History Book: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9

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Coming up next, the WORLD History Book. Today, the premiere of a symphony, one of the most famous pieces of music ever written. Here’s WORLD Radio special correspondent Anna Johansen Brown.

SOUND: [Orchestra tuning]

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN: The theater is crowded tonight. May 7th, 1824. Vienna is a hub of culture, and notable figures like the Austrian chancellor and composer Franz Schubert are in the audience.

The orchestra is also packed. Multiple groups have come together to perform this work for the first time: Beethoven’s ninth symphony.

AUDIO: Beginning of symphony]

Ludwig Van Beethoven himself is on stage tonight, conducting…sort of. By this time, the 53-year-old composer is almost completely deaf. Has been for almost a decade. It hasn’t stopped him from composing, but it does make it impossible for him to keep track of an orchestra. Still, he takes his place on stage to beat out starting tempos. Another conductor leads the musicians.

BENJAMIN ZANDER: So if you take the first movement, the first movement has different kinds of music…

Benjamin Zander conducts the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Audio here from Forbes.

ZANDER: For instance, there’s [imitates music] but then the winds go [imitates music]. So you’ve got two worlds, you’ve got the world of the driving force, and then you’ve got the tender contemplative side, life and death.

Those two worlds continue to struggle for dominance throughout the symphony. Chaos and despair, life and joy.

AUDIO: [Second movement]

As the music unfolds, listeners are riveted and baffled. Beethoven is breaking musical boundaries. The structure of the movements doesn’t fit the traditional Classical mold. And the length is extraordinary, over an hour long.

AUDIO: [First theme of “Ode to Joy”]

Then comes the final movement. And the choir steps in.

AUDIO: [Bass solo]

Now, choral music is extremely popular in 1824 Vienna. But vocalists are usually reserved for oratorios or operas. To include them in a symphony? Unheard of. But it’s this section of the symphony that will become an iconic anthem the world over: the “Ode to Joy.”

AUDIO: [“Ode to Joy” choral theme]

The audience is wildly enthusiastic. Several times during the performance, they leap to their feet, cheering, clapping, waving hats and handkerchiefs. Beethoven can’t hear any of it, standing with his back to the audience. The young soprano soloist gently turns him around to see the response.

SOUND: [Finale, applause]

But though the symphony is a hit with the audience, critical reviews are mixed. Audio here from Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor of the Nashville Symphony.

GIANCARLO GUERRERO: One reviewer reported poor intonation and really bad ensemble…another reported that weak players just set down their bows and just decided to sit out many measures that seemed technically impossible. My favorite line refers to the finale when the sopranos could not reach the high note, they simply did not sing.

Regardless, the symphony becomes an enduring success, its themes resonating with listeners across cultures. Again, Benjamin Zander.

ZANDER: The piece is about joy, it’s about humanity, it’s the hymn to the dream, the capacity of human beings to dream.

Beethoven took the lyrics from a poem by Friedrich Schiller, a German writer. Here’s conductor Leonard Bernstein.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN: Peace, brotherhood, we are all children of one father, let us embrace one another all the millions of us, friendship, love, joy. These of course are all the key words and phrases from Schiller’s poem to which Beethoven attached that glorious music.

The “Ode to Joy” has been adopted by dozens of groups and causes, including protesters before the Tiananmen Square massacre, and demonstrators in Chile calling for an end to dictatorship.

AUDIO: [Chile protesters singing]

It’s the official anthem of the European Union, and was played in Berlin just after the demolition of the Berlin wall.

BERNSTEIN: Beethoven is struggle. The struggle for peace…He achieved it in his music…Somehow it must be possible for us to learn from his music by hearing it. No, not hearing it, but listening to it with all our power of attention and concentration. Then, perhaps, we can grow into something worthy of being called the human race.

Listening to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is unlikely to end wars, but the lyrics do hint at a higher power, a Creator “above this tent of stars.”

AUDIO: Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love…

In 1907, a Presbyterian minister wrote new lyrics and set them to Beethoven’s melody. They give a better glimpse of the way all men can live in peace.

AUDIO: Mortals, join the happy chorus, Which the morning stars began; Father love is reigning o’er us, Brother love binds man to man. Ever singing, march we onward, Victors in the midst of strife, Joyful music leads us Sunward In the triumph song of life.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

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