Beethoven told  the concert-goers, "We are moved by nothing but pure patriotism and the joyful sacrifice of our powers for those who have sacrificed so much for us."[

It’s interesting to note that Schubert’s Trout Quintet (which we heard yesterday) opens with the same triumphant A major chord and shares other striking similarities with the symphony. Where did Schubert get the idea of the sliding notes in one of the fourth movement variations that reminds one of Appalachian folk music? Perhaps from the sonorous bass notes in the final minutes of the first movement of Beethoven’s symphony, and which re-appear in the third movement as a two-note motif. You decide.