Beethoven Ludwig Von Beethoven\'s Ninth

Beethoven

Ludwig von Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was his last, completed and performed in 1824 in Vienna. Incorporating a Friedrich Schiller poem "An die Freude," ("To Joy"), Beethoven set a theme for one of the most magnificent classical choral compositions. The integration of choral elements into a symphony was wholly unique: the first time a composer had ever undertaken a task so ambitious. The Philharmonic Society of London commissioned the symphony in 1817, and Beethoven took six years to compose it. The symphony undulates, proceeding through moments of restive peace and near-quietude to shockingly loud crescendos. However, what makes Beethoven's Ninth Symphony so remarkable is that its composer was deaf when he wrote and performed it. The composition and premiere of the masterpiece proved an enormous struggle for the hearing-impaired musician.

One of the reasons Beethoven wrestled with the circumstances surrounding the Ninth Symphony was that the composer initially hoped to hold the premiere performance in Berlin, to purposefully shift his intended audience from Vienna. Yet Beethoven was encouraged, even pressured, to stage the premiere in Vienna "to prove that he still had box office appeal" in the Austrian capital since over ten years had passed since he composed his Eighth Symphony (Huscher 2007). Indeed, Beethoven had been reclusive and in a state of semi-retirement for years.

In spite of the optimism surrounding it, staging the premiere in Vienna turned out to be disappointing for the composer. For one, Beethoven could barely conduct his own symphony. His hearing loss was by 1824 so complete as to render his conducting practically useless. Beethoven still took to the stage and engaged in what have been called "over-the-top theatrical gesturing" while musicians paid attention to the timekeeping gestures of the concertmaster Michael Umlauf (Huscher, 2007). Umlauf did not steal the stage from the verable Ludwig von Beethoven, though. The symphony's premiere was received warmly by the audience, which applauded enthusiastically in spite of what might have amounted to a litany of errors. A series of standing ovations were seen, but not heard, by Beethoven. His greatest struggle with the Ninth Symphony might not have been composing it but rather, performing it without ever hearing the four movements. To create a masterpiece and to see a room full of patrons cheering without ever feeling the sense of fulfillment from the event must have been unbearably frustrating for Beethoven. The composer was all but cut off from the world because of his inability to hear. Beethoven could never experience a sense of completion or satisfaction after the Ninth Symphony without being able to hear what over six years of painstaking labor had allowed him to produce.

Moreover, the orchestra members were not well rehearsed for the May 7 performance at the Karntnertortheater. Part of the reason for the lack of practice was that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was long, complex, and incorporated many musical elements that were absent from most if not all other symphonic works until that time. The most notable difference between Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and any other prior symphony by any composer was that the fourth movement depended on vocals. Vocals were not normally included in symphonic arrangements and so gathering the right group of musicians together to perform on May 7, 1824 must have been daunting. Another reason Beethoven's Ninth Symphony must have been difficult to rehearse was because of its length and structural complexity. Beethoven apparently created a complex rhythmic structure that included peculiar metronome measures. The scherzo is punctuated extremely oddly. Moreover, the scherzo arrives in the second movement and before instead of after the slow movement. 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 Beethoven shelved the dream until the commissioning of the Ninth Symphony by the Philharmonic Society of London. 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.