Beethoven's 9th Symphony - An Appreciation

Phew - wish me luck with this, and also pray I don't bore you to tears with my personal perceptions of this slice of musical heaven!

I remember reading somewhere about Wagner re-orchestrating this, beefing it up for the late 19th Century (it originally appeared in the early 19th), adding extra brass (and probably some Wagnerian plumbing would have featured in this as well)...his answer when questioned was "well, Beethoven was deaf anyway...he wouldn't have thought about the rest"...

Fantasy, spurious, or whatever, the anecdote hints that when we hear this work, perhaps even more so today, when sonic extravaganzas have become even more commonplace than ever, and "loud is good", we want to commune with it as fully as possible...to breathe it, eat it, jump into it and have it swallow us!

Perhaps this is why recordings so far have been on the one hand exciting (I do crank the volume up for this piece) and on the other hand frustrating...not loud enough here, not brio enough there, tooo fast in that place, too pedestrian in that section.

How lovely it would be to conduct this piece! And frustrating...

Why do I love it? The WHOLE thing!

It's magical.

4 movements, the first one beginning with open 5ths, which gives it at once a primal and mystical feel, much much darker than any of the symphonies vB has given us yet, and yet already with a tension between turbulent and stately ideas.

The second movement a scherzo (fast piece in 3/4 time, a mad waltz style) to end all scherzi, blasting from delicate pizzicato strings to full throttle mayhem guided by the galley-beats and thunderblasts of timpany (kettle drums - vB sure was determined to make the percussion section work in this piece).

The 3rd movement the tenderest reflection on a life fully lived and nearing its natural end, acknowledging regrets, tendernesses, beauty and loss...

And the joyous, totally overwhelming, titanic, FUN last movement (yep, here comes the sublime drinking song we all know as the Ode to Joy), introducing SKA (check out the Turkish section, with off-beat chords, cymbals and triangles - definitely a nod to ska, and not surprising, 'cos vB had already prophesied rock'n'roll - Waldstein Sonata, blues and swing - C minor sonata op.111 - my friend Katherine is playing this soon - get to her concert!!)!

The 4th movement "does it" when it works - first we have instrumental echoes/reflections of the first 3 movements (remix?), linked by wonderfully innovative creative glue, then a crash of chords and scales paving the way for the instrumental version of the Ode.

We crash again and it's time for the singing to start - "O, Freunde, nicht dieser Toene" the baritone implores us (Friends! Not these [sad] tones!).

And the drinking begins!

And lasts forever in the Elysian fields we're being called to...

It amazes me that the elements of the song - a simple tune I teach to my Year 9 students 'cos they can play it easily with one hand and it is sufficiently rhythmically dull to "master", and a lusty, carefree drinking song (Schiller?), transform into GREATNESS.

Such is the art of Ludwig van Beethoven (on a good day - not everything he wrote turned to gold - he was not Mozart, but he was cool)...

The symphony, when first performed, must have represented a real head-scratching scenario...about twice as long as conventional symphonies, featuring soloists and a choir and a Turkish Percussion ensemble and ska...

A pity it premiered in Vienna - Kingston, Jamaica would have embraced it as the glorious life-affirming treasure it is (maybe the Viennes did this too, but I am not so sure), and danced to it!

Well, there it is...one person's view of this gorgeous, essential piece that no one must ignore.

Enjoy!