One of my all time favourite works. And by that I mean Top 5. It is definitely something that every self-respecting music lover should have at least one copy of in their record collection. I expect everybody has at least part of it in their collection, because the final movement - or part of - tends to be in most compilations of "Best of what you can't live without" But contrary to what the typical Classic FM listener will believe, this actually has four movements. There is plenty enough written on the web, some of it by musicologists, so there is little point in boring with you all that.
I have three versions of this. As a hint I would say it's better to pick it on account on the bass soloist rather than any other voice type. For years and years my favourite version was the Herbert von Karajan version with the Berliner Philharmoniker, indeed this is the version that is recommended by experts as the definitive.
But just recently, a new version has overtaken this as my favourite. I got the CD because I had been to both performances where it was recorded in the Barbican and even though they rated as two of my favourite performances of 2006, I was, nevertheless, overwhelmed by the CD. In addition to the fabulous singing - especially the bass (baritone, actually) soloist, I would highlight the timpani as being particularly special. I also like the way that the orchestra plays - an absence of legato, not quite staccato but with more or less every note precisely articulated - as opposed to the von Karajan version where there is, relatively speaking, quite a lot of eliding of notes, seeming, in comparison, to be quite slurry. And I love the way the Ladies of the LSC push right to the boundary, where to go beyond would be screechy...high risk strategy, immensely rewarding when brought off properly
The final version I listen to is the first one I acquired, one that sits on a cassette I made after borrowing the vinyl LP from Nottingham library when I was a student. This was chosen for the tenor soloist, though this is not a work to be chosen for the tenor soloist! Sadly, for a number of years, this was the only Beethoven 9 in my collection, and due to the relative paucity of my collection, it is one that has been played so often it resides in my muscle memory. It is just way too slow,way way too slow, and really, that now makes it very difficult to play and enjoy. The total playing time is 78 minutes with the fourth movement being 28:34 (with twenty years of cassette stretch bringing it to 33!) Von Karajan and Haitink bring the 4th in at just over 24 minutes, with total times being 67 and 68. Despite my reservations I am going to buy the CD.
I can't really describe music, and it would be such an insult even to try to describe this. Music transcends words. It would be trite to say - I like that bit, especially when it does that, and oh, that bit too, trying to take it apart and analyse it, when it is a grand piece conceived out of the vision of an extraordinary genius!
It's a cliché when people say - and to imagine that Beethoven was completely deaf when he wrote this. As if somehow that is remarkable. It is of utter sadness that he did not hear it being performed by full orchestra, even when he was conducting, but I don't suppose a deaf Beethoven was any different from a hearing Beethoven, or any other composer. They have the music in their head and they write it down from there.
Recanting my sneer at Classic FM types, I have to admit that despite the first three movements being better than just about any symphony by anybody, the fourth outdoes just about the whole of the rest of the corpus of Western music. A magnificent combination of extraordinary words set to mind-blowing music. Definitely one of those pieces that is far greater then the sum of its parts, even though the parts are, in themself, quite magnificent. I read a quote the other day that whilst Mozart believed himself to be God* whereas Beethoven was reaching out to God. Obviously, one's interpretation will depend on the extent of one's belief in a Higher Power. I feel that this is one of the very few pieces of music that encapsulate that spirit, and one of the most inspiring pieces of music, as it culminates in a celebration of Joy!
It is definitely a piece for pumping up the volume, pumping it some more for the Final choral movement, singing along as loud as one can, with scant regard for tunelessness, especially if one does tunelessness well. And then wallowing in the moments of repose. Cathartic and adrenaline-forming. Pure joy!
One can have a lot of fun on YouTube watching - and of course, listening to the numerous versions available there, by necessity only short excerpts. It's also nice to read the comments. such as "Where can I buy a CD or DVD of this?" ( to which the reply is, "Just about any record store in the world"). At first glance, it seems the comment of an ignoramus - but an ignoramus wanting to learn, which happens to be my favourite type of person. And someone else "Magical. From a guy who loves hip-hop, this is the greatest piece of music ever produced."
Ones worth pointing out - Bernstein's historic changing of Freude to Freiheit at that historicBerlin concert in the heady days of 1989.
And what a contrast with this clip under Furtwaengler from 21 April 1942. Think v. carefully about that date. Gallops along wonderfully whilst simultaneously making the blood chill.
So, if you've got an hour or so to spare, sit down and enjoy these videos, of Herbert von Karajan conducting the whole bang-shoot, with superb camera-work and editing, as well as great conducting of really great music, with soloists Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Jess Thomas and Walter Berry. Some of the comments make me well up - I suppose the music contribute as well - as does the thought I suddenly had that it should have been Wunderlich singing the tenor part. Actually, I'm not really sure - was his voice of the right fach. I have to confess to being a bit of a Karajan fan, I sort of grew up on him, never live, sadly. There are so many recordings where he gets it wrong, but so spectacularly wrong. And the soloists - isn't Walter Berry totally gorgeous. And Gundula Janowitz, too. But I've just fallen in love with Walter Berry.
You won't get that hour of your life back, but trust me, you will not want it back!
I have to include this 1970 clip for sheer self-indulgence in the young tenor soloist who seems like he might have had a promising career ahead of him...!
And finally, there isn't a piece of music in existence that can't be played on a ukelele by a bloke in a South Park t-shirt
* not sure this is accurate, either in the precise phraseology nor in the attribution, but I understand it musically
