My, they do project, don’t they? Unity is now to be discouraged in place of the god Diversity, and anything alluding to it must be suppressed. This is not presented as an argument, it’s presented as an immutable principle. By an idiot.
Beethoven was certainly political, however - he famously tore up his dedication of the 3d Symphony when Napoleon declared himself Emperor. He’d mistaken Napoleon for a liberator. Quite a few Enlightenment believers did and would quickly find out differently.
Still, Schiller’s Ode isn’t to Unity, it’s to Joy. And it wasn’t expropriated by Hitler at all except for the fact that Hitler liked it. It has, however, been expropriated by the European Union as an anthem. I’m guessing old Ludwig would have torn that one up too but he wasn’t around to ask.
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.
Actually, it's to "Freude." Like so many German words, the fullness of the term doesn't translate. It's generally translated as "joy," but it's actually so much more. It is the "bright spark of divinity, the daughter of the Heavens." It is French's "joie de vivre," the splendor the Italians command when they declaim "Volare!" It goes way beyond happiness or even ecstasy. It is the Life Force, the fire that God puts in all of us that makes us cling to tomorrow and to cherish our dreams like a rich dessert.
It is sublime. And Beethoven captured that "joy," that power, that heaven-sent magnificence in music. There can be no greater accomplishment for a composer.