Beethoven Symphony No.5 (Proms 2012)

The instruments used in this piece of music include the usual instruments found in an orchestra. Such as    the Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, Contrabassoon, Trumpet, Horn, Trombone and Tuba. These instruments go well with each other as the string instruments fit well each other. They do this as they sound similar with slight alterations as well as being within the same key. In the Beethoven symphony there are many of the same instrument, playing the same notes, as this would create layers and give the song a fuller feel.

All the instruments that are the same are playing in unison as well as many other instruments playing the same note at the same time. This can be seen at 1:55 with most of the orchestra playing the same notes and then start playing separately again. When at the 1:55 mark the song is homophonic, with all the instruments playing in block chords of the same note together. At 2:05 it then becomes polyphonic with all the instruments playing separate parts that compliment each other. They do this as they are in the same key and play similarly to the other instruments blending well with the whole song.


I think the song was recorded using an omni-directional microphone. This is because the shape of the theatre is designed to have a specific reverb. However this meant that the audience can be heard throughout, such as a person sneezing at 0:17 and the audience coughing and moving about at 8:00. To prevent any of this I would have placed dynamic microphones in front of the groups of performers. The performers were split into the different groups based on what family group their instrument was in. Placing one or two microphones in front of these groups would mean that the recording would have been just of those instruments and there would be minimal disturbances in the recording. However placing the microphones in these positions would mean losing the reverb of the hall.

This piece of music is from the 19th century and is Classical music written and performed during the romantic era.