Musician spectacularly synchronises his Christmas light display with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

22 December 2020, 21:10 | Updated: 17 December 2021, 10:21

Beethoven lights
Beethoven lights. Picture: YouTube / Tom BetGeorge

By Kyle Macdonald

It was Christmas AND a great composer’s birthday, and this guy knew just how to celebrate.

YouTuber Tom BetGeorge has formerly found fame with his spectacular Christmas light displays – just check out his lusciously luminous Star Wars display that went viral a few years ago.

When he’s not plugging in the lights of his house, Tom is a music teacher. That explains the flawless audio synchronisation of his shows, and also his choice of project back at the end of 2020.

December 2020 saw the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven, and hence the theme of the year’s display: the famous opening movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

Click here to listen to our podcast, Beethoven: The Man Revealed on Global Player, the official Classic FM app >

With perfectly placed illuminating snowflakes, baton-like lasers, and flawlessly orchestrated colour changes, this Beethoven-loving home created a seasonal symphony like no other. Just take a look.

Read more: 10 works of Beethoven that actually changed the world >

Stunning Christmas lights play in time to Beethoven

Tom said that Beethoven’s C minor symphony was one of his favourite pieces growing up, which became the first piece he learned to conduct.

And you can sit back for a little lesson in music form and theory too. With a flash of his insight, the teacher says he used shape and colour to illustrate the intricacies of Beethoven’s composition.

Read more: This house has epic Christmas lights perfectly set to the Star Wars soundtrack >

“In order to keep this piece accessible for most viewers online, I decided to limit it to the exposition while highlighting the motif development across a variety of instrumentation showcased through different props in my display.”

Props to this festive light-loving Beethoven enthusiast for giving the world a wonderful gift this Christmas!