Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor

Informatie

Beethoven had been pondering over the plan of the Ninth Symphony for 30 years. He was occupied with Schiller's 'Ode to Joy' as early as 1793. From 1809 on the first drafts of the musical ideas of the work appeared among his sketches. In fact, he began the meticulous elaboration of this monumental composition only in the autumn of 1822. The first performance took place on May 7, 1824 in the Kärntnertor-Theater in Vienna. Although the conductor Umlauf, the soloists, the choir and the orchestra had only a few rehearsals at their disposal to come over the extraordinary difficulties of the piece, the Ninth Symphony had a great succes, in spite of certain shortcomings of the performance. After the first performance Beethoven made some changes in the autograph manuscript. This corrected copy served as a basis for the score printed in 1826 which is beyond doubt the final and authentic version. All the more so, as the composer carefully controlled the preparation of the publication. The source of the present edition is therefore the first printed score.