A Fifth Of Beethoven

This disco instrumental was an adaptation of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. Convenient, since classical music is in the public domain and free to use.

Walter Murphy was an orchestral leader who studied both classical and jazz music piano at the Manhattan School of Music. At one time he was the arranger for Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show orchestra. Murphy played nearly every instrument on this song but was forced to credit it to an imaginary ensemble. It landed at #1 in the US on October 9, 1976 (ousted the following week by "Disco Duck"). Murphy never had another Top 40 hit on the Hot 100. The closest he got was this song's follow-up, "Flight 76," based on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee," which peaked at #44, and 1982's medley of "Themes From E.T. (The Extra-Terrestrial)," which reached #47. Murphy switched to writing jingles and music for TV shows and in 2002 his song "You've Got A Lot To See," written for an episode of the cartoon Family Guy, won the 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics.

This plays early in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever in a scene where John Travolta's character walks into a disco. The song was included on the soundtrack, which spent 24 weeks at #1 in America.