The fourth movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is, in my opinion, the greatest song of all time. Much like the theme song to Chariots of Fire, it has been used in commercials, movies, and as the background music in various video montages, and yet its repetitive use has stolen none of its power. Clocking in at 25 minutes, it has time for two heart pounding climaxes, one at the midpoint and then the grand finale, either of which is powerful enough to induce cardiac arrest. Here is a small portion of the song with an eloquent intro from the conductor. Roughly 9 minutes long, this video is worth every second,(the singers enter at about the 5:25 mark).
An excerpt from An die Freude by Friedrich Schiller, 1785
"Joyously, as his suns speed
Through Heaven's glorious order,
Hasten, Brothers, on your way,
Exulting as a knight in victory.
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter fire imbibed,
Heavenly, thy sanctuary.
Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.
Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell. "
3 comments:
Jeremy,
Did you write this post just for me or what? Ever since I got surround sound for Christmas I have been trying to remember / find your favorite classical song.
I thought you had mentioned it already, but I read back through every single one of your blog posts and couldn't find it.
Guess I could have just emailed you; but now I know! So I'm off to buy the song and think of you as I listen to it for the first time.
Hey Brad - Would you give us a review of the song in surround sound?
I think one of the best versions of this song is from Sister Act 2. It's roughly the same arrangement found on "A Soulful Celebration".
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