5 fun facts about Beethoven's 9th
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 was 1st performed 200 years ago. Here are some things you may not know about it
Ever since it entered the world in Vienna on May 7, 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 has been regarded among the greatest achievements in classical music. A monument. Mount Everest. The ne plus ultra of symphonic works.
The Ninth, as it's universally known, was Beethoven's final symphony (he died three years later), and the only one from his prophetic late period, coming 12 years after his Eighth.
Beethoven made a profound statement with his Ninth Symphony: It was considerably longer and more complex than anything that came before it, and redefined what a symphony could do by introducing poetry, vocal soloists and chorus to a genre that was understood to be exclusively instrumental. It set a high bar — some would say insurmountable — for composers who followed in his footsteps: Schubert, Brahms, Bruckner, Wagner, Mahler and beyond.
Performances of Beethoven's Ninth are invariably thrilling, but tragically, Beethoven himself had become too deaf to hear a note of it outside his own imagination. Legend has it he was oblivious to the wild applause that greeted its first performance, and a singer had to motion to the composer to turn and face the audience.
As it enters its third century, here are five fun facts about Beethoven's Ninth.
1. It's often performed to mark important occasions
For the fourth movement of his Symphony No. 9, Beethoven set to music Friedrich Schiller's poem An die Freude (Ode to Joy), with its message of hope and unity for all mankind. It's why performances of this symphony have long represented a powerful symbol of opposition to war and tyranny.
One of the most famous performances took place on Christmas Day in 1989 in Berlin just a few weeks after the demolition of the Berlin Wall. American conductor Leonard Bernstein led an orchestra comprising musicians from the previously separated Eastern and Western sides of the city. For this occasion, the word Freude (joy) in Schiller's poem was replaced with Freiheit (freedom).
In Canada, the fourth movement from Beethoven's Ninth was performed at the opening gala of Expo '67 in Montreal. Forty-four years later, Kent Nagano led the OSM through a performance of Beethoven's Ninth to inaugurate the long-awaited Maison symphonique de Montréal, the orchestra's new concert hall.
In 2018, Peter Oundjian chose Beethoven's Ninth for the final concert of his 15-year tenure as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
On Feb. 23, 2023, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra gave an emotionally charged performance of Beethoven's Ninth in Warsaw, Poland. It was a cultural riposte to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Schiller's poem sung in Ukrainian. The concert has been released by Deutsche Grammophon.
2. It has permeated our popular culture
Different parts of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 have been used in countless films, TV shows and commercials, but there are standouts, including Die Hard, Sister Act 2 and The Muppet Show.
Perhaps most effectively, the symphony's second movement provided a backdrop for some of the most tense and twisted moments in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's psycho-thriller novel A Clockwork Orange.
3. It's the anthem of the European Union
In 1972, the Council of Europe adopted Beethoven's Ode to Joy theme as its anthem. In 1985, it was adopted as the official anthem of the European Union.
"There are no words to the anthem; it consists of music only. In the universal language of music, this anthem expresses the European ideals of freedom, peace and solidarity," explain the EU principles. "The European anthem is not intended to replace the national anthems of the EU countries but rather to celebrate the values they share."
The anthem is played at official ceremonies and EU events.
Listen to all sorts of versions of the anthem — from organ to big band, hip-hop to techno — here.
4. It's big in Japan
The people of Japan have embraced Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in a big way. It's known as Daiku (Big Nine) and is regularly performed at the end of the year, sometimes in sing-along formats.
In 1990, a New York Times article tried to explain the phenomenon: "Some people say that audiences love Beethoven's Ninth because of the image of a penniless, deaf and solitary composer producing a sublime masterpiece. Others say it reflects the Japanese love of what is No. 1: the No. 1 symphony of the No. 1 composer."
This interactive feature traces the origins of Beethoven's music in Japan to World War I.
5. It determined the size of the compact disc
In the 1980s, when record companies wanted to phase out the vinyl LP in favour of the new digital format known as the compact disc, there was much discussion over what size it should be. Philips argued in favour of an 11.5 cm diameter CD while Sony planned on 10 cm.
It was decided that a single CD should have the capacity to contain a complete performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, which ranges from 65 to 74 minutes' duration. This required a 12 cm diameter, and that's the size of the modern CD that we came to know.