Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral"

The symphony unfolds in four movements over roughly 65 to 70 minutes.

I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso. The symphony opens almost out of nothing, a quiet shimmer of open fifths that gradually gathers into a stark, powerful theme in D minor. Listen for the way this opening hush returns later in the movement, each time landing with more weight.

II. Molto vivace. A driving scherzo (a fast, energetic movement) built on a theme first hammered out by the timpani. A slower middle section offers a brief pastoral break before the opening energy returns.

III. Adagio molto e cantabile. A slow movement of long, songful lines that alternates between two flowing melodies, offering a moment of calm before the finale.

IV. Finale. Presto; Allegro assai. The famous movement. It opens with a jarring outburst, then the low strings seem to "search" by briefly recalling themes from the earlier movements before settling on a new melody, the "Ode to Joy." That tune builds gradually from a single cello line to the full orchestra, then voices enter for the first time: a baritone soloist, joined by chorus and three more soloists, singing Friedrich Schiller's poem about universal brotherhood.

Beethoven completed his Ninth Symphony in 1824, more than a decade after his previous symphony and while almost completely deaf. He had long wanted to set Friedrich Schiller's poem "An die Freude" ("Ode to Joy") to music, and here he did so in the finale, adding solo voices and chorus to a symphony for the first time in the genre's history. The premiere took place in Vienna on May 7, 1824, and audiences reportedly applauded so vigorously that Beethoven, unable to hear them, had to be turned around to see the ovation. The symphony's finale later became widely known through its use as an anthem of unity, including at the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and it remains one of the most frequently performed and recorded orchestral works in the world.