Whose Ninth Symphony includes the Ode to Joy?
Quick Answer
Beethovens Ninth Symphony features the Ode to Joy, composed while he was deaf.
The Full Story
Ludwig van Beethovens Ninth Symphony, completed in 1824, is one of the most celebrated works in classical music and famously includes a choral finale setting Friedrich Schillers poem Ode to Joy. It was groundbreaking as one of the first major symphonies to include voices, turning the final movement into a soaring hymn to human brotherhood. Most astonishingly, Beethoven composed it when he was almost completely deaf; at the premiere he reportedly had to be turned around to see the audience applauding because he could not hear them. The Ode to Joy melody was later adopted as the anthem of the European Union.
Key Facts
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Suggested video title for this topic:
"Beethovens Ninth β The Symphony a Deaf Man Gave the World"