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As we nurse our heads and stomachs after several days of overindulgence, we all need a little help rallying for the next big event \u2013 welcoming in the new year. Whether it\u2019s a tune for New Year\u2019s Eve, or merely one that suits the melancholic first few days of the new year, the BBC Music Magazine <\/em>team have got you covered.<\/p> Here, we choose the pieces we feel best suit New Year’s Eve and the first few days of a brand new year\u2026.<\/p> Want to start the New Year with a bang? You certainly can\u2019t go wrong with Beethoven\u2019s Ninth Symphony. Composed between 1822 and 1824, the composer\u2019s final\u00a0symphony is one of the major landmarks in the history of classical music, and was runner up in our list of the\u00a0greatest symphonies of all time<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p> Among the work’s many strokes of genius is the placing of the\u00a0Adagio<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0slow movement third in the sequence of movements, rather than the usual second place. This later placing gives this movement more of the climactic profundity it deserves, and later composers including Mahler would learn from Beethoven’s traiilblazing decision.<\/p> If the first three movements already mark the Ninth down as a work of greatness, the final movement, featuring the exultant, utopian\u00a0Ode to Joy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by the contemporary poet Friedrich Schiller, elevates it to one of music’s supreme achievements.<\/p> Recommended Recording:<\/p> Otto Klemperer<\/strong>\u00a0A Nordmo-L\u00f8vberg, C Ludwig, W Kmentt, H Hotter; Philharmonia (1957)<\/strong>\u00a0Testament SBT 1177<\/strong><\/p>
Best New Year’s Eve music<\/h2>
Symphony No. 9, \u2018Choral\u2019 (Beethoven)<\/h3>