‘Joy, daughter of the beautiful gods/From the fiery paradise,/Intoxicated with fiery passion/We enter thy sanctuary!/What custom had severed apart/Your magic binds again,/Where your soft wings dwell. Where,/all men become brothers (…)’ (Schiller’s ‘Ode to Joy’)
In particular, there are works that colour the performance hall in December with beautiful light. If it’s an opera, it’s Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’, if it’s a ballet, it’s Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker’, and if it’s a choral piece, it’s Handel’s oratorio ‘Messiah’.
The first and second acts of ‘La Bohème’ are set on Christmas Eve, and ‘The Nutcracker’ also contains the story of a dream one had on Christmas Eve. ‘Messiah’ contains the life of Christ based on the Gospel, so it fits the atmosphere of Christmas.
On the other hand, there is no clear evidence as to why Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, ‘Choral Symphony’, which has Schiller’s ‘Ode to Joy’ as the lyrics in the 4th movement, is performed at the end of the year. It seems correct to say that this is a custom only found in Japan and Korea. But now I feel like I haven’t spent a full year without listening to this song that praises the ideal world where humanity becomes one.
That’s right. Fans of symphonic and choral music in Korea must pass through the baptism of joy that this song brings every year. Just looking at Seoul this year, this song was performed by the Going Home Project on December 8, the Hankyung Artephilharmonic Orchestra conducted by Hong Seok-won on the 16th, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden on the 18th and 19th, and the KBS Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pietari Inkkinen on the 21st and 24th. will be performed on stage (Seoul Arts Center on the 8th, 16th, 18th, and 24th) Concert Hall, Seoul Lotte Concert Hall on the 19th and 21st)
This year marks the 200th anniversary of this song being released. To be exact, it premiered at the Kärntner Theater in Vienna, the capital of Austria, on May 7, 1824. The lyrics of the fourth movement, ‘Ode to Joy’, are poems written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785, four years before the French Revolution. Schiller, who was 26 years old at the time, was deeply absorbed in the ideas of the Enlightenment, which sought the equal union of all people.
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, conductor Leonard Bernstein changed the lyrics and conducted them in Berlin. If you think about it, this sounds right. This is because joy is closer to the result that comes after liberation rather than a tool that brings liberation. There is no clear evidence for this theory.
At the time this song was released, the situation in the world surrounding Beethoven was not very good. The French Revolution that occurred in 1789 agitated the mind of Beethoven, who was 19 at the time. Beethoven, who grew up in Bonn on the banks of the Rhine River near France, grew up feeling the wind of freedom and liberation blowing from the west. However, subsequent developments were different from expectations. Napoleon sent troops to all of Europe and crushed Beethoven’s expectations with disillusionment.
Although the French conquering army, influenced by the Enlightenment, made reforms to modernize the legal system and human rights, Napoleon was defeated and the world returned completely to the past at the Congress of Vienna, which settled the War of 1814. Beethoven vividly watched from the establishment of the ideal that humans could help each other and live wisely under the banner of freedom, equality and fraternity, all the way to its stranding. This song may have been ‘an afterword about an enlightened world where there was a dream.’
And 200 years passed. Humans are still pointing guns. The wall dividing East and West has collapsed, and the ideals of the era when Bernstein conducted ‘Ode to Liberty’ seem to be running aground. Wouldn’t humanity, which is building walls again, be able to join forces if a common enemy invades from outer space or somewhere else? Such expectations also seem hopeless. Humanity now has a serious common enemy: the climate crisis. The next person in power of a superpower is trying to appoint as energy minister someone who denies the very existence of the crisis.
The reporter is reading a book called ‘Enlightenment Again’ (written by Steven Pinker, Science Books). I think that humans will pass through that era too hastily without getting what they truly need from ‘enlightenment.’
’s Choral Symphony… Did humanity gain ‘joy’?[유윤종의 클래식感]”/>
![200th anniversary of Beethoven’s Choral Symphony… Did humanity gain ‘joy’?[유윤종의 클래식感]](https://image.donga.com/donga_v1/images/img_series_default.png "200th anniversary of Beethoven’s Choral Symphony… Did humanity gain ‘joy’?[유윤종의 클래식感]")
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What are the themes explored in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, particularly in the “Ode to Joy”?
The text reflects on the significance of various musical works that are often associated with the holiday season and the end of the year, specifically focusing on “Messiah,” “La Bohème,” “The Nutcracker,” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, commonly referred to for its “Ode to Joy.” It suggests that these pieces resonate with themes of joy, unity, and societal ideals, particularly during times of celebration.
The narrative notes that while ”Messiah” and the other operatic and ballet works explicitly highlight Christmas themes and the spirit of joy, the tradition of performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, especially in Korea and Japan, is less well-documented and appears to be a local custom. The text captures the communal experience of attending these performances, reinforcing the cultural significance of music during the festive season.
Additionally, the discussion delves into the historical context of Beethoven’s work, pointing out that its release followed a tumultuous period in Europe, characterized by revolutions and wars. The text juxtaposes the idealistic vision expressed in the “Ode to Joy” with the contemporary challenges that humanity faces, such as the climate crisis and geopolitical tensions. It concludes with a reflection on the cyclical nature of hope and disillusionment in the pursuit of a harmonious world.
the piece is a meditation on music’s power to inspire and unify, while also recognizing the ongoing struggles for humanity to realize the ideals of freedom, equality, and fraternity that were so fervently yearned for during Beethoven’s time—and still remain relevant today.