09/26/2022
Born: December 1770, Bonn, Germany
Died: March 26, 1827, Vienna, Austria
Siblings: Kaspar Anton Karl van Beethoven, MORE
Genre: Classical
Height: 5′ 4″
Place of burial: Central Cemetery, Vienna, Austria
BEETHOVEN'S MAGNUM OPUS.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MASTER'S MOST SPECTACULAR WORK: SYMPHONY NO 9. BY MANOHAR PARNERKAR..
Beethoven's most celebrated work, Symphony No 9 in minor, Opus 125, also known as Beethoven's Ninth, or simply as the Ninth, was revolutionary. In terms of sheer power, scale, complexity and overall impact. It surpassed all previous symphonies, including Beethoven's earlier ones. For the first time in history, it attempted, spectacularly and successfully, a fusion of orchestral music with sung poetry. Apart from making a powerful social statement, it paved the way for the expansive symphonies of Beethoven's near contemporary Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, and his two spiritual descendants, namely, Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler. It is no surprise then that in the last 100 years or so, the Ninth's appeal has transcended boundaries, cutting across the political, cultural and ideological spectrum.
THE FACTS
The Ninth was originally commissioned by the Philharmonic Society of London €50, then a princely sum. However, Beethoven, presumably, to respect German sentiment and pride, dedicated it to King Friedrich Wilhelm lll of Prussia. The symphony had its first public performance on 7th May, 1824 at the Karntnertor Theatre in Vienna. There was no question of a totally deaf Beethoven conducting the performance of a staggering work like the Ninth, with its gigantic and extremely complex score running into some 296 pages. So its premier performance was conducted by Michael Umlauf, who had earlier conducted Fidelio, the only opera that Beethoven ever wrote.
This seminal work of musical romanticism is also called "Choral" because it is partly sung. The Ninth has four movements of which the first four are purely orchestral. The fifth movement -- the finale -- incorporates verses from German poet Friedrich Schiller's poem An die Freude (An Ode to Joy). The poem is sung by four solo voices, namely, a soprano, an alto, a tenor and a baritone, and a mixed chorus and, of course, played by a symphony orchestra, To dwell on the orchestral movements is clearly beyond the scope of this article. So let me instead offer the reader a few broad observations on the Ninth. The symphony's finale, a poem, does have an obvious extra--musical meaning. But this, by itself, does not make it a programmatic work like Beethoven's Sixth Symphony ( Pastoral ). Strictly speaking, its five movements, like those of the Pastoral, may not be organically connected, but they do bear a technical kinship of sorts. When music and poetry are brought together, one often tends to dominate the other. But nothing of the sort is happening here, the two mutually -- and perfectly -- fuse together and, in fact, go on to enrich each other.
THE MUSE
So what is a poem doing in a symphony, and why Schiller's Ode to Joy in particular?? When 52--year old Beethoven conceived the Ninth, his deafness was close to total. By the time of its completion in 1824, it would become total. So this symphony is the creation of a profoundly introspective soul who now had to seek inspiration only from within. Apparently Beethoven wanted to say so much and so powerfully in his symphonic Swansong that he felt orchestral resources alone would be sufficient. This is why, it's generally believed, he turned to poetry, and inevitably to the most expressive instrument created by God -- the human voice..
Friedrich Schiller was a quintessential Renaissance man -- a poet, dramatist, historian, literary theorist and qualified surgeon. More to the point, he was arguably as great a poet of Germany as Goethe (who incidentally was well--acquainted with both Schiller and Beethoven). Besides being firm believers in the doctrine of the Enlightenment, Schiller and Beethoven also ardently shared the Masonic ideal of universal brotherhood and love, Schiller's Ode to Joy talks fervently of the Joy of living, loving, and of a world in which " all men become equal ". As a young man of 22, Beethoven was quite gripped by the poem, so 30 years later when he decided to fuse music with poetry in the Ninth, Ode to Joy must have suggested itself.
