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THE SHORT CADENZA FOR SOLO OBOE IN THE FIRST MOVEMENT OF BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH SYMPHONY has always presented itself as an enigma to oboists, conductors, and musicologists alike because no single explanation as to its meaning, provenance, or raison d'être acceptable to all parties has ever appeared. (See Example 1.) During rehearsals of the symphony, the oboist is generally left to his or her own devices or is given a cryptic, of necessity abstract speech as to the "meaning" of this unexpected phrase.
Of course the absence of any explanation of the meaning does not in any way impede execution of this cadenza, or, for that matter, the performance of any musical composition. If, however, the meaning is of importance to any performance, the source - an original thought of the composer; a quote, either from the composer's own works, or some other provenance; a quote from a titled piece or a piece with text; a permutation of other thematic material within the work - may very well reveal a more reliable, precise clue as to its interpretation. Regarding the case of the oboe cadenza, as well as the opening five measures of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, there is one well-grounded possibility that seems to have been overlooked over the almost two hundred years since its first performance in 1807.
Discussions of musical compositions seem to vacillate roughly between two concepts: technical structure and meaning. As relatively clear and unambiguous as the first may be, the second is a veritable minefield. If the commentator clearly states that his or her interpretation of the meaning is purely personal, the statements are then unassailable. But commentators frequently cite technical structure to support their interpretation of the meaning, which then reduces the assertion to pure conjecture unless the composer has titled the composition, the music is set to a text, or the composer has left some specific statement.
Treatises on "musical vocabulary," "language of music," and "the meaning of music" draw heavily on the significance of ascending or descending phrases (ascending characterized as "hopeful," descending phrases as "plaintive") with abundant examples being quoted from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries.1 When dealing with the descending aspect of this theory, almost all dissertations on the subject quote with prominence the...