We delve into the revolutionary genius and lasting impact of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony <\/p>
Beethoven\u2019s Ninth Symphony, a hugely important moment in the history of classical music, was first performed at Vienna\u2019s K\u00e4rnthnerthor Theatre on 7 May 1824.<\/p>\n
The Ninth was Beethoven\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> first symphony<\/a><\/strong> for more than a decade, though at least one of its elements had originated much earlier: a letter written as far back as 1793 advised of the composer\u2019s intention to set Friedrich Schiller\u2019s \u2018Ode to Joy\u2019, while a tiny sketch dated to 1798 makes use of some of its words. Similar fragments of the text were worked on during 1812 in connection with a piece that would become the Namensfeier Overture<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The earliest sketch containing music that would actually appear in the Ninth dates from 1815, when the opening idea of the scherzo<\/a><\/strong> occurs as a fugue subject. A commission for a new symphony from the Philharmonic Society in London in 1817 provided further impetus; pages dated to this period contain ideas that were later worked up into the first movement. More serious work was done in 1822 with a sketch outlining the melody to which the opening of Schiller\u2019s Ode would eventually be sung.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Such examples are typical of the processes by which Beethoven<\/strong><\/a> arrived at his completed compositions. They also make clear that the highly original conception of the Ninth \u2013 not only in terms of the surprising intervention of vocal forces to transform the finale of the work virtually into a cantata<\/a><\/strong>, but also in the sheer vastness of the whole, in which Beethoven<\/strong><\/a> expanded the time-scale of the symphony beyond that even of the Eroica \u2013 was arrived at only after much consideration.<\/p>\n