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and this
"Ever since Beethoven's iconic Ninth Symphony premiered May 7, 1824 at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna, it has remained arguably the most popular composition in the classical music canon, thanks largely to its final movement, the "Ode to Joy," with a text by poet Friedrich Schiller.But Beethoven's music has become something much more than popular. . . "
With its expansive length, mold-busting design, and the inclusion of solo singers and chorus, he was proposing nothing less than a philosophy for humanity.
Beethoven, the composer-philosopher, was a man who suffered more than we can imagine and yet he retained optimism and a sense of hope that we can admire and even envy. He believed wholeheartedly in the goodness of humanity, the power of love, joy, unity, tolerance and peace to overcome and endure. . . This message, filled with optimism and a fundamental faith in what is best in humanity, could not be more relevant today, when we see far too much disorder, misunderstanding and extremism."
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How about two minutes + some other options?
- - Marin Alsop on Music
The Music And Morality Of Beethoven's Mighty Ninth
Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday
Leonard Bernstein, conducted a version of Beethoven's Ninth at the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall where he changed Schiller's word "freude" (joy) to "freiheit" (freedom).
These important adoptions and adaptations of Beethoven's Ninth inspired me to create a new project, "All Together: A Global Ode to Joy," marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 2020.