played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra: conductor, Sir Adrian Boult

I suppose that one of the greatest and certainly the most popular and universal symphonies of all time is Beethoven's No. 5 in C minor. During this war the opening rat-a-tat-tat motive, upon which the. first movement is largely built, has been associated with Victory because the rat-a-tat-tat in Morse stands for 'V,' a cryptic symbol used for Victory. Some misguided people, I am afraid, went so far as to entitle Beethoven's C minor Symphony the 'V Symphony.'

The first movement has nothing to do with Victory; it is usually associated with the ominous demands of Fate. But the finale is a song of joyful triumph. Indeed. Grove said that after the suffering 'suddenly bursts the new world, radiant with the eternal sunshine, and welcomed by the jubilant sound of those aeonian strains, when all the sons of God shouted for joy.' - Ralph Hill