DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (April 30,2020)
We are tracing the amazing development of the 4th movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony step by step, and relating it to the symphony as a whole, as we proceed.
We urge readers to follow and listen to the development of the movement, from the beginning, and more than once (a sheet music version is again posted below as a visual aid). You will find it well worth your while! Many people have followed a play, or a novel all the way through. It is less common with great music, since it is almost a foreign language to many of us. It is however, an enriching experience.
A quick synopsis of what we have done so far:
Part 1: discussed the poem, and creating universal brotherhood through the spread of joy: specifically the joy associated with reason, love, and creativity.
Part 2: compared the work to the Apollo Project, in that it was necessary to provide optimism in a time of great trouble that required new discoveries and breakthroughs. Beethoven has to develop something that had never been done before.
Part 3: discussed how Beethoven shared his method of creative discovery with the world, in his unprecedented introduction to the movement that shared his search for a higher idea.
Part 4: discussed how Beethoven, after that introduction, rather than proceeding with the Ode to Joy theme as perfected, presented it as an hypothesis, to be tested and proven through a set of variations. It ended with a cliff hanger: why did he interrupt the process and return to the opening dissonance?
Part 5: addressed that question by demonstrating that the human voice still had to be introduced. It was something new and revolutionary in a symphony. A one minute recitative by a solo baritone voice, condenses the much longer introduction into a single line of music. Beethoven then proceeds with a set of vocal variations, using the first three verse of the poem, all based on the Freude theme. Again, Beethoven interrupts the process with a powerful change.
All of these parts have been constructed for the sake of brevity. We hope to give the reader a map of the unknown territory the composer is exploring.
Part 6: We begin with the powerful change Beethoven makes on the words, Und der Cherub steht vot Gott (even the Cherub stands before God)—every created being experiences joy, as is presented frequently in the poem. Cherubs are small, rather chubby angels, but they see the face of God! A long fortissimo chord is held on the words Vor Gott! Then comes a long silence. We try to anticipate what will follow, but If we do not know the work, it is totally unpredictable.
We hear a series of quiet grunts in the bassoon on a single note. What is known as a “Turkish March” emerges from it. Everything is different: a new key, new time signature, different orchestration! The tune seems to have nothing to do with the Ode to Joy. There are references to previous sections of earlier movements in the symphony, but it would take a very good memory to grasp them. We will identify them though, because making such connections helps us integrate the work as a whole in out minds: once you have heard it, you are very unlikely to forget it!
The greatest joy in the Turkish March comes with the realization, of just how close it is to the Ode to Joy theme. It sounds very different, but with a little practice, one can sing the Ode to Joy, note for note, against the Turkish march. Try it!
This section ends, with an instrumental double fugue. Stay tuned, but please review the process up until this point. Think like Beethoven!
Sheet music video, beginning at 9:27: https://youtu.be/D6uPo3MIKPU