One particularly zany take on this towering piece is when it is 'broadcast' with two commentators as though the performance were a sporting fixture (this track is nowadays available on YouTube). The man behind this version is an American musicologist called Peter Schickele, but what is/was Schickele's more usual stage-musical persona?

The opening movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 has to be one of the most enduring 'ear-worms' of all time. It is known all over the world and regularly appears in culture including pop music, film and television.