Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 | Herbert von Karajan

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D Minor "Choral" Op.125, Herbert von Karajan, 1963.

Gundula Janowitz, soprano; Waldemar Kmentt, tenor; Walter Berry, Baritone; Hilde Rossel-Majdan, contralto. Wiener Singverein, Reinhold Schmid, Choir Master.
Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recorded: Berlin, Jesus-Christus-Kirche, October & November, 1962
Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, 1963.
Grand Prix du Disque

Parts/Movements
00:00 I. Allegro ma non troppo
15:28 II. Molto vivace
26:28 III. Adagio molto e cantabile
42:53 IV. Presto -
49:15 V. "O Freunde, nicht diese Töne" - Allegro assai

On May 7, 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven experienced what must certainly have been the greatest public triumph of his career. The audience which gathered at the Hoftheater adjacent to the Vienna Kärtnertor heard not only the abridged local premiere of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis (the Kyrie, Credo, and Gloria were given) and Op. 124 Overture, but also the first performance of the composer's 'Choral' Symphony. The event was a rousing success; indeed, one of the most moving accounts of Beethoven's final years describes how the profoundly deaf composer, unable to hear the colossal response of his admirers, had to be turned around by one of the soloists so that he could see the hundreds of clapping hands!

Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 started life as two separate works - a symphony with a choral finale, and a purely instrumental work in D minor. He labored on these sporadically for almost 10 years before finally deciding (in 1822) to combine the two ideas into one symphony, with Friedrich von Schiller's Ode an die freude (Ode to Joy) - a text he had contemplated setting for a number of years - as the finale.

The finished work is of visionary scope and proportions, and represents the apogee of technical difficulty in its day. There are passages, notably a horn solo in the slow movement, which would have been almost impossible to play on the transitional valveless brass instruments of Beethoven's time. As Dennis Matthews writes: "As with other late-period works, there are places where the medium quivers under the weight of thought and emotion, where the deaf composer seemed to fight against, or reach beyond, instrumental and vocal limitations."

The Ninth also personifies the musical duality that was to become the nineteenth century - the conflict between the Classic and Romantic, the old and new. The radically different styles of Brahms and Liszt, for instance, both had their precedents in this work. On one hand, there was the search for a broader vocabulary (especially in terms of harmony and rhythm) within the eighteenth century framework; on the other, true Romanticism, embracing the imperfect, the unattainable, the personal and the extreme - qualities that violate the very nature of Classicism. When viewed individually, the first three movements still have their roots distinctly in the eighteenth century, while the fourth - rhapsodic, and imbued with poetic meaning - seems to explode from that mold, drawing the entire work into the realm of program music, a defining concept of musical Romanticism.

Beethoven's Ninth represents a fitting culmination to the composer's symphonic ouvre - a body of work that is still unmatched in its scope and seminal ingenuity - and remains a pillar of the modern symphonic repertoire.

[Caroline-mety]

Karajan + Berliner + Beethoven = LA PERFECTION

[reuben]

This probably is the greatest piece of music ever written.

[antares____]

Has it been so long since Karajan died? I still remember, Waking up in the morning, and seeing my train tickets, ready for the upcoming Salzburg Summer July Festivals.
I had been waiting a whole year to be able to go and see Karajan do his Magic live I was so Excited!

It was the 17th of July of 1989... I was a young boy, having breakfast as usual... Until I had to read the newspaper...

I was petrified, I wanted to cry so badly, but I couldn't.

I shed a tear as I dropped the newspaper where I read ''Goodbye to a Myth of our Century''

Herbert von Karajan was dead, a cardiac faliure had taken my greatest hero away from this cruel life.
Even after he'd been practicing for the Festivals with such charm, Karajan died...

I ... I still went to Salzburg's Festival, but rather, I went to Salzburg to pay my respects to Von Karajan. I visited his tomb, and almost got into a fight with a foreigner who was taking dirt from his tomb, as all Occidental Forigners did.

I remember, going back home after the festival, and listening to all his interpretations, at least all the ones I had, just had them playing non stop, as much as I could...

*Truly, a Myth that was real.*
*Rest In Peace Von Karajan. I will never forget those days, what you meant to me, and what you mean today.*

[COCOTEIER]

I got the vinyl for my 14th birthday in 1974. I still have it with its purple velvet box.

[Gabriarq]

Very good ad during the video, YouTube. The extremely loud eletronic song that comes with the ad was indeed very well placed, nice work.

[carolinadecosshenning]

Jede Nacht bevor ich ins Bett gehe, höre ich diese himmlische Tone. Vielen Dank Beethoven! 

[zkbam]

Arguably the best of Karajan's rendition of Beethoven's 9th.

[jimhendricks]

If there is ONE PIECE ever composed that YouTube should not put ANY ads - it's this piece. Man...there are not words to describe the disrespect to have an ads in Beethoven's 9th.
Anyway, I still loved listening to it, and thank you for posting this fantastic performance. Bravissimo!

[DrSamba]

Gundula Janowitz' high note about a minute before the end always brings me to tears. It's like being welcomed into heaven, if such a place existed, that is.

[robbierusso]

Beethoven is my favorite composer! Seriously!!

[ryersonshippee]

the huge orchestral double fugue at 54:21 is my favorite part, but this symphony in its entirety is truly a timeless masterpiece. You can feel the tragic struggle the composer had to endure throughout his life, and the triumph over it with his passion for art. And he was deaf, nothing could stop him!

[Harvin]

Beethoven's unparalleled might echoes like a thunder in the dark skies as this simphony begins. Awe-inspiring and truly epic, for me, it represents the crushing power of his genious. 

[kubilaybirsk]

This is the best version I have ever heard.

[Selcuk.Aytimur]

The best of the best. R.I.P Herbert Von Karajan

[crvenoplavo]

Excellent performance. Karajan was a man who deeply relive each performance, and in this way we get to know him today. His life was dedicated to music, so vitality springs from this performance. And Beethoven, words are superfluous...

[jerryhe]

52:34 I love how long he holds this note. He makes the magic last forever.

[walter]

Beethoven always gives me the extraordinary energy and idealism to keep things going when life appears to be brutal. Beethoven suffered tremendously during his life, but think about how much he's still inspiring his audiences today globally, I think his life was very well-spent. That transcendental power is second to none.

[konstantinosm]

In 1980, Philips and Sony showed the CD as a result of the ensuing cooperation.
The creators of the CD originally aimed at an ability to record 60 minutes with disc diameter of 100 mm from Sony, or 115 mm from Philips.
Vice Sony Norio Ohga, proposed the expansion of capacity in 74 minutes, so it can record the 9th Symphony of Beethoven, the execution of 1951 with Wilhelm Furtwängler, the Bayreuth Festival.
The ninth, was the work that established the time of recording the CD.

[raulvela]

Indudablemente, genios como Karjan y Bernstein aparecen uno en un billón.
Lástima que ya no estén con nosotros,

[richardgaitan]

No hay cuerda emocional, intelectual, mística, trascendente que Ludwig no mueva con la arquitectural impecabilidad propia de una mente musical insuperable. Un complejo oleaje impetuoso y pausado que azota la sensibilidad sin piedad obligándola a la sublimidad extática, llevándola y trayéndola incansablemente por paisajes y visiones, por avenidas y sendas, por majestuosas estancias y pasillos iluminados por una rara luz que despierta una alegría inmensa, contenida o torrencial que solo podemos vislumbrar, si acaso...y me quedo corto. Desde luego que Herbert y la Berlinesa filarmónica cuentan muchísimo...