Ode to Joy

Ludwig Van Beethoven.

Some regard him as the greatest composer who ever lived.

But why? What was it that made him stand out from all the rest?

He was born in 1770. Ludwig studied music with his father, and at the age of 12 his first music was published. At his public debut, it was reported that he had fire, brilliance, fantasy...and depth of feeling.

At the age of 31, Ludwig began to experience his first symptoms of deafness. He avoided people...afraid that it would be discovered.

He wrote to a friend:
"How can I, a musician, say to people 'I am deaf!' I shall, if I can, defy this fate, even though there will be times when I shall be the unhappiest of God's creatures...I live only in music..."

One can only imagine the anger, fear, frustration and depression that he must have fought daily.

But, he came to terms with his deafness.

He later wrote to that same friend:
"I will seize fate by the throat. It will not wholly conquer me! Oh, how beautiful it is to live - and live a thousand times over!"

Between the years of 1817 and 1823, Beethoven wrote, while deaf, what would become one of his greatest works...Symphony No. 9, Ode to Joy.

The Ninth Symphony had its first performance on May 7th, 1824, in Vienna.

Beethoven could not conduct the premiere because of his deafness, but he stood next to the conductor during the performance to indicate the proper tempo.

The music was received with a great deal of emotion, not only by the audience, but some of the orchestra players reportedly wept.

An eyewitness gave an account of the scene:
"The master heard nothing at all, and was not even sensible of the applause of the audience at the end of his great work...one of the singers induced him to turn around and face the people, who were still clapping their hands...it seemed as if it would never end."

And now, over two hundred years later, his memory and his music still live on.

How fitting that his Ode to Joy was played at the tearing down of the Berlin Wall...his spirit and his music bringing tribute to man's ability to overcome and survive!

Ode to Joy
(words by Friedrich Schiller)

Glad, as his suns fly
Through the Heavens' glorious plan,
Run, brothers, your race,
Joyful, as a hero to victory.
Be embraced, you millions!
This kiss for the whole world!
Brothers, beyond the star-canopy
Must a loving Father dwell.
Do you bow down, you millions?
Do you sense the Creator, world?
Seek Him beyond the star-canopy!
Beyond the stars must He dwell.

marcy