It's difficult to imagine that the first performance of a glorious masterpiece like Beethoven's 9th Symphony should have disappointed its composer, and caused such little excitement among European music lovers. Beethoven's disenchantment was perhaps understandable, for he was frustrated by his deafness. In a poignant letter to his two brothers, written some years earlier, he explained the reasons for the bitterness which had turned him into a social recluse. He'd lost 'a sense which in me should be more perfectly developed than in other people, a sense in which at one time I possessed in the greatest perfection.' In a postscript he added that his one wish was that Providence would grant him 'but one day of pure joy.' He'd always longed for happiness, and as a young man had been much moved by Friedrich Schiller's Ode to Joy, a poem which he determined eventually to set to music. So it was that he decided to include the poem as a choral climax to his final symphonic work.
The work had its premier in Vienna theatre on the 7th May 1824. The hall was packed, and a nervous Beethoven sat in the wings of the stage unable to hear a note that was being played, but desperately anxious to get the orchestra, soloists and chorus to follow the beat he set. When the performance ended he had his back to the audience, and was totally unaware of their ecstatic applause. Caroline Unger, the contralto soloist, walked across to the maestro, tugged his sleeve and turned him round so that he could appreciate, and acknowledge, their rapturous reception. The applause was soon halted by the police, who felt that such adulation should be reserved for the Viennese royal family, and not bestowed on a mere musician Those brief moments of pleasure quickly turned to rage when the composer discovered that he'd only earned a miserable 420 florins from the performance. He couldn't enjoy the celebratory dinner which followed, partly because he was unable to hear a word that was being said, and went home in a frustrated frenzy, falling asleep on his bed fully clothed. His misery deepened even further two weeks later when the symphony received a second performance and played to a half empty audience and made a loss.
Since then, the work has gained in popularity and influence. It's inspired a long list of eminent composers, including Wagner, Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler. Since the end of the Second World War it's also touched the soul of the Japanese people, who now play it during their New Year Celebrations. It's also said to have determined the size of Compact Discs, which were originally going to be 10cm in diameter, but were finally set at 12cms to allow for a complete recording of the 9th, which lasts for roughly seventy minutes. And in 1970 the European mandarins decided to adopt the symphony's final movement as the EU's national anthem. This was not done with the intention of replacing the national anthems of the member states, but to celebrate the values they all shared and the unity that they hoped to find despite their diversity. This was highly appropriate, since a literal translation of Schiller's ode is: 'Europe is united now, and united may it stay. One in diversity, may it contribute to world peace.' Unfortunately the sixteen member states couldn't agree to accept any form of shared symbolism, so the proposal was rejected. This poses the question: If the member states can't agree of a shared piece of music, what are the chances that they will ever agree on a mutually acceptable fiscal plan or foreign policy?
The work had its premier in Vienna theatre on the 7th May 1824. The hall was packed, and a nervous Beethoven sat in the wings of the stage unable to hear a note that was being played, but desperately anxious to get the orchestra, soloists and chorus to follow the beat he set. When the performance ended he had his back to the audience, and was totally unaware of their ecstatic applause. Caroline Unger, the contralto soloist, walked across to the maestro, tugged his sleeve and turned him round so that he could appreciate, and acknowledge, their rapturous reception. The applause was soon halted by the police, who felt that such adulation should be reserved for the Viennese royal family, and not bestowed on a mere musician Those brief moments of pleasure quickly turned to rage when the composer discovered that he'd only earned a miserable 420 florins from the performance. He couldn't enjoy the celebratory dinner which followed, partly because he was unable to hear a word that was being said, and went home in a frustrated frenzy, falling asleep on his bed fully clothed. His misery deepened even further two weeks later when the symphony received a second performance and played to a half empty audience and made a loss.
Since then, the work has gained in popularity and influence. It's inspired a long list of eminent composers, including Wagner, Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler. Since the end of the Second World War it's also touched the soul of the Japanese people, who now play it during their New Year Celebrations. It's also said to have determined the size of Compact Discs, which were originally going to be 10cm in diameter, but were finally set at 12cms to allow for a complete recording of the 9th, which lasts for roughly seventy minutes. And in 1970 the European mandarins decided to adopt the symphony's final movement as the EU's national anthem. This was not done with the intention of replacing the national anthems of the member states, but to celebrate the values they all shared and the unity that they hoped to find despite their diversity. This was highly appropriate, since a literal translation of Schiller's ode is: 'Europe is united now, and united may it stay. One in diversity, may it contribute to world peace.' Unfortunately the sixteen member states couldn't agree to accept any form of shared symbolism, so the proposal was rejected. This poses the question: If the member states can't agree of a shared piece of music, what are the chances that they will ever agree on a mutually acceptable fiscal plan or foreign policy?
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