All Things Considered: Ode to Joy as a Call to Action

[BeyondGeography]

An excellent interview by Teri Gross with Kerry Candaele, who directed "Following the Ninth," a global reconsideration of the enduring power and relevance of Beethoven's 9th:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2014/01/14/262481960/the-ode-to-joy-as-a-call-to-action

Really worth listening to; the trailer clip is at the link. Mass performances of the 4th movement are annual rituals in Japan. Great example of that here:

[JayhawkSD]

1. It is an interesting discussion

I like the concept of the Ninth as inspiration for overcoming adversity. It has, in fact, been one of my touchstones since I was very young, specifically the "Ode to Joy."

A commenter in the cited article said that his father had shared classical music with hime since he was a toddler, and I had the same experience. Like his, my father's favorite composer was Beethoven, so... Dad would play excerpts of Classical and Baroque pieces and see if I could name the composer, then he would play recognizeable pieces, Beethoven symphonies among them, and see if I could name the conductor. We would listen together to Leonard Bernstein on Saturday mornings. Wonderful memories.

Interesting that the thread here is the Ninth as inspiration when it is usually the Fifth, known as "The Fates," which is cited as Beethoven's signal piece of overcoming his loss of hearing and of his true love. The opening bars supposedly signaled fate knocking on the door and then the transition into the uplifting and victorious tenor of the piece itself. So much was that noted that the Allies used it as sort of a theme song in WW2, noting that the opening notes also could be seen as "dit-dit-dit-dah" which is Morse code for the letter V. It was commonly called the "Victory" symphony during the war.

[BeyondGeography]

2. Perhaps from 5 to 9, the solitary moves to solidarity

The 5th could be about individual survival; the 9th, survival of humanity. We're all being stalked, not just me. Beethoven had a desperation about him that came through in his music. People are desperate, at least the conscious ones, but until him music was about form as much as substance. I always love reading about Haydn's reactions to him as his tutor; very often along the lines of, "you are trying to accomplish too much," or, "that first movement, why so long?" He was like John Lee Hooker in Boogie Chillen; "it's in him, and it's got to come out. Let that boy boogie woogie."

Wagner called him a, "Titan, wrestling with the Gods." ""He gives us a glimpse into his soul, I suspect that's why it's so noisy"...(Haydn's comment upon hearing the 3rd the first time it was played.) He also said, "It's quite new; the artist as hero. Everything is different from today." All that music prior to 1824 or so, that journey from Baroque to Romantic to the late quartets and sonatas which started music on a path to the 21st century, but without the 9th, would he be so widely remembered? He struggled to write one opera, but with the choral finale of the 9th, he gave the world the closest thing it has to an anthem.

Thank you for your reminiscence of your Dad. What a thrill that he shared that with you, and a joy for him no doubt that you were so receptive.