Monday, July 4, 2016

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods (Beethoven) (LP 17)

Ludwig Van Beethoven Symphony No.9 in d minor, opus 125 'choral' (CD - Newsound, 2000) ****

Genre:   Classical

Places I remember:  Bought (cheaply) from the Warehouse in Cambridge after I'd read a Mojo (the album that changed my life) article on it.


Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Ode to Joy was the big hit, and deservedly so. It's become the official anthem of the European Union - a class act!


  

Gear costume: The whole shabang is real nifty, and stimulating.

Active compensatory factors: 

The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (also known as "the Choral"), is Ludwig van Beethoven's final complete symphony.

Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best-known works in classical music, and is almost universally considered one of Beethoven's greatest works.

The symphony was the first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony (thus making it a choral symphony). The words are sung during the final movement by four vocal soloists and a chorus. They were taken from the "Ode to Joy", a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803.


Thanks Wikipedia.

I'm only a dabbler when it comes to classical music - I stick to the biggies in other words. This one is a real toe tapper in parts, melancholy in others and, ultimately, joyful. I feel ridiculously great while listening to it!

Although it didn't change my life (The Beatles got there ahead of him), it is a great unlifting piece of music. 

Where do they all belong?  Actually, I'm more of a fan of the piano sonatas than the symphonies, and that's where I tend to go when thinking I need some Beethoven in my life. 

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