Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven was almost completely deaf when he composed his ninth symphony.

The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral" is the last complete symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the Ninth Symphony is one of the best known works of the Western repertoire, considered both an icon and a forefather of Romantic music, and one of Beethoven's greatest masterpieces.

Symphony No. 9 incorporates part of the Ode an die Freude ("Ode to Joy"), a poem by Friedrich Schiller, with text sung by soloists and a chorus in the last movement. It is the first example of a major composer using the human voice on the same level with instruments in a symphony, creating a work of a grand scope that set the tone for the Romantic symphonic form.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 plays a prominent cultural role in the world today. In particular, the music from the fourth movement (Ode to Joy) was rearranged by Herbert von Karajan into what is now known as the official anthem of the European Union. Further testament to its prominence is that an original manuscript of this work sold in 2003 for $3.3 million USD at Sotheby's, London. The head of Sotheby's manuscripts department, Dr. Stephen Roe stated, "it is one of the highest achievements of man, ranking alongside Shakespeare's Hamlet and King Lear."

History

Writing of Symphony No.9

The Philharmonic Society of London (later the Royal Philharmonic Society) originally commissioned the symphony in 1817. Beethoven started work on his last symphony in 1818 and finished it early in 1824. This was roughly twelve years after his eighth symphony. However, he was interested in the Ode to Joy from a much earlier time, having set it to music as early as 1793; that setting is lost.

The theme for the scherzo can be traced back to a fugue written in 1815. The introduction for the vocal part of the symphony caused many difficulties for Beethoven. It was the first time he - or anyone - had used a vocal component in a symphony. Beethoven's friend, Anton Schindler, later said: "When he started working on the fourth movement the struggle began as never before. The aim was to find an appropriate way of introducing Schiller's ode. One day he [Beethoven] entered the room and shouted 'I got it, I just got it!' Then he showed me a sketchbook with the words 'let us sing the ode of the immortal Schiller'". However, that introduction did not make it into the work, and Beethoven spent a great deal of time rewriting the part until it had reached the form recognizable today.

Premiere

Beethoven was eager to have his work played in Berlin as soon as possible after finishing it. He was thinking that musical taste in Vienna was dominated by Italian composers such as Rossini. When his friends and financiers heard this, they urged him to premiere the symphony in Vienna.

The Ninth Symphony was premiered on May 7 1824 in the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna. The work was premiered along with the overture Die Weihe des Hauses and the first three parts of the Missa Solemnis. This was the composer's first on-stage appearance in twelve years; the hall was packed. The soprano and alto parts were interpreted by two famous young singers: Henriette Sontag and Caroline Unger.

Although the performance was officially directed by Michael Umlauf, the theatre's Kapellmeister, Beethoven shared the stage with him. However two years earlier, Umlauf had watched as the composer's attempt to conduct a dress rehearsal of his opera Fidelio ended in disaster. So this time, he instructed the singers and musicians to ignore the totally deaf Beethoven. At the beginning of every part, Beethoven, who sat by the stage, gave the tempos. He was turning the pages of his score and was beating time for an orchestra he could not hear.

There are a number of anecdotes about the premiere of the Ninth. Based on the testimony of the participants, there are suggestions that it was under-rehearsed (there were only two full rehearsals) and rather scrappy in execution. On the other hand, the premiere was a big success. In any case, Beethoven was not to blame, as violist Josef Bohm recalled, "Beethoven directed the piece himself; that is, he stood before the lectern and gesticulated furiously. At times he raised, at other times he shrunk to the ground, he moved as if he wanted to play all the instruments himself and sing for the whole chorus. All the musicians minded his rhythm alone while playing".

When the audience applauded - testimonies differ over whether at the end of the scherzo or the whole symphony - Beethoven was several measures off and still conducting. Because of that, the contralto Caroline Unger walked over and turned Beethoven around to accept the audience's cheers and applause. According to one witness, "the public received the musical hero with the utmost respect and sympathy, listened to his wonderful, gigantic creations with the most absorbed attention and broke out in jubilant applause, often during sections, and repeatedly at the end of them." The whole audience acclaimed him through standing ovations five times; there were handkerchiefs in the air, hats, raised hands, so that Beethoven, who could not hear the applause, could at least see the ovation gestures. The theatre house had never seen such enthusiasm in applause.

At that time, it was customary that the Imperial couple be greeted with three ovations when they entered the hall. The fact that five ovations were received by a private person who was not even employed by the state, and moreover, was a musician (a class of people who had been perceived as lackeys at court), was in itself considered almost indecent. Police agents present at the concert had to break off this spontaneous explosion of ovations. Beethoven left the concert deeply moved.

The repeat performance on May 23 in the great hall of the Fort was, however, poorly attended.

Instrumentation

A page from Beethoven's manuscript

The symphony is scored for piccolo (fourth movement only), 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, B flat and C, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon (fourth movement only), 2 horns (1 and 2) in D and B flat, 2 horns (3 and 4) in B flat (bass), B flat and E flat, 2 trumpets in D and B flat, 3 trombones (alto, tenor, and bass, second and fourth movements only), timpani, triangle (fourth movement only), cymbals (fourth movement only), bass drum (fourth movement only), and strings.

The vocal parts consist of soprano solo, alto solo, tenor solo, baritone solo, and choir in four parts (soprano, alto, tenor [divided briefly into Tenor I and Tenor II] and bass).

Note: These are by far the largest forces needed for any Beethoven symphony; at the premiere, Beethoven augmented them further by assigning two players to each wind part.

Form

The symphony is in four movements, marked as follows:

1. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
2. Molto vivace
3. Adagio molto e cantabile
4. Recitative: (Presto – Allegro ma non troppo – Vivace – Adagio cantabile – Allegro assai – Presto: O Freunde) – Allegro assai: Freude, schöner Götterfunken – Alla marcia – Allegro assai vivace: Froh, wie seine Sonnen – Andante maestoso: Seid umschlungen, Millionen! – Adagio ma non troppo, ma divoto: Ihr, stürzt nieder – Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato: (Freude, schöner Götterfunken – Seid umschlungen, Millionen!) – Allegro ma non tanto: Freude, Tochter aus Elysium! – Prestissimo: Seid umschlungen, Millionen!

Beethoven changes the usual pattern of Classical symphonies in placing the scherzo movement before the slow movement (in symphonies, slow movements are usually placed before scherzos). This was the first time that he did this in a symphony, although he had done so in some previous works (including the quartets Op. 18 nos. 4 and 5, the "Archduke" piano trio Op. 97, the "Hammerklavier" piano sonata Op. 106). Haydn, too, had used this arrangement in a number of works.

First movement

Template:Sample box start variation 2 Template:Sample box end The first movement is in sonata form, and the mood is often stormy. The opening theme is played pianissimo over string tremolandos. This first subject later returns fortissimo at the outset of the recapitulation section, in D major, rather than the opening's D minor. The coda employs the chromatic fourth interval.

This is the first appearance of a quartet of horns in a Beethoven symphony.

Second movement

Template:Sample box start variation 2 Template:Sample box end The second movement, a scherzo, is also in D minor, with the opening theme bearing a passing resemblance to the opening theme of the first movement, a pattern also found in the Hammerklavier piano sonata, written a few years earlier. It uses propulsive rhythms and a timpani solo. At times during the piece Beethoven directs that the beat should be one downbeat every three bars, perhaps because of the very fast pace of the majority of the movement which is written in triple time, with the direction ritmo di tre battute ("rhythm of three bars"), and one beat every four bars with the direction ritmo di quattro battute ("rhythm of four bars").

The contrasting trio section is in D major and in duple (cut) time. The trio is the first time the trombones play in the work...

Third movement

Template:Sample box start variation 2 Template:Sample box end The lyrical slow movement, in B flat major, is in a loose variation form, with each pair of variations progressively elaborating the rhythm and melody. The first variation, like the theme, is in 4/4 time, the second in 12/8. The variations are separated by passages in 3/4, the first in D major, the second in G major. The final variation is twice interrupted by episodes in which loud fanfares for the full orchestra are answered by double-stopped octaves played by the first violins alone. A virtuosic horn solo is assigned to the fourth player. Trombones are tacet for the movement.

Fourth movement

You can find a longer version on EU website Template:Sample box end The famous choral finale is Beethoven's musical representation of Universal Brotherhood and has been characterized by Charles Rosen as a symphony within a symphony. It contains four movements played without interruption. This "inner symphony" follows the same overall pattern as the Ninth Symphony as a whole. The scheme is as follows:

• First "movement": theme and variations with slow introduction. Main theme which first appears in the cellos and basses is later "recapitulated" with voices.
• Second "movement": 6/8 scherzo in military style (begins at "Alla marcia," words "Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen"), in the "Turkish style." Concludes with 6/8 variation of the main theme with chorus.
• Third "movement": slow meditation with a new theme on the text "Seid umschlungen, Millionen!" (begins at "Andante maestoso")
• Fourth "movement": fugato finale on the themes of the first and third "movements" (begins at "Allegro energico")

The movement has a thematic unity, in which every part may be shown to be based on either the main theme, the "Seid umschlungen" theme, or some combination of the two.

The first "movement within a movement" itself is organized into sections:

• An introduction, which starts with a stormy Presto passage. It then briefly quotes all three of the previous movements in order, each dismissed by the cellos and basses which then play in an instrumental foreshadowing of the vocal recitative. At the introduction of the main theme, the cellos and basses take it up and play it through.
• The main theme forms the basis of a series of variations for orchestra alone.
• The introduction is then repeated from the Presto passage, this time with the bass soloist singing the recitatives previously suggested by cellos and basses.
• The main theme again undergoes variations, this time for vocal soloists and chorus.

Text of fourth movement

Words written by Beethoven (not Schiller) are shown in italics.

German original O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen und freudenvollere. Freude! Freude! Freude, schöner Götterfunken Tochter aus Elysium, Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum! Deine Zauber binden wieder Was die Mode streng geteilt; 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, über'm Sternenzelt Muß ein lieber Vater wohnen. Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen? Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt? Such' ihn über'm Sternenzelt! Über Sternen muß er wohnen. Finale repeats the words: Seid umschlungen, Millionen! Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt! Brüder, über'm Sternenzelt Muß ein lieber Vater wohnen. Seid umschlungen, Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt! Freude, schöner Götterfunken Tochter aus Elysium, Freude, schöner Götterfunken

English translation Oh friends, not these tunes! Rather let us sing more cheerful and more joyful ones. Joy! Joy! Joy, beautiful spark of the gods, Daughter of Elysium, Touched with fire, to the portal, Of thy radiant shrine, we come. Your sweet magic frees all others, Held in Custom's rigid rings. All men on earth become brothers, In the haven of your wings. Whoever succeeds in the great attempt To be a friend of a friend, Whoever has won a lovely woman, Let him add his jubilation! Yes, whoever calls even one soul His own on the earth's globe! And who never has, let him steal, Weeping, away from this group. All creatures drink joy At the breasts of nature; All the good, all the evil Follow her roses' trail. Kisses gave she us, and wine, A friend, proven unto death; Pleasure was to the worm granted, And the cherub stands before God. Glad, as his suns fly Through the Heavens' glorious plan, Run, brothers, your race, Joyful, as a hero to victory. Be embraced, you millions! This kiss for the whole world! Brothers, beyond the star-canopy Must a loving Father dwell. Do you bow down, you millions? Do you sense the Creator, world? Seek Him beyond the star-canopy! Beyond the stars must He dwell. Finale repeats the words: Be embraced, ye millions! This kiss for the whole world! Brothers, beyond the star-canopy Must a loving Father dwell. Be embraced, This kiss for the whole world! Joy, beautiful spark of the gods, Daughter of Elysium, Joy, beautiful spark of the gods

Influence of the Symphony

The Ninth Symphony struck the changing and newly Romantic world of Western music with force. Partially due to the scope, ambition, and import of this work, Beethoven is considered the forefather of Romantic music. His Symphony No. 9 was to prove extremely influential on the Western tradition, not just in specific compositional form (and length), but in much more general ways, for its forging of new ground beyond the Classical symphonic mould of purely "absolute music". It is an early icon and declaration of the Romantic idealistic tradition of Bildung.

Many later composers of the Romantic period and beyond were influenced specifically by Beethoven's final symphony:

An important theme in the finale of Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 1 in C minor is related to the "Ode to Joy" theme from the last movement of Beethoven's Ninth symphony. When this was pointed out to Brahms, he is reputed to have retorted "Any ass can see that!", which suggests the imitation was intentional. Brahms's first symphony was sometimes jokingly referred to as "Beethoven's Tenth".

Anton Bruckner used the chromatic fourth in his third symphony in much the same way that Beethoven used it in the first movement's coda.

In the opening notes of the third movement of his Symphony No. 9 (The "New World"), Antonín Dvořák pays homage to the scherzo of this symphony with his falling fourths and timpani strokes.

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony also influenced the development of the compact disc. Philips, the company that had started the work on the new audio format, originally planned for a CD to have a diameter of 11.5 cm (needed for one hour of music). But when Sony, the other company involved, insisted in 1979 that it should be possible for one disc to contain the entire Ninth, the diameter was increased to 12 cm to allow 74 minutes of recording; the longest recording of the symphony in the archives of Philips' recording company PolyGram was 74 minutes.

The Curse of the Ninth

Using modern numbering, several composers beside Beethoven have completed no more than nine symphonies. This has led certain subsequent composers, particularly Gustav Mahler, to be superstitious about composing their own ninth or tenth symphonies, or to try to avoid writing them at all. This phenomenon has become known as the Curse of the Ninth.

Performing the symphony

Lasting more than an hour, the Ninth was an exceptionally long symphony for its time. Like much of Beethoven's later music, his Ninth Symphony is demanding for all the performers, including the choir and soloists.

Beethoven's own metronome markings for his Ninth Symphony are controversial. Historically, conductors have tended to take a slower tempo than Beethoven marked for the slow movement, and a faster tempo for the military march section of the finale. Conductors in the historically informed performance movement, notably Roger Norrington, have used Beethoven's suggested tempos, to mixed reviews.

Ninth symphony since the 19th century

The ninth symphony has frequently been incorporated into film scores, television, and popular music.

• At most Olympic Games during the second half of the 20th century, the fourth movement was performed as part of ceremonial processions, and as the national anthem of the United Team of East and West Germany, at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics. It was also used as the anthem for the Unified Team of the former USSR during the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

• In 1989, the ninth symphony was performed in Berlin to celebrate the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. Performed as an "Ode to Freedom", every occurrence of the word "joy" in Schiller's poem was changed to "freedom".

• The symphony seems to have taken particularly deep root in Japan, where it is widely performed during December as part of the annual celebration of the new year.

• Wendy Carlos recorded an electronic version in 1971 for the film A Clockwork Orange; in that film, both the second and fourth movements of the 9th are heard. The film's main character, Alex DeLarge, is a big fan of Beethoven, and listens to the symphony every night.

• The Ode to Joy was adopted as Europe's anthem by the Council of Europe in 1972, with an official arrangement for orchestra written by Herbert von Karajan. [1]

• Ode to Joy also turns up at several points during the second Beatles film Help[2].

• The Ode to Joy was adopted as the national anthem of Rhodesia in 1974 as Rise O Voices of Rhodesia.

• In 1985, the European Union chose Beethoven's music as the EU anthem [3], without German lyrics, because of the many different languages used within the European Union. The ideal of human brotherhood is stated in more universal terms in Beethoven's adaptation ("All persons become brothers") than in Schiller's original, which states that "Beggars become princes' brothers".

• At the last night of The Proms in September 2001, just days after the 9/11 attacks, the ninth symphony was part of a hastily revised programme, to replace the traditional light-hearted programme of the second half. It was performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Leonard Slatkin.

• The six-note introduction to the second movement had been featured on NBC News programs as early as the Huntley-Brinkley Report of the 1950s. It still survives on NBC's cable network, MSNBC, most prominently, in remixed form, on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

The hymn, "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee", with words written in 1907 by Henry Van Dyke, is sung to the "Ode to Joy" tune and is included in many hymnals.

Notable recordings

• Felix Weingartner conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in 1935.
• Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in March 1942.
• Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra in 1951. This concert reopened the Bayreuth Festival after the Allies temporarily suspended it following the Second World War.
• Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1952. Robert Shaw, Toscanini's regular assistant, was chorusmaster.
• Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra in Lucerne in 1954.
• Otto Klemperer conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra in November 1957. Released by BBC Testament.
• Ferenc Fricsay conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in 1958, the first stereo recording of the 9th.
• Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philmarmonic in 1962, 1977 and 1983, as part of complete Beethoven symphony cycles.
• George Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. Recorded in 1961 and released on CD in 1991 by Sony.
• Rafael Kubelík conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in 1975 and released on CD by Deutsche Grammophon
• Karl Böhm conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in 1981 with Jessye Norman and Plácido Domingo among the soloists. At 79 minutes, this is among the longest ninths recorded.
• Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and chorus. Recorded in 1985.
• Günter Wand conducting the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in 1986 and released in 2001 by RCA Red Seal.
• Leonard Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Recorded in 1979 and released in 1980 by Deutsche Grammophon as part of his Vienna Philharmonic cycle of Beethoven symphonies. Bernstein also conducted a version of the 9th, with "Freiheit" ("Freedom") replacing "Freude" ("Joy"), to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall during Christmas 1989. This concert was performed by an orchestra and chorus made up of many nationalities: from Germany, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Chorus of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and members of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden; from the Soviet Union, members of the Orchestra of the Kirov Theatre, from the United Kingdom, members of the London Symphony Orchestra; from the USA, members of the New York Philharmonic, and from France, members of the Orchestre de Paris. Soloists were June Anderson, soprano, Sarah Walker, mezzo-soprano , Klaus König, tenor, and Jan-Hendrik Rootering, bass.
• Roger Norrington conducting the London Classical Players. Recorded with period instruments. Released in 1987 by EMI Records (rereleased in 1997 under the Virgin Classics label).
• Sir Charles Mackerras recorded the Ninth as the first symphony in his EMI cycle of the Beethoven symphonies with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir in 1991. His soloists included Bryn Terfel, Della Jones, Joan Rodgers and Peter Bronder. This version was among the first to incorporate many of Jonathan Del Mar's corrections. Mackerras later re-recorded the Ninth for his second recorded cycle of Beethoven symphonies for Hyperion Records, live at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival, this time with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
• Benjamin Zander made a 1992 recording of the Ninth with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and noted soprano Dominique Labelle (who first performed the work with the late Robert Shaw), following Beethoven's own metronome markings.
• Sir John Eliot Gardiner recorded his period-instrument version of the Ninth Symphony, conducting his Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique in 1992. It was first released by Deutsche Grammophon in 1994 on their early music Archiv Produktion label as part of his complete cycle of the Beethoven symphonies. His soloists included Luba Orgonasova, Anne Sofie von Otter, Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Gilles Cachemaille.
• David Zinman's 1997 recording with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra was a modern instrument recording that used the Baerenreiter edition edited by Jonathan Del Mar.
• Philippe Herreweghe recorded the Ninth with his period-instrument Orchestre des Champs-Elysèes and his Collegium Vocale chorus for Harmonia Mundi in 1999.
• Sir Simon Rattle conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker. Recorded in 2003 as part of the complete Beethoven symphony cycle on EMI Classics.
• Bernard Haitink conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in April 2006 as part of the complete Beethoven symphony cycle on LSO Live. These recordings are noted for the orchestra's flawless performances. Bernard Haitink's Beethoven Symphony cycle has been nominated for Best Classical Album at the 2007 Grammy Awards.

Bibliography

• Richard Taruskin, "Resisting the Ninth", in his Text and Act: Essays on Music and Performance (Oxford University Press, 1995).
• David Benjamin Levy, "Beethoven: the Ninth Symphony," revised edition (Yale University Press, 2003).
• Esteban Buch, Beethoven's Ninth: A Political History Translated by Richard Miller, ISBN 0-226-07824-8 (University Of Chicago Press) [4]
• A Clockwork Orange, written by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962 by William Heinemann ISBN 0-434-09800-0

External links

Audio

• David Bernard conducting the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony
• Christoph Eschenbach conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra
• Maximianno Cobra conducting the Europa Philharmonia Budapest Orchestra & Choir
• Sound samples and other info from the Classical Music Pages

Scores, Manuscripts & Text

• Schott Musik International 31st and last publisher of Beethoven & copyright holder [5]
• [6] choir version
• Free scores by 9th symphony (PDF) at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Original manuscript (site in German)
• The William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University School of Music's has posted a score for the symphony.
• Alcove Music Publications' simpler score.
• Text/libretto, with translation, in English and German

Other Material

• EU official page about the anthem
• Analysis of the Beethoven Symphony No. 9 on the All About Ludwig van Beethoven Page
• A guided tour of Beethoven's 9th Symphony by Rob Kapilow on WNYC's Soundcheck
• Program note from the Kennedy Center with more information about the symphony's finale as it might have been, and is
• Analysis for students (with timings) of the final movement, at Washington State University