Beethoven · Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, "Choral"
Turning around a composer who couldn't hear the applause
- Key
- D minor
- Composed
- 1824
- Premiere
- 1824 Vienna
- Duration
- about 65 min
- Movements
- 4 movements
- Instrumentation
- Woodwinds 2·2·2·2 (+ piccolo and contrabassoon) · Brass 4·2·3·0 · Timpani · Percussion (bass drum, cymbals, triangle) · Vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone) and chorus · Strings
The story behind this piece
Beethoven felt Viennese audiences didn't appreciate serious music, and he even considered premiering this piece in Berlin. Then his fans and patrons in Vienna sent a petition begging him to do it in Vienna, and in the end it premiered there.
It premiered on May 7, 1824, at the Kärntnertor Theater in Vienna. The program also included the Consecration of the House overture and parts of the Missa solemnis. When it ended, Beethoven, completely deaf, was still standing with his back to the cheering audience. One of the soloists went over and turned him around, and only then did he see the applause and bow.
The last movement calls up the themes of the three earlier movements one by one and rejects them, and then the "Ode to Joy" melody appears. A "Turkish" march is even mixed in along the way, and it is still counted as a movement that is hard to explain in any single form.
What to listen for
- Opening of the 4th movement: the instruments speak like recitative, calling up the earlier movements' themes one by one and rejecting them. Then the cellos and basses quietly bring out the "Ode to Joy"
- Middle of the 4th movement: the "Turkish" march with bass drum, cymbals, and triangle
Listen · Score
Credits