Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Symphony No. 5 in C minor between 1804 and 1808, and it premiered in Vienna in 1808. Its opening four-note motif is often described as fate knocking at the door, an idea that helped it become one of the most quoted passages in classical music. Through films, cartoons, adverts and later remixes and memes, those first seconds became shorthand for doom and suspense, recognised even by people who have never heard the full symphony.