Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 "Ode to Joy" / Remastered (Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "An die Freude"

• I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco Maestoso
• II. Molto vivace
• III. Adagio molto e cantabile
• IVa. Presto, Allegro assai, Allegro molto assai - Alla marcia
• IVb. Presto, Recitativo: "O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!" - Andante maestoso, Adagio ma non troppo - ma divoto, Allegro energico - sempre ben marcato, Allegro ma non tanto, Prestissimo

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125; To Schiller's ode "An die Freude" (Ode to Joy) // Completed in February 1824, the Symphony with Chorus is a universally celebrated poem in music; it is the pinnacle of Beethoven's symphonic output, and the year 1822, in which it was conceived, marks the symphony's most important date...

Beethoven wrote seven symphonies between 1800 and 1813, but completed only one, the Symphony in D minor, during the following ten years. Age, illness and other troubles were partly to blame, but so was the fact that he had never worked so seriously on a composition. His long silence was criticized, and one newspaper wrote in 1823: "Beethoven is busy at present harmonizing Scottish songs. He is totally indifferent to any more important work."

As early as 1793, Beethoven had been planning to compose music to Schiller's "An die Freude", and among the sketches for the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies we find a melody, dated 1811, to the text "Freude schöner Götterfunken" (Joy, divine spark); it is not, however, the same as the melody for the finale of the Ninth. An almost illegible note indicates that it was intended for a four-movement symphony. For several years, Beethoven had to devote himself to other works, but the idea of composing the music for Schiller's ode came back to him again and again. He began work in earnest in 1817, and his sketches for the first and second movements date from between Christmas of that year and May 1818. The first part he wrote was the main theme of the second movement, indicated as a fugue in the sketches. At this point, his intention was to write two symphonies, one of which was to use choruses.

In an 1822 notebook, we find the following indication: "A German symphony, either with variations as an introduction to the choruses, or without variations." Shortly afterwards, Beethoven had completed the final form of the musical setting of "Freude schöner Götterfunken". As he devoted himself more and more to this symphony, he had no time for anything else; he wrote to Schindler: "Samothrace! Don't you dare come here before I send you the Hausscherief (housekeeper). My fast barge, the good and noble Lady Schnaps, will be asking, every few days, how you are. Farewell, and don't bring anyone else here!". "In this solitude," Schindler said, "he works as actively as a bee, wandering through the woods and countryside [this was during the summer of 1823, the one he spent in Hetzendorf and Baden], and something he had never done before, even when he was very moved, he returned home several times without his hat!"

The first three movements were completed in autumn 1823, and Beethoven returned to Vienna to compose the last movement; the whole symphony was finally finished in February 1824. It is not known whether Beethoven had intended from the outset to conclude the symphony with a hymn for chorus; among his notes is a draft of the finale, dated July 1823, which was still purely instrumental. His idea of using An die Freude as a finale may have been inspired by the ode's history. It had been written in 1785, just before the French Revolution, and had originally been entitled An die Freiheit (To Liberty). Freiheit had to be replaced by Freude (joy), but Beethoven, like many others, was well aware of the change and the political reasons behind it. He must have been delighted to be able to sing the praises of freedom so openly, despite the censors.

The work required a very large orchestra for its time: the composer, for example, called for forty-six string instruments. He also demanded a great deal from his singers, as he had not always taken into account the natural limitations of the human voice, but had written for both choir and soloists in the same way as for instruments. The last movement of the Ninth Symphony is, for this reason, considered one of the most difficult passages for singers.

When news spread that Beethoven had completed a major new symphony, he was strongly lobbied to have it premiered in Vienna. The previous year, the London Philharmonic Society had commissioned a symphony from Beethoven, and he therefore intended to give the Ninth only an "academic" performance in Vienna. The rehearsals, or as the singer Caroline Unger called them, "the quarrels", were not without serious altercations between the musicians and the composer. He finally gave in, and the first performance took place on May 7, 1824, at the Kärntnerthor Theater in Vienna. Michael Umlauf conducted the orchestra and Ignaz Schuppanzigh led the chorus, while Beethoven stood next to the conductor throughout. As soon as he entered, he was greeted with enthusiasm. It later became so enthusiastic that the police had to intervene to maintain order. Although the performance was mediocre, the audience was delighted, and after the famous timpani solo in the scherzo, the spontaneous applause was so frenzied that the orchestra had to stop playing. Beethoven, unable to hear the applause, continued to conduct, and Caroline Unger urged him to turn to face the audience to welcome the ovation he could see but not hear.

The critics were enchanted by this work: "Beethoven's genius was again revealed in this magnificent, gigantic composition with the same power and force as in his youth.... The impression it made was greater and more wonderful than can be described, the shouts of joy so enthusiastically addressed to the master who had unveiled a new world in this masterpiece...". Czerny recounted that, after the performance, Beethoven declared that he was dissatisfied with the finale with chorus, and intended to replace it with a purely orchestral part; he even knew the theme, which he used, in a different key, in his Quartet in A minor, Op. 132. Mendelssohn declared in 1837: "The instrumental parts are the most imposing I know, but in the parts for human voices I can no longer understand. I find that some parts taken in isolation are excellent, but, when it comes to the work of a great master, this incomprehension can only be imputed to us, whether we are listeners or performers."

Romain Rolland, on the other hand, wrote: "Here are the heavy clouds swollen with lightning, black with night, heavy with storm, at the beginning of the Ninth. Suddenly, at the height of the hurricane, the darkness is torn apart, night is driven from the sky, and the serenity of day is restored to us by an act of will." Niels Gade, speaking of the Dresden performance of the work in 1846, said he would have gladly made the journey from Leipzig (where he was living at the time) just to hear the bass recitatives at the start of the finale again. Wagner, for his part, swore by the Ninth. As early as 1830, while still a student at Leipzig's Thomasschule, he wrote a 2-hand piano reduction of the 9th Symphony. In 1972, the Council of Europe adopted Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" as its anthem. In 1985, the Heads of State and Government of the member states adopted it as the official anthem of the European Union.