Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
|
|
|
|
making of...
|
adriana lecouvreur
|
aida
|
aroldo
|
ballo in maschera
|
battaglia di legnano
|
la boh?e
|
carmen
|
cavalleria rusticana
|
contes d'hoffmann
|
don carlo
|
fanciulla del west
|
fedora
|
la forza del destino
|
idomeneo
|
madama butterfly
|
manon lescaut
|
oberto
|
otello
|
pagliacci
|
parsifal
|
queen of spades
|
samson et dalila
|
simon boccanegra
|
stiffelio
|
symphony no.9
|
il tabarro
|
tosca
|
la traviata
|
turandot
|
verdi requiem
|
die walk?e
|
|
plus
|
synopses/libretti
|
some lyrics
|
Verdiana!
|
Pucciniana!
|
Tenorissimo!
|
|
OperaResource
|
1998-2001
|
All rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BEETHOVEN'S NINTH SYMPHONY
|
|
Friedrich von Schiller's Ode to Joy in Beethoven's setting for
|
four soloists, chorus
|
and orchestra has taken on a special meaning as a fanfare for
|
peace, tolerance and
|
liberty all over the world.
|
|
Beethoven's drafts for his opus 125 - the last in the cycle of
|
symphonies - date back
|
to the year 1815 or 1816. For decades he had been wanting to
|
set Schiller's hymn to
|
music, but it was only after the first three movements of the
|
9th Symphony were
|
almost completed that he decided to compose a choral finale
|
for the last movement
|
based on parts of the poem.
|
|
In the conventions of the 1820s it was nothing less than
|
revolutionary to end a
|
symphony in this manner - and at just over an hour the work
|
was also unusually
|
long. At its first performance, in Vienna on May 7, 1824, the
|
audience was typically
|
enthusiastic, while the critics, as so often before, found the
|
composer's unique
|
ideas too novel and daring.
|
|
Beethoven himself could not hear the clamour and the shouts of
|
'Bravo', as he was
|
completely deaf by this time.
|
|
|
|
AN DIE FREUDE - ODE TO JOY
|
|
O Freunde, nicht diese T?e!
|
Sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen
|
und freudenvollere!
|
|
Freude, sch?er G鰐terfunken,
|
Tochter aus Elysium,
|
Wir betreten feuertrunken.
|
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
|
Deine Zauber binden wieder
|
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
|
Alle Menschen werden Br?er
|
Wo dein sanfter Fl?el weilt.
|
|
Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen
|
Eines Freundes Freund zu sein,
|
Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,
|
Mische seinen Jubel ein!
|
Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele
|
Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!
|
Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle
|
Weinend sich aus diesem Bund.
|
|
Freude trinken alle Wesen
|
An den Br?ten der Natur;
|
Alle Guten, alle B?en,
|
Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.
|
K?se gab sie uns und Reben,
|
Einen Freund, gepr?t im Tod;
|
Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,
|
Und der Cherub steht vor Gott!
|
|
Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
|
Durch des Himmels pr?ht'gen Plan,
|
Laufet, Br?er, eure Bahn,
|
Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.
|
|
Seid umschlungen, Millionen.
|
Dieser Kuss der ganzen Welt!
|
Br?er! ?er'm Sternenzelt
|
Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.
|
Ihr st?zt nieder, Millionen?
|
Ahnest du den Sch?fer, Welt?
|
Such ihn ?er'm Sternenzelt!
|
?er Sternen muss er wohnen.
|
|
(the four-line verse is the 'alla marcia' section: the tenor
|
| solo) |
