Symphony No. 9

Choral orchestral masterpiece

Symphony No. 9 refers to any composer's ninth symphony, but without qualification it almost always means Beethoven's final symphony, completed in 1824.

The work is famous for incorporating a full chorus and vocal soloists in its final movement, setting Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy"—unprecedented for a symphony.

The "Ode to Joy" melody has become a universal symbol of unity and celebration: They played the "Ode to Joy" at the ceremony.

Other notable ninth symphonies include Dvořák's "From the New World" and Mahler's, which some composers superstitiously considered a limit—the so-called "curse of the ninth."

Related

orchestra · masterpiece · finale · deaf · triumph · movements · conductor · opus · classical · Vienna · premiere · chorus · soloists · crescendo · triumphant · humanity · human spirit · full orchestra

Categories
Opposites
scale and forces

Symphony No. 9chamber music

Small-group classical compositions

string quartet · solo piece · art song · lied · bagatelle

compositional ambition

Symphony No. 9bagatelle

Trivial matter or thing

trifle · fragment · incidental music · ditty

genre and texture

Symphony No. 9monody

Solo vocal lamentation

plainchant · folk song

Family

symphony, symphonic, symphonies

Familiarity
Top 500,000
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Used worldwide · Timeless · Positive · Rated G