LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770-1827)
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125
Few works of art elevate, inspire and mystify with the same indescribable power
that Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 possesses. The music dramas of Richard Wagner and
the symphonies of Gustav Mahler, to name a few, owe their very existence to this
work. Gustav Klimt's wonderfully sensual, art nouveau Beethoven Frieze embodies
a personal reflection on the Ninth Symphony. Musical analyses of this complex score
(such as Heinrich Schenker's tome) have filled volumes. The depth of meaning in
Beethoven’s inspired setting of Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller’s “Ode to
Joy” has not been exhausted. It probably never will be.
Even before moving to Vienna permanently in 1793, Beethoven announced his desire
to compose music for the “Ode to Joy.” The idea of including this text in a symphony,
though, struck with jarring force 30 years later. Anton Schindler, Beethoven’s secretary
and biographer, remembered the magical moment: “One day, when I entered his room,
he called out to me, ‘I have it! I have it,’ holding out his sketchbook, where I
read these words, ‘Let us sing the immortal Schiller’s song, Freude.’” At
that moment, the master solved the aesthetic impasse presented by the final movement.
Borrowing a notion (and actual melodic phrases) from his Choral Fantasy, Op. 80,
for piano, orchestra and chorus, Beethoven made the unprecedented decision to incorporate
chorus and vocal soloists into his symphony. However, Schiller’s drinking song text
required patient selection and rewriting to extol universal peace and brotherhood.
Although the Symphony No. 9 originated as a work for the Philharmonic Society of
London, its premiere took place May 7, 1824, in Vienna on a monumental program with
the Overture to Consecration of the House, Op. 124, and three movements from
the Missa solemnis, Op. 123. Totally deaf, the composer stood beside conductor
Ignaz Umlauf, beating time and turning pages. Beethoven negotiated with several
publishers for rights to the Symphony No. 9, which he finally offered to the Mainz
firm of B. Schott and Sons. The printed score, complete with metronome markings
and lavish title page, was dedicated to Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.
Click here to download* Beethoven's
"Ode to Joy" from his Ninth Symphony.
Click here to download*
a lecture about Beethoven from noted musicologist Robert Greenberg.
Structurally the Symphony No. 9 remains within accepted boundaries of early-Romantic
instrumental practice: sonata-form first movement, scherzo-trio-scherzo, slow variations
and fast sonata-rondo. However, Beethoven saturates his movements with a bounteous
stream of melodic motives, rhythmic energy, daring harmonic progressions and developmental
expansion that stretch standard forms to the point of destruction and irrelevance.
His colossal expression dominates every aspect of the music and in the final movement
demands both a larger performing medium (solo and choral forces in addition to the
typical orchestral “families”) and an enduring text.
In the Allegro, ma non troppo, un poco maestoso, the robust triadic first
theme slowly emerges from a sparse, hushed opening. A quiet composite of lyrical
motives, serving as a second theme, does not completely still the turbulence boiling
beneath the surface. Beethoven manipulates thematic fragments in an extensive development.
The recapitulation begins in major, then reverts to minor in preparation for a massive
coda.
The second movement combines scherzo and sonata ideals. A fleet, triple-meter sonata
form, with repeated exposition, functions as a scherzo. Turning to cut time, Beethoven
introduces a quieter trio before resuming the scherzo music. The Adagio molto e cantabile
consists of interlocking sets of variations, such as Beethoven might have learned
from Haydn.
A chaotic dissonance inaugurates the finale. Basses and cellos anticipate the solo
bass voice recitative, while the orchestra reminisces on themes from earlier movements.
Complete statements of the “Ode to Joy” melody appear in the low strings, then full
ensemble, but without text it remains a beautiful yet empty tune. Chaos strikes
with greater force in a tone cluster containing every note of the D-minor scale.
The bass solo rejects all music heard to this point, implores the gathered company
(“O Friends, not these sounds! Instead, let us make sweeter and more joyous music!”),
then begins the famous “Ode,” which the chorus and other soloists join. This melody,
varied in each repetition, alternates like a refrain between new vocal themes. Beethoven
concludes his exhilarating hymn with a quicksilver orchestral coda.
The interpretive adaptability of Schiller’s text has thrust this symphony into the
service of politics and nationalism. One popular notion, that the poet intended
an ode to “Freiheit” (freedom) but changed it to “Freude” (joy), circulated
widely during the 19th century. As a result, Beethoven’s setting achieved almost
universal significance during this age of Revolution and political upheaval. Interestingly,
this viewpoint turned against the composer’s own culture during World War I. The
Frenchman Camille Mauclair was one of many who believed that “the ‘Ode to Joy’ is
the unique hymn of the Allies, the credo of all our just hopes, and it would be
necessary to forbid criminal Germany ever to play a single bar of it.” Two decades
later, the Nazis enlisted the Ninth Symphony for their own propaganda purposes.
One of the great cultural showcases, the 1938 Düsseldorf Reichsmusiktage, featured
Beethoven’s music. Adolph Hitler requested a performance of this symphony for his
1937 birthday celebrations.
After the fall of the Berlin wall, a once-torn German nation celebrated its reunification
to these strains. Leonard Bernstein assembled an orchestra and chorus for two special
Christmastime concerts on both sides of the Brandenburg Gate. These 220 musicians
from the East and West performed December 23 in West Berlin’s Philharmonie concert
hall and then on Christmas morning in East Berlin’s Schauspielhaus theater. Caught
in the spirit of the event, Bernstein substituted the word “Freiheit” for
“Freude.” More recently, Seiji Ozawa conducted an unusual performance as
part of the opening ceremonies of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. Five choruses
in different countries were linked by satellite for a truly global rendition of
Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”
— Program notes © Todd E. Sullivan 2009
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O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
Sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen und freudenvollere!
Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium!
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum.
Deine Zauber binden wieder,
Was die Mode streng getheilt;
Alle Menschen werden Brüder,
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen,
Eines Freundes Freund zu sein,
Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,
Mische seinen Jubel ein!
Ja—wer auch nur eine Seele
Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!
Und wer’s nie gekonnt, der stehle
Weinend sich aus diesem Bund.
Freude trinken alle Wesen
An den Brüsten der Natur;
Alle Guten, alle Bösen
Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.
Küsse gab sie uns und Reben,
Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod;
Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,
Und der Cherub steht vor Gott.
Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
Durch des Himmels prächt’gen Plan,
Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,
Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.
Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!
Brüder—überm Sternenzelt
Muss ein Lieber Vater wohnen!
Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such’ ihn überm Sternenzelt!
Über Sternen muss er wohnen.
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O Friends, not these sounds!
Instead, let us make sweeter
and more joyous music!
Joy, lovely spark of the gods,
daughter of Elysium.
We enter elated with fervor,
heavenly one, into your sanctuary.
Your charms unite again
what fashion sharply divided;
all men are made brothers
wherever your gentle wing abides.
To whomever it has been granted
to be the friend of a friend;
whoever has won a gracious woman,
now join in the exultation!
Yes—he who even only one heart
has called his own on the whole wide earth!
And whoever never could feel it,
let him steal away weeping from this alliance.
All creatures drink in joy
at the breast of nature;
all the good, all the evil
follow in her path of roses.
Kisses she gave to us, and wine,
and a friend, faithful unto death;
lust was given to the worm,
and the cherub stands before God.
Happy, as the suns rushing
through heaven’s brilliant plane,
follow, brothers, your path
joyously as a hero to victory.
Receive this embrace, ye millions!
This kiss to the whole world!
Brothers—above the starry sky
there surely lives a loving father!
Do you fall down, ye millions?
Do you sense the creator, world?
Seek him above the starry sky!
Above the stars he certainly lives.
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—Translation of Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” by Don Horisberger
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