony’s Largo movement that inspired “Goin’ Home,” which wasn’t written until 1922. You can listen to the legendary Paul Robeson sing it here. 

Interestingly, Neil Armstrong brought a recording of the symphony with him during the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. 

The Melting Pot Symphony 

While inspired by local musical and folk traditions, Dvořák remained firmly in the European classical tradition for its structure. The symphony is made up of four movements and built on a framework of developing and repeating themes. 

Leonard Bernstein, in a lecture deconstructing the work, identified themes with Czech, French, German, Scottish and Chinese origins. Indeed, music critic James Huneker, in his review of the symphony’s premiere, described it as “distinctly American,” exactly because it was made up of so many elements representing the diverse American culture.

Published by StringOvation Team on October 11, 2017

Photo of Antonin Dvorak courtesy of the Gallica Digital Library

Musicians are abandoning the industry for a stabler career

Classical artists share truths about arts reopening

Pianist Anna Tsybuleva; guitarist Miloš; organist Anna Lapwood. Picture: Instagram/Richard Johnson/Nick Rutter

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

 

The arts and live music are gradually being restored. But the long-term impact on musicians has been disastrous and many are leaving the profession entirely, say the classical industry’s leading figures.

“A friend of mine recently started working on an opera production for the first time in 15 months and noticed that two of the cast with whom he was chatting during a coffee-break had cuts and bruises on their arms; it turned out that one had been working as a bricklayer and one as a gardener,” conductor Ian Page tells Classic FM.

Since the pandemic began, musicians have been surviving by taking on any work they can get. Now that live music is finally reawakening, is a swift return to business-as-usual on the cards for the country’s classical artists?

Not so much, say guitarist Miloš, organist Anna Lapwood, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston, conductor Ian Page, clarinetist Julian Bliss, pianist Anna Tsybuleva, conductor and saxophonist Christian Forshaw, and classical music small business owner Katie Beardsworth.

We spoke to these leading classical figures about the truth behind live performance’s big ‘bounce-back’, and how the realities of Brexit are affecting the revival of UK arts.

Read more: ‘I went from singing arias to being a hospital porter’

Milos, guitarist – playing at Royal Albert Hall on 17 July

On the arts reopening: “Nothing can replace that magical feeling of hearing music happening in front of you, experiencing the electricity in the room and breathing together with your favourite artist. It might take some time before everyone feels comfortable enough to enter a concert hall or a theatre… but now more than ever we need those bums on the seats and all the support and love we can get.”

On Brexit: “The full extent of Brexit has not yet been fully felt, I’m afraid. This is a scary time for all... but when you add Brexit to the mix it becomes a very big concern for musicians. Simply put, there is absolutely no clarity nor plan. British-based artists are in a very difficult place right now. I don’t always understand the point of it all... it’s hard not to feel betrayed.”

Miloš is a classical Montenegrin guitarist based in London. Picture: Esther Haase

Ian Page, conductor – performing with The Mozartists at Cadogan Hall on 8 July

On the financial impact of COVID-19: “For individual artists, many are still having to survive by taking other work completely unrelated to their training and areas of expertise. A friend of mine recently started working on an opera production for the first time in 15 months and noticed that two of the cast with whom he was chatting during a coffee-break had cuts and bruises on their arms; it turned out that one had been working as a bricklayer and one as a gardener.”

On Brexit: “Brexit’s like an even bigger nail in the coffin during these unprecedentedly difficult times. Not only have we been set back by the pandemic, but now we face extra costs and bureaucracy to perform in Europe or to engage European artists. This will make international collaboration much harder and have a significant and detrimental financial impact on our industry. Even in the 18th century, Mozart’s education was predicated on the fact that he had freedom of movement to spend 15 months in London as well as time in France, Holland, Italy and several other countries.”

Anna Lapwood, organist and conductor – performing at St-Martin-in-the-Fields on 21 June

On the arts reopening: “I think one of the biggest challenges as a performer is the uncertainty – gigs are returning, but in the back of your mind you’re trying to predict ‘is this really going to go ahead or not?’. I’ve had performances that have been postponed two or three times and it’s difficult from a psychological perspective. Musicians are such goal-oriented people, so when those goals are constantly shifting around it has a huge impact on the preparation process.”

On COVID-19 support for the arts: “Support isn’t just financial – the thing we’ve all been craving from DCMS is logistical support surrounding guidance, providing clarity and ensuring everyone has enough notice to implement changes. Just this week, new guidance was published the day after restrictions eased, stating that amateur choir rehearsals are limited to 6 singers. Not only was the tightening of restrictions a total shock, it was also announced so late in the day that many choir leaders found out whilst they were setting out the chairs for their rehearsals.

“There’s also the lack of parity between restrictions placed on musical events and those placed on things such as sports/pubs/restaurants. It is pretty hard to get your head around people being allowed to sing in a football stadium but a small group of singers not being allowed to sing in a well-ventilated church.”

Julian Bliss, clarinetist – playing at London’s Wigmore Hall on 25 May

On the financial impact of COVID-19: “Other sources of income are always good, if they complement the core of what you do. But a number of musicians I know ended up getting jobs in completely different fields just to make ends meet, which is sad and very unsettling. I think we have all realised that relying solely on one stream of income can be risky.”

Anna Tsybuleva, pianist – performing at Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, China on 9 July

On the arts reopening: “I know of many incredibly talented musicians who have abandoned the profession entirely in favour of a more stable line of work, which is such a terrible and long-lasting consequence of these times. I have been fortunate in a sense, because this artificial pause on ‘normal life’ has enabled me to spend time with my young daughter, which has been a true blessing. But it is my hope, of course, that all musicians can be back making music for live audiences again as soon as possible – it is our food, our oxygen, and our true privilege to connect and communicate in this special way.”

Christian Forshaw, composer and saxophonist – new album ‘Historical Fiction’ released on 17 September

On the financial impact of COVID-19: “Sadly I and many of my colleagues fell through the cracks and didn’t receive any government support during the whole pandemic. I was fortunate to be able to continue my work as Professor of Saxophone at the Guildhall School, but lost all of my other income.

On Brexit: “Brexit has added an infuriating layer of difficulty when planning tours and performances abroad. That kind of work would have been a lifeline as we come out of lockdown, but sadly we are faced with yet another barrier in re-establishing our performing careers.”

Jennifer Johnston, operatic mezzo-soprano – currently in teaching jobs

On COVID-19’s impact on freelancers: “Freelancers who have no job security at the best of times, despite being part of a world-leading powerhouse cultural sector, are turning to other sorts of work to make ends meet, whether driving a delivery van, teaching, working on farms, or in nursing homes on minimum wage.”

On Brexit: “The cultural sector is now decimated, and there is a further hidden enemy, whose impact has been masked by the onset of the pandemic: Brexit. For our touring musicians, Brexit serves as a death-knell to the days of freedom to tour the EU endlessly. British musicians are hit from both sides: almost no work at home because of the pandemic, no work abroad because of Brexit. A ‘bounce-back’ may happen, but it may be too late for many smaller arts organisations whose margins are tiny and for freelancers who have sought more secure employment elsewhere.”

150 opera singers fight for the arts in Parliament protest

Singers perform Verdi in a campaign for support during the COVID-19 pandemic, at London's Parliament Square.

Katie Beardsworth runs Polyphony Arts, an independent classical artist management business

On COVID-19’s impact on artists: “We receive emails every day from promoters who really want to book our artists but are struggling to make commitments given all the uncertainty they are facing. I particularly feel that what is often not highlighted in all this is that most artists do not feel that their careers are at a stable and steady point. Progression is a huge aim for most musicians.

On diversity and creativity in the industry: “On the flip side of this, there is a positive side to this industry disruption. The artistic community’s response to the pandemic has been monumental. Artists have produced online work, worked on their profiles, and sought their own support like never before.

“The classical music industry needed to take a step back from the culture of unspoken hierarchy which exists and hampers the progress of artists that are minorities and/or from less advantaged backgrounds. There has been a big ‘levelling’ in all this, and I think artists that were previously struggling to find their path to success have a real opportunity here, to take their own space and find their own voice.”

Conductor completely tears apart ‘Happy Birthday’ ...

... and makes it a million times better

Ivan Fischer improves 'Happy Birthday'. Picture: Medici TV/Verbier Festival

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

 

Iván Fischer masterfully rewrites the world’s most famous ditty. Behold, the new-and-improved ‘Happy Birthday’…

Whether your concert stage is an open-plan office space, a packed-out pub or even the now-dreaded mass Zoom call, likelihood is you’re more than familiar with the song ‘Happy Birthday’.

But did you ever think it could be improved like this?

Hungarian composer and conductor Iván Fischer decided he had truly had enough of what is, in his words, “a very poor melody”.

‘Happy Birthday’ is, according to Fischer, ripe for a rewrite. Sitting at a piano during the Verbier Festival, the founder and music director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra worked out an ‘improved’ version of the well-known tune.

“I want to do something about this melody, Happy Birthday,” the great maestro says. “Everybody sings it all over the world, it’s maybe the most well-known melody.”

But, Fischer argues, the melodic accents are all in the wrong place. Rather than the emphasis being on ‘you’, the recipient of the birthday wishes, the way the song is written means the accent lands on ‘to’.

Read more: What if Chopin had written ‘Happy Birthday’?

The maestro’s next bit of beef is that the third line goes too high.

“Why does it go up?” Fischer asks. “Nobody can even sing it, it’s always out of tune. There’s no reason to go up.”

And so, he shows us how it’s really done (watch above).

“It would be so much more singable,” Fischer proclaims of his new version. “And the melody is better, it makes better turns. Everything would be better. So, I hope we can change it all over the world, and then people will sing it differently.”

If anyone fancies starting a petition, you’ve got our vote

‘Impromptu applause erupted during the first tuning note’ ...

 ... music returns to concert halls in the UK

Classical music and opera lovers ‘ecstatic’ to be back in concert halls as live music returns. Picture: Getty / Twitter

By Rosie Pentreath, ClassicFM London

@rosiepentreath

 

Classical music lovers have been sharing their sheer joy at being back in front of live music as lock-down restrictions ease and venues open – here are the moments that sum it up best.

Classical music and opera lovers have described feelings of “pure joy” and being “ecstatic” to attend live music once again, as venues started opening their doors to audiences yesterday (Monday 17 May).

With many people able to enjoy classical music live and in-person for the first time since March 2020, venues around the country marked the easing of corona virus lock down restrictions by welcoming socially-distanced audiences tentatively back to COVID-safe seats.

And audiences that returned, expressed their gratitude and joy at being back in front of live performers and their beautiful music. At the Royal Opera House, impromptu applause erupted during the first tuning note, and at London’s Wigmore Hall cellist Guy Johnston, who was in audience, tweeted what an “absolute joy” it was to see so many people back in the hall.

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Classic FM’s Orchestra in the Midlands, has shared joy at returning to Birmingham’s Symphony Hall tomorrow (Wednesday 19 May) and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Classic FM’s Orchestra in North-West England, excitedly follows suit the next day.

Read more: Wigmore Hall to reopen to audiences with special 120th anniversary festival... /

When a 7-year-old cello prodigy named Yo-Yo Ma played to the world for the first time

Cello prodigy Yo-Yo Ma plays for President J.F. Kennedy. Picture: The Kennedy Center/YouTube

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

 

In 1962, Yo-Yo Ma played for President J.F. Kennedy, and the world heard his playing for the first time.

Here’s the moment a late great of the music world introduced a young star onto the stage, with little idea of the beloved, cultural figurehead he would become.

In a video published by The Kennedy Center, American conductor and TV host for the evening, Leonard Bernstein introduces seven-year-old cellist Yo-Yo Ma and his 11-year-old sister Yeou-Cheng Ma, to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower during An American Pageant of the Arts in November 1962.

The purpose of the telecast was to raise funds for the National Cultural Center, which was founded under Eisenhower’s administration and nurtured under Kennedy’s.

A smattering of applause is heard as the young sibling duo walk to centre stage, bow and take their seats.

Remarkably playing the entire thing from memory, Ma performs the first movement of French composer Jean-Baptiste Bréval’s Concertino No. 3 in A Major, in a piano-cello duet with his sister. Even as a child, Ma’s performances were imbued with a sense of peace and togetherness (watch below).

Introducing Ma, Bernstein celebrates the “double stream of art… flowing into and out of America”.

The great Mahler champion and West Side Story composer uses his speech to highlight “the attraction of our country to foreign artists, and scientists and thinkers, who have come not only to visit us, but often to join us as Americans, to become citizens of what to some has historically been the land of opportunity and to others the land of freedom.

“And in this great tradition, there has come to us, this year, a young man aged seven, bearing the name Yo-Yo Ma,” Bernstein continues.

Born in Paris, Ma was bathed in music from a young age – his mother, Marina Lu, a singer, and his father, Hiao-Tsiun Ma, a violinist and professor of music at Nanjing National Central University.

Ma took up the violin, piano and viola from very young, but settled on cello aged four. From the age of five, he was already performing before audiences in France.

Two years later, Ma and his family moved to the United States. And this, it appears, was the first time Ma was seen on television after cellist Pablo Casals – who was also on the bill that night – brought the young star to the organisers’ attention.

Read more: Beloved cellist Yo-Yo Ma gives impromptu concert at COVID-19 vaccine clinic

Leonard Bernstein introduces seven-year-old Yo-Yo Ma. Picture: The Kennedy Center/YouTube

“Now, here’s a cultural image for you to ponder as you listen,” Bernstein continues. “A seven-year-old Chinese cellist, playing old French music, for his new American compatriots.

“Welcome Yo-Yo Ma, and Yeou-Cheng Ma.”

And so, a cultural icon was born. With 18 Grammy Awards under his belt, Ma is arguably the world’s most celebrated classical cellist and has recorded music from American bluegrass to traditional Chinese melodies. A United Nations Messenger of Peace, Ma has also become a humanitarian icon and champion for the power of music in healing.

Yo-Yo’s sister, now Dr. Yeou-Cheng Ma, has often collaborated with her brother and had great success on the world stage as a child, playing with the Denver Symphony Orchestra at age 10. Now, she enriches young musical talent as the executive director of the Children’s Orchestra Society in New York.

Exactly a year after Ma and his sister’s performance, and two months after President Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, new legislation was signed into law renaming the National Cultural Center as a “living memorial” to John F. Kennedy.

Now, let’s all take a moment to remember the time Ma wrote to Bernstein, aged 10, asking if he would like to hear him play again:

How could the answer have been anything but “yes”...

The time Rowan Atkinson ‘forgot’ the words to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony...

  in hilarious skit...

The time Rowan Atkinson forgot the words to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in hilarious skit. Picture: YouTube

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

 

When a fictitious baritone took on the work of a classical giant – and it all went terribly wrong.

Here’s the moment Rowan Atkinson hit a nerve with every choral singer on the face of the earth, with a hilarious skit in which he misplaces the lyrics to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Under the alias of “distinguished British baritone” Robert Bennington, Atkinson cues the glorious choral ‘Ode to Joy’ finale, Beethoven’s famous setting of German poet Friedrich Schiller’s text.

Atkinson’s baritone character launches into the anthem of the European Union, annunciating the triumphant poem with fervour. But at the end of the first verse, disaster strikes, and he realises he has forgotten the rest of his sheet music.

Left with no other option but to wing it, the baritone panics and begins to spout randomly combined German words.

And so, Beethoven and Schiller’s immortal vision of the human race becoming brothers, slowly descends into a shambolic melting pot of apple strudels and lederhosen (watch below).

This was far from Atkinson’s first rodeo in the world of musical comedy – or indeed, the music of Beethoven.

In 1981, Mr Bean’s creator acted out a brilliantly chaotic skit in which he conducted Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

There was also the time Atkinson exercised his extraordinary rubber limbs in an ‘air piano’ sketch of the third, exhausting, movement of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata (watch below).

And who could forget his cameo at the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, in which he played the London Symphony Orchestra’s unruly keyboard player in a performance of the Chariots of Fire theme.

“Music and comedy sit extremely well together, but they have to blend,” Atkinson told Classic FM More Music Breakfast’s Tim Lihoreau in 2018. “They can’t fight each other – it is a dance.

“Music is many ways in the straight man to the comedy, that essential support mechanism against which you can play.”

(C) 2021 ClassicFM London