"Fifth Symphony" is divided into four movements, with a total length of 33 minutes.

The first movement is a passionate Allegro, in 2/4 time and sonata form. This movement shows a scene of struggle. The music symbolizes the power of the people, like a torrent, launching a fierce impact on the forces of darkness. The powerful and dynamic four notes that appear at the beginning of the piece are what Beethoven calls the knocking sound of "fate". This is the main theme. This theme is a musical image of forward impact, which promotes the continuous development of the music and will continue to appear and develop in subsequent movements. This theme is passionate and powerful, with a courageous and indomitable momentum. It shows thrilling scenes of struggle and expresses Beethoven's inner indignation and strong will to challenge feudal forces. When various musical instruments imitate reincarnations, setting off waves of increasing tension one after another, the French horn plays a variation of the fateful motive, which expresses a kind of confidence in victory. This is a connecting sentence, which leads to the singing second theme from the tense and majestic music scene in front. This is a lyrical melody. The gentle, beautiful and bright tone contrasts with the previous one. It expresses people's emotions. The desire and pursuit of a happy life. Here, the grim fateful motive retreats to the bass and appears as an accompaniment, giving the gentle music an uneasy color and pushing the music forward. The music finally ends with a decisive and enthusiastic sound in a bright atmosphere. After an expressive two-bar break, as the fateful motive enters the development department, the music returns to an uneasy tone, and the hard and fierce struggle begins again. At this time, the first theme is very active. It repeats endlessly, the tonality changes constantly, and the intensity continues to increase. Then a bright and powerful trumpet-like second theme appears. These two themes alternately develop using various techniques, such as contrasting polyphony techniques, frequent modulations, etc., which increase the instability of the music and make the music richer. Finally, the motivation of fate breaks in again and repeats it with the strongest sound, forming the dramatic climax of the development part, and the music directly enters the recapitulation part. In the recapitulation, the scene of struggle in the exposition reappears. Between the first theme and the connection, the oboe plays a slow wailing tone, and the development of the first theme is suddenly interrupted. However, the excitement and anxiety returned immediately, only to calm down a little when the second theme appeared. However, the struggle between light and darkness does not end, and becomes increasingly fierce in the huge epilogue. At this time, the momentum of music development is unstoppable, with sharp intensity contrast and tense harmonious development, forming the climax of the whole movement. At the end of the movement, the strong sound of the first theme motive further portrays the heroic character who dares to challenge and shows the people's strong confidence in defeating the forces of darkness.

The second movement is a slightly faster Andante, in 3/8 time, with double theme variations. This is a beautiful lyric poem, majestic and brilliant, in contrast to the first movement. It reflects people's emotional world, where the meditation after the battle is intertwined with the longing for beautiful ideals, and finally turns into firm determination. At the beginning of the music, the viola and cello played the first theme, accompanied by the plucked strings of the double bass. It is deep, serene and beautiful, and contains profound power and yearning for a better life. Immediately afterwards, the clarinet and bassoon played the second theme with a call to arms. This theme is very close in tone to the first theme and is tonally related to the songs of the French Revolution. This is a heroic theme in the march style. It is lyrical and meditative at first. After it is transferred to C major and played by the whole band, it becomes a majestic triumphal march, full of fiery vitality, inspiring people to move forward forever. The subsequent development of the music consists of six different variations of these two themes alternating. In these six variations, Beethoven used various techniques such as different rhythmic patterns, key changes, and instrument changes to show the hero's contemplation after the fierce struggle, his firm belief in overcoming the darkness, and his energetic passion. For example, the first variation uses the continuous sixteenth notes of the first theme to make the music ups and downs and exciting. The second variation uses the continuous appearance of thirty-second notes, which enhances the dynamic and shows the hero's firm belief in defeating the darkness. The last variation, like a hero's triumphant song, is full of heroic spirit and optimism. At the end of this movement, the first theme is simply expanded, showing that one gains strength from deep thought and is full of confidence in future victory.

The third movement is in C minor, Allegro, 3/4 time, Scherzo. This movement is written in the form of a complex trilogy. In terms of tonality, it returns to the turbulent mood, as if the hard struggle is still going on. It is the transition and conversion leading to the fourth movement. The main part is composed of two contrasting themes. The first theme has two elements: the first element is a rapidly upward melody played by the cello and double bass, which has a power to move forward, but seems a bit hesitant. Another factor is the response to this foundation, which consists of a series of chords that are calm, restrained, and uneasy. After stating this theme twice, the horn played a very active, horn-like new theme. The familiar rhythm allowed us to confirm at once that the theme of the first movement appeared in another image here, majestic. , steady, with the characteristics of a march.

Two sharply opposing themes with different temperaments appear in turn, showing scenes of turbulence and hard struggle. Each time they appear, they become more and more sharp, complex, and dramatic. The central theme of the middle part is the warm German and Austrian folk dance music, which changes from C minor to the bright C major. The music adopts the contrasting technique of polyphonic fugue and main harmonies. The mood is warm and optimistic. It starts with the cello and double bass. When played, it contrasts with the previous music. It has an irresistible force, causing a turbulent trend, showing that the power of the people is getting stronger and stronger and the belief in victory is getting stronger and stronger. The third part is the dynamic reappearance. Both themes in the first part are played in pianissimo for reproduction and development. The basic motive rhythm of the timpani beat indicates that the conflict is continuing, which is accumulating the power to prepare for the final sprint. Then, the first theme appeared softly, and the music stretched freely upwards. The band's vocal range continued to expand, the intensity changed from weak to strong, and the tonal color changed from dark to bright. It gradually developed into an unstoppable force, and the loud chords introduced into the brilliance. 's final movement.

The fourth movement is Allegro in 4/4 time, sonata form. The grand fourth movement is full of light and joyful emotions, a lively scene of victory. The main theme of the movement presentation part consists of two parts. The first part starts with a majestic triumphal march. The chords are full and powerful, the melody is positive and forward, and it is played by the whole orchestra. The mood of the second part of the music is consistent with the previous part. It is played by horns and woodwind instruments. The tone is bright and soft, with the rhythm of a march, and the mood is joyful and full of singing. The secondary theme is played by string instruments and is based on the key of G major. This is a relaxed and ups and downs happy dance music based on triplet rhythm. At the end of the presentation, a new melody appears that is connected to the presentation. The expansion part is based on the extensive and active development of the second theme. The rising music is like an endless crowd, forming a sea of ??joy. Nearing the climax, the "Destiny" sound pattern is inserted again, but it is no longer firm and strong, but more like a memory of past struggles, echoing the first movement. The Recapitulation basically repeats the music of the Exposition, with a slight addition of new power. This new theme flows out from the heart of the hero like a huge wave, confident, heroic and moving forward courageously. At the grand coda, the glorious triumphal march in C major sounded. It has an overwhelming momentum and shows the incomparable joy of the people's final victory after struggle. "The Fifth Symphony" is one of the most representative works in Beethoven's symphony creation. Engels said: "If you have not heard this magnificent work, then you can say that you have not heard any work in your life." Passed." The key of the work, C minor, is considered to have special significance to Beethoven, symbolizing "the heroic color of the storm." Charles Rosen also wrote: "Beethoven uses the key of C minor to embody the hero... to present the composer's most extroverted character, when he refuses any compromise."

E. T. A. Hoffmann (Hoffmann) Commenting shortly after the premiere, he dramatically compared the work to "a strong light shining through the deep night" and said, "Only through it can we mobilize all our passions and burst out the cry of our whole body. Only then can we live firmly and become the guardian of the soul." Later, he praised "this rhapsody of genius" for its "unparalleled inner connection" and for "deeply and intimately" bringing the listener "into the endless spiritual world".

The Fifth Symphony has had a huge impact on people both technically and emotionally, and has had a great impact on composers and music critics. The composers affected by it include: Brahms, Tchaikovsky (excerpts from his Symphony No. 4), Bruckner, Mahler, and. The Fifth Symphony, together with Berlioz's Third Symphony "Eroica" and "Ninth Symphony "Chorus", are among Beethoven's most innovative works.