‘Ode to Joy’ has an odious history. Let’s give Beethoven’s most overplayed symphony a rest

Toronto Star ^ | 6/26/2018 | John Terauds

[Sans-Culotte]

Still, Schiller’s Ode isn’t to Unity, it’s to Joy.

I was frankly annoyed with Bernstein's "Ode to Freedom" version. "Freiheit" does not sound as good as "Freude", and Freude (Joy) is what Schiller and Beethoven wrote.

[BigB60]

All kinds of great classical pieces have political overtones or undertones or celebrate nationalism:
Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture
Shostakovich Sym. 5
Anything by Sousa
Copland Fanfare for the Common Man
Britten War Requiem
Adams Nixon in China and several other pieces.

Hitler loved Wagner. Is she going to ban all Wagner?

Put on your big girl pants Lady

[BigB60]

Sorry, he...

[rfp1234]

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 is also the Anthem of the European Union.

[freefdny]

Play it Sam. If Hitler can take it I can take it.

[Veto!]

Thanks for link. Wonderful. Brings back memories of my friend who grew up in Nazi Germany and could not have hated Nazis more. She and I attended San Francisco Symphony together and she never stopped reminding me that the music was Beethoven’s but the words to Ode to Joy were by Schiller. Lyric here:

https://www.elyrics.net/read/l/ludwig-van-beethoven-lyrics/ode-to-joy-lyrics.html

[Responsibility2nd]

So you got it (and all the comments) deleted?

WTF?

[Henry Cavendish]

This is very bourgeois.

[NorthMountain]

Beethoven’s Ninth — particularly the Chorale — is the finest piece of music ever written.

I once believed that.

Then I heard the Verdi Requiem.

Live.

When it ended, the entire audience sat, utterly silent, stunned, pinned to their seats, for about 5 seconds … then simultaneously erupted into the greatest standing ovation I have ever witnessed.

Now I am not so presumptuous as to label anything the finest piece of music ever written.

But I will admit Beethoven #9 is in the (no order) top five.

[IronJack]

There are other “big” pieces ... glorious works (Wagner, Handel, Bach, Mozart, et.al.). But their best doesn’t rise to the level of the Ninth. It stands alone.

[SuperLuminal]

Senseless drivel assembled into a dumbass screed...

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Don’t worry, you’ll get yours with the drops in the eyes.

Meanwhile, I will now be hearing the Glorious 9th in my mind all day long, unless I start Dvorak’s the Symphony from the New World, or Rachmaninov’s Concerto, or Grieg...

I can overcome it all with some Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys...

[sparklite2]

San Antone!

[heartwood]

I wonder what percentage of indigenous women were killed by indigenous men? Upwards of 80%? And since men are generally murdered at a higher rate than women, what about the male victims? And, țhe unanswerable question which should still be considered, how would the murder rate on the reservations compare to thd murder rate if the indigenes had not been conquered by Europeans?

[Publius]

Hitler loved Wagner too. Should we ban his operas?

[Sirius Lee]

This is the opening shot in the war to erase western civilization. Ban all the great composers one at a time for their white privilege. The future of music is all primal grunting to be used as a tool to either insure violence or dispair. The human soul must be crushed.

[Cecily]

Cue Daffy Duck: “Ahhhh, shut up!!!!”

[NorthMountain]

Opinions vary …

The author's opinion deserves contempt. Yours is fit for friendly discussion, preferably over adult beverages.

;'}

[kaboom]

That article was printed June 26, 2018. Still worth comment, but a bit dated.

[rockrr]

Because burning books (or records) accomplishes so much...