Exploring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

Beethoven's iconic Ninth Symphony is as familiar as a species of bird, yet relatively few know all the movements and how they relate to each other. This talk will focus on details of all four movements and the choral text of the fourth movement. There will also be discussion of Beethoven’s personality, character, and emotional makeup, some insights into the language of symphonic music, and some notes on germane cultural trends of the composer's zeitgeist. Text and notes will be provided.

The Ninth, Beethoven's last symphony, was composed during 1822-1824. The composer had lived in Vienna during most of his working life and was a figure of renown and even hero worship there. He had been fascinated with Schiller's poem Ode to Joy for years before beginning composition. The work premiered in Vienna on May 7, 1824. The performance was under-rehearsed, and confusion reigned as Beethoven insisted on conducting despite his deafness. However, the audience reception was enthusiastic and respectful. The symphony soon took on its lasting role as a unique expression of the spirit of peace and brotherhood, and it has been current in orchestral repertoire ever since. Certainly the poetry declaims these ideals with uncommonly bold directness and passion. Even Schiller's clarion call was not enough for Beethoven's powerful feeling: he added words of his own. The Ninth was at the time of its creation an achievement of unmatched dimensions of musical expression and remains so to this day.

Dean Curtis been teaching, performing and composing music for decades. She served for two years as pre-concert lecturer for the New Orleans Friends of Music, an organization that presented world-class chamber music groups. She has taught at The University of Texas at Austin, Sam Houston State University, Loyola University of New Orleans, and Tulane University, as well as the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), Louisiana’s arts high school, and the Crowden Music Center in Berkeley. She holds a Teaching Excellence Award from Tulane’s University College.

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