CBA Ode to Joy

Program Notes

Ludwig van Beethoven–Symphony No. 9, Op. 125

The Symphony No. 9 in D minor was the final symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. The symphony may be the best known of all works of classical music, and plays a prominent cultural role in modern society. An adapted form of the symphony’s fourth movement was chosen to be the anthem of the European Union. Students in Beijing’ s Tiananmen Square protest broadcast the symphony through loudspeakers in 1989 as a statement against tyranny. A famous performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein on December 25, 1989 celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall.

As a Bonn University student of 19, emerging from a disadvantaged background, young Ludwig was stirred by the democratic proclamations of the French Revolution. As early as 1792 he had a notion to write music for a poem, the “Ode to Joy,” by Friedrich Schiller, an eminent Revolutionary sympathizer. Moving to Vienna, the musical capital, the maturing Beethoven lived for years under the threat of invasion by Napoleon’s armies. With Napoleon’s defeat in 1814 Beethoven jotted down an idea for celebratory music. The Ninth Symphony can be seen gradually emerging in earlier pieces by Beethoven that were composed in 1794 Gegenliebe (“ Returned Love”) and in 1808 The Choral Fantasy Op. 80. While completed works in their own right, they were also in some sense sketches for the future symphony. Beethoven’s sketchbooks show that other bits of material that ultimately appeared in his Ninth Symphony were written in 1811, 1815, and 1817. Thus in one sense Beethoven was working on the Ninth Symphony off and on for much of his adult life. However, the final composition of the work took place in the years 1822-1824, as the result of a commission from the Royal Philharmonic Society of London. By that time, Beethoven was completely deaf following a gradually worsening and irreversible hearing condition that he first noticed in 1798. The Ninth Symphony premieredMay 7, 1824 in Vienna. Beethoven’s desire to conduct the entire concert despite his deafness was accommodated by the regular conductor, Kapellmeister Michael Umlauf. Umlauf stood nearby and actually ran things, having instructed the orchestra and choir to watch him and ignore Beethoven. The alto soloist, Karolin Unger, later supplied one of the most famous sentimental anecdotes in musical lore. After the triumphal finale, Beethoven, with his back to the audience, remained unaware of the tumultuous applause, and she had to take his arm and gently turn him around to face the audience so that he could witness his greatest– and last–public reception. Beethoven died less than three years later on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56. His passing was mourned by over 10,000 people who lined the streets of Vienna for his funeral. The Ninth Symphony is scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in C, A, and B flat), 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns (in D, E flat, B flat, and bass B flat), 2 trumpets (in D and B flat), 3 trombones, 2 timpani, triangle, cymbals, bass drum, a string section consisting of the usual first and second violins, violas, cellos, double basses, four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone), and a chorus singing in four parts (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). These are by far the largest forces needed for any Beethoven symphony. At the premiere Beethoven expanded them further by assigning two players to each wind part. A performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony takes about 70 minutes. It is widely believed that the playback time specifications of the Sony/Philips-invented Compact Disc were influenced by a desire to accommodate performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on a single disc, without interruption. Although some have suggested this to be an “urban legend,” according to the company, it was indeed Sony president Norio Ohga who suggested extending the CD capacity enough to accommodate Beethoven’s Ninth. The fourth movement opens with a recapitulation of themes from all of the three preceding movements, only to cast them aside with the bass recitative “O Freunde, nicht diese Tone!” (“Oh friends, not these strains!”) It has been characterized as a “symphony within a symphony,” containing four parts akin to the four movements of a symphony. This “inner symphony” follows the same overall pattern as the Ninth Symphony as a whole. The fourth movement differs from an independent symphony because of its thematic unity: every part is based on either the main theme, the “ Seid umschlungen” theme, or some combination of the two. In this characterization, the first part is the famous theme and variations, first appearing in the cellos and basses, followed by the voices. The second part is the “Turkish March” section for tenor solo and men’s voices, which

36 ODE TO JOY