Beethoven's Ninth Symphony's untraditional arrangement might have irked performers as well as critics. Although Beethoven was still venerated by the Viennese public, a follow-up performance of the Ninth Symphony was not well attended or well received. In fact, the second performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony brought in a shamefully small crowd: the venue was only half full and ticket sales barely earned the orchestra enough money to cover expenses (Huscher, 2007). The mixed critical and audience responses to his final symphony must have troubled Beethoven and solidified his decision to retire for good.

Some critics came close to panning the premiere, denouncing the musicians for their performances and also the composition itself. The symphony was deemed too difficult to perform, too unwieldy to include in a concert program, and was subsequently shelved for quite some time: for several decades (Huscher 2007). Critics pointed out the cumbersome fourth movement and its attendant choral elements. The fourth movement was so long it seemed like a symphony unto itself. Beethoven's use of vocals might have shocked conservative critics unwelcoming of flexibility in their music.

Yet other critics received the May 7 premiere of the Ninth Symphony favorably, demonstrating the deep respect for Beethoven by acknowledging the difficulties associated with staging a live concert while being unable to hear anything. Even if Beethoven were not hearing impaired, though, the Ninth Symphony would have been received with equal reverence as it has been since its resuscitation by Richard Wagner in the mid-nineteenth century.

The Ninth Symphony was Beethoven's brainchild. Since the composer was in his twenties he had envisioned a symphony that incorporated Schiller's poem. Working it into his symphonies proved impossible and so...

Knowing that the commission would likely be his last, Beethoven set forth to integrate Schiller's "An die Freude" into the symphony. With so much personal interest vested in the Ninth Symphony, Beethoven would have preferred a more universally positive reaction from critics and audience members.
Nevertheless, Beethoven did enjoy the fruits of his labor while he was still alive. Although a struggle to compose and perform because of his hearing loss and his estrangement from society, the Ninth Symphony bears the mark of genuine genius. It would not be for at least a century after Beethoven's death that his Ninth Symphony would be appreciated in its fullness, in its totality, for its majestic splendor. Being able to integrate the lyrics of a seventeenth-century poem into a nineteenth century symphonic composition must have been challenging enough for a composer with impeccable hearing. Keeping alive a dream to imbue a lengthy composition with a Romantic theme of Brotherly Love in spite of persistent hearing loss shows how dedicated Beethoven was to his music, how driven he was to spend every last breath on creating works of art. Ludwig von Beethoven had all but given up on musical composition after his Eighth Symphony. Unable to hear properly, the composer undoubtedly believed himself incapable of completing another symphony let alone one as ambitious, complex, and transcendent as the Ninth. Yet egged on by his admirers, Beethoven rose to the occasion and struggled through a seven-year composition period and a hasty, ill-timed and imperfect execution.

References

Huscher, P. (2007). Program notes: Ludwig von Beethoven. Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved July 7, 2008 at http://www.cso.org/main.taf?p=5,5,5,104