Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Op. 125, 4th movement (score)

The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is a choral symphony, the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824. It was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1824. The symphony is regarded by many critics and musicologists as Beethoven's opus magnum and one of the supreme achievements in the history of music. One of the best-known works in common practice music, it stands as one of the most frequently performed symphonies in the world. The ninth was the first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony. The fourth movement of the symphony features four vocal soloists and a chorus in the parallel modulated key D major. The text was adapted from the "Ode to Joy", a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803, with additional text written by Beethoven. In 2001, Beethoven's original, hand-written manuscript of the score, held by the Berlin State Library, was added to the Memory of the World Programme Heritage list established by the United Nations, becoming the first musical score so designated. The choral finale is Beethoven's musical representation of universal brotherhood based on the "Ode to Joy" theme and is in theme and variations form. The movement starts with an introduction in which music from each of the previous movements, in order, is recycled in the fourth and then interrupted by instrumental recitatives played by the low strings. Following this, the "Ode to Joy" theme is finally introduced by the cellos and double basses. After three instrumental variations on this theme, the vocal parts are presented for the first time in the symphony by the baritone soloist, who sings words written by Beethoven himself: ''O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!' Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere.'' ("Oh friends, not these sounds! Let us instead strike up more pleasing and more joyful ones!"). At about 24 minutes in length, the last movement is the longest of the four movements. Indeed, it is longer than some entire symphonies of the Classical era. Its form has been disputed by musicologists, as Nicholas Cook explains: "Beethoven had difficulty describing the finale himself; in letters to publishers, he said that it was like his Choral Fantasy, Op. 80, only on a much grander scale. We might call it a cantata constructed round a series of variations on the "Joy" theme. But this is rather a loose formulation, at least by comparison with the way in which many twentieth-century critics have tried to codify the movement's form. Thus there have been interminable arguments as to whether it should be seen as a kind of sonata form (with the "Turkish" music of bar 331, which is in B♭ major, functioning as a kind of second group), or a kind of concerto form (with bars 1–207 and 208–330 together making up a double exposition), or even a conflation of four symphonic movements into one (with bars 331–594 representing a Scherzo, and bars 595–654 a slow movement). The reason these arguments are interminable is that each interpretation contributes something to the understanding of the movement, but does not represent the whole story." In line with Cook's remarks, Charles Rosen characterizes the final movement as a symphony within a symphony, played without interruption. This "inner symphony" follows the same overall pattern as the Ninth Symphony as a whole, with four "movements" including: A theme and variants with a slow introduction, a scherzo in a 6/8 military style, a slow section with a new theme on the text "Seid umschlungen, Millionen!", and a fugato finale on the themes of the first and third "movements", and two canons on the main theme and "Seid unschlungen, Millionen!" respectively. Towards the end of the movement, the choir sings the last four lines of the main theme, concluding with "Alle Menschen" before the soloists sing for one last time the song of joy at a slower tempo. The chorus repeats parts of "Seid umschlungen, Millionen!", then quietly sings, "Tochter aus Elysium", and finally, "Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Götterfunken!". 0:00 - Presto – Allegro assai (orchestra) | 1-207 6:43 - O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! (baritone) | 208-236 7:39 - Freude, schöner Götterfunken (soloists, chorus) | 237-330 10:20 - Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen (tenor, male chorus) | 331-540 13:49 - Freude, schöner Gotterfunken (chorus) | 541-594 14:44 - Seid umschlungen, Millionen! (chorus) | 595-654 18:31 - Freude / Seid umschlungen (chorus) | 655-762 20:34 - Freude, Tochter aus Elysium (soloists, chorus) | 763-842 23:11 - Große Finale (full orchestra and chorus) | 843-940 24:54 - Ending credits