Symphony #9 (Choral) by Ludwig Von Beethoven
Experience a 300 member chorus and orchestra
performing the Choral part of the most popular symphony of all time!
Littleton Chorale Music Festival
With the Colorado Chamber Orchestra
James Ramsey, conductor
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 7:00pm (NOT 7:30!!)
Gates Hall in the
Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts
University of Denver Campus
2344 E. Iliff Ave.
Denver, Colorado
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This concert consists of the choral part of Beethoven's Symphony # 9; there will be a combined choir with high school students and the Littleton Chorale amounting to a 300 member chorus! In addition to this, the schools will also each be singing a few pieces of their own.
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral" is the last complete symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the choral Ninth Symphony is one of the best known works of the Western repertoire, considered both an icon and a forefather of Romantic music, and one of Beethoven's greatest masterpieces.
Symphony No. 9 incorporates part of An die Freude ("Ode to Joy"), a poem by Friedrich Schiller written in 1785 (first published in 1786 in the poet's own literary journal, Thalia), with text sung by soloists and a chorus in the last movement. It is the first example of a major composer using the human voice on the same level with instruments in a symphony, creating a work of a grand scope that set the tone for the Romantic symphonic form.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 plays a prominent cultural role in the world today. In particular, the music from the fourth movement (Ode to Joy) was rearranged by Herbert von Karajan into what is now called the Anthem of Europe. Further testament to its prominence is that an original manuscript of this work sold in 2003 for $3.3 million USD at Sotheby's, London. Stephen Roe, the head of Sotheby's manuscripts department, described the symphony as "one of the highest achievements of man, ranking alongside Shakespeare's Hamlet and King Lear."
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