Ode to English Joy
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was commissioned by a fiercely independent Britain, and Beethoven was excited to oblige.
1817
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was commissioned by a fiercely independent Britain, and Beethoven was excited to oblige.
1817
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is today associated with the European Union, something of an irony as Beethoven loudly cheered on Britain’s resistance to Napoleon Bonaparte’s dreams of a Europe-wide superstate. Indeed, the Symphony itself arose out of a commission from friends in London in 1817, just two years after Waterloo.
ON June 9th, 1817, a letter arrived at Ludwig van Beethoven’s residence in Baden informing him that friends at the Philharmonic Society in London, anxious for his well-being and finances, could offer him 300 guineas for two new symphonies by January 1818, to be conducted by Beethoven himself in the capital.
Beethoven, who had long wanted to visit England, immediately began work on his Ninth Symphony. However, the ‘Hammerklavier’ sonata and other distractions intruded, and the immortal music prompted by Beethoven’s English friends was first heard in Vienna on May 7th, 1824.
The Philharmonic Society renewed their invitation early in 1825, but Beethoven’s health was now in serious decline, so Sir George Smart went to Baden, where the composer guided him through the symphony, while enthusing about the English and ‘God Save the King’.* On his return, Sir George gave the triumphant London premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – ‘composed expressly’ the Philharmonic’s handbills recalled ‘for this Society’ – at the Argyll Rooms on March 21st, 1825.
See our story ‘God Save the King!’. For the downfall of Napoleon, see our posts tagged Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815).
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why made Beethoven begin work on a ninth symphony?
It commissioned by the London’s Philharmonic Society.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
The Philharmonic Society asked Beethoven to write a symphony. They liked Beethoven’s music. They knew he was short of money.