Symphony No. 5 – Beethoven

It is estimated that 121 million people world-wide suffer from depression. Whereas there are many causes of depression, indications are that the current economic climate, reflecting the worst economic times since the Great Depression, has resulted in an alarming increase in the number of Americans suffering from depression.

There is scientific evidence that music can help to ease the symptoms of depression (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080122203158.htm). With this in mind, we invite you to take time out from your busy schedule, relax momentarily and listen to our “Inspiring Music Selection for Today”, personally selected for you by our President, Karl, a classical music aficionado.

Today′s selection is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.  According to Karl: “The Symphony No. 5 premiered in Vienna on December 22, 1808.  It is one of the best-known compositions of Western classical music and one of the most frequently played symphonies. The German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776 – 1822) described Symphony No. 5 as:

A wonderful composition, in a climax that climbs on and on, leading the listener imperiously forward into the spirit world of the infinite! No doubt the whole rushes like an ingenious rhapsody past many a man, but the soul of each thoughtful listener is assuredly stirred, deeply and intimately, by a feeling that is none other than that unutterable portentous longing, and until the final chord—indeed, even in the moments that follow it—he will be powerless to step out of that wondrous spirit realm where grief and joy embrace him in the form of sound…

I hope your imagination soars as your spirit embarks on a momentary journey into the infinite while you listen to this wonderful and joyous symphony.”