Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125
Ludwig Beethoven was not only one of the greatest composers ever born, he is a mold to
which other composers try to base themselves off of. Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany on
December 16, 1770 to a family of professional musicians. Beethoven learned violin mostly, as well
as some other instruments from his father. His father demanded perfection in his music, and in that
endeavor he violently scolded Beethoven whenever he made any kind of mistake during practice.
According to one story, the punishments from his father are what ultimately led to his hearing
troubles. Beethoven was sent to learn music from C. G. Neefe. Beethoven learned all the details
of orchestra …show more content…
composition and everything else you could imagine from Neefe, including the piano,
violin and organ, and also became his assistant when was just eleven years old. At age 6,
Beethoven was already performing for local events, etc… When he was twelve years old, his first
music work was published, ‘The Dressler Variations.’ Beethoven also dropped out of his school
when he was thirteen years old in order to concentrate on his practice and to perform in musical
tours.
Beethoven then continued assisting Neefe until he was seventeen years old. In 1787, he
went to Vienna in hopes of finding good opportunities to demonstrate his talent in music. From
there, the rest is history… as he continued to write some of the most beautiful and impacting
music the world has ever seen.
Beethoven started working on his ninth (and final) symphony in 1818, after the work was
commissioned by the Philharmonic Society of London, and completed the work early in 1824.
What is both ironic and shocking is that though this symphony is one of the most beautiful and
complex ever to be written, Beethoven was nearly (if not) completely deaf at the time he wrote it.
The title of Friedrich Schiller's poem “An die Freude” is literally translated as "To Joy", but is
normally called the "Ode to Joy". It was written in 1785 and first published the following year in
the poet's own literary journal, “Thalia.” Beethoven had made plans to set this poem to music as
far back as 1793, when he was only 22 years old, as it had always been a favorite and moved …show more content…
him
deeply.
The introduction for the vocal part of the symphony was very troublesome for Beethoven.
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 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,
Beethoven did not keep this version, and kept rewriting until he was completely happy with the
end result, “O Freunde, nicht diese Tone.”
Beethoven originally wanted to have this symphony premiered in Berlin, as he found
Vienna to be dominated mostly by Italian musicians and pieces of work. However, at the urging
of his financiers, the symphony made its debut on May 7, 1824 in the Karntnertortheater in
Vienna. Here, Beethoven made his first on stage appearance in over a decade to a completely
packed hall. The performance was directed by Michael Umlauf, though Beethoven himself
remained on stage to assist, set the tempo, etc… The performance was met with great enthusiasm
and support for Beethoven, perhaps as well as with sympathy for the deaf
composer.
This is such a beautiful piece of work, very bold, very complex, and absolutely incredible
to watch performed. What is even more remarkable is to bear in mind, whilst listening to this
symphony, is that the composer himself couldn’t hear a note of it. This, to me, is what truly gives
us insight into Ludwig van Beethoven’s mind… a mind as brilliant as they come, constantly
teeming with beautiful music that even his ears wouldn’t let him hear. This isn’t even my favorite
piece by Beethoven, to be honest (it’s his Egmont Overture, if you were wondering), although
this is one of those pieces that leads me to have a great amount of respect for the person
responsible for its creation. I doubt any composer before or since could create such beautiful
music without the use of their ears.
Ludwig Beethoven was not only one of the greatest composers ever born, he is a mold to
which other composers try to base themselves off of. Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany on
December 16, 1770 to a family of professional musicians. Beethoven learned violin mostly, as well
as some other instruments from his father. His father demanded perfection in his music, and in that
endeavor he violently scolded Beethoven whenever he made any kind of mistake during practice.
According to one story, the punishments from his father are what ultimately led to his hearing
troubles. Beethoven was sent to learn music from C. G. Neefe. Beethoven learned all the details
of orchestra …show more content…
composition and everything else you could imagine from Neefe, including the piano,
violin and organ, and also became his assistant when was just eleven years old. At age 6,
Beethoven was already performing for local events, etc… When he was twelve years old, his first
music work was published, ‘The Dressler Variations.’ Beethoven also dropped out of his school
when he was thirteen years old in order to concentrate on his practice and to perform in musical
tours.
Beethoven then continued assisting Neefe until he was seventeen years old. In 1787, he
went to Vienna in hopes of finding good opportunities to demonstrate his talent in music. From
there, the rest is history… as he continued to write some of the most beautiful and impacting
music the world has ever seen.
Beethoven started working on his ninth (and final) symphony in 1818, after the work was
commissioned by the Philharmonic Society of London, and completed the work early in 1824.
What is both ironic and shocking is that though this symphony is one of the most beautiful and
complex ever to be written, Beethoven was nearly (if not) completely deaf at the time he wrote it.
The title of Friedrich Schiller's poem “An die Freude” is literally translated as "To Joy", but is
normally called the "Ode to Joy". It was written in 1785 and first published the following year in
the poet's own literary journal, “Thalia.” Beethoven had made plans to set this poem to music as
far back as 1793, when he was only 22 years old, as it had always been a favorite and moved …show more content…
him
deeply.
The introduction for the vocal part of the symphony was very troublesome for Beethoven.
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 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,
Beethoven did not keep this version, and kept rewriting until he was completely happy with the
end result, “O Freunde, nicht diese Tone.”
Beethoven originally wanted to have this symphony premiered in Berlin, as he found
Vienna to be dominated mostly by Italian musicians and pieces of work. However, at the urging
of his financiers, the symphony made its debut on May 7, 1824 in the Karntnertortheater in
Vienna. Here, Beethoven made his first on stage appearance in over a decade to a completely
packed hall. The performance was directed by Michael Umlauf, though Beethoven himself
remained on stage to assist, set the tempo, etc… The performance was met with great enthusiasm
and support for Beethoven, perhaps as well as with sympathy for the deaf
composer.
This is such a beautiful piece of work, very bold, very complex, and absolutely incredible
to watch performed. What is even more remarkable is to bear in mind, whilst listening to this
symphony, is that the composer himself couldn’t hear a note of it. This, to me, is what truly gives
us insight into Ludwig van Beethoven’s mind… a mind as brilliant as they come, constantly
teeming with beautiful music that even his ears wouldn’t let him hear. This isn’t even my favorite
piece by Beethoven, to be honest (it’s his Egmont Overture, if you were wondering), although
this is one of those pieces that leads me to have a great amount of respect for the person
responsible for its creation. I doubt any composer before or since could create such beautiful
music without the use of their ears.