The present Urtext edition is based on the known surviving primary sources, and also incorporates two further, previously ignored sources, including a copy of the score made presumably in Vienna around 1820.

The score contains a summarizing Critical Report in which the annotations and divergences from familiar editions that seem to be particularly important are brought out through bold print. In the separately published study Die Neubewertung der Quellen von Beethovens Fünfter Symphonie (Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1996), there is an extensive discussion of the source dependencies as well as facts on the origin and transmission of the work.

“Words are not enough to praise this exemplary edition, resulting from many years of systematic editorial work on the sources. Breitkopfs source-critical, practice-oriented edition by Clive Brown and Peter Hauschild will provide valuable new impulses in the interpretation of Beethovens music.” (Kurt Masur)