An die Freude

Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is a magnificent work. The last symphony of the great composer surpasses all previous symphonies in scope and effort: it lasts over an hour, requires an extended orchestra, four vocal soloists and a large choir. Part of the music from the 9th Symphony now has a "life of its own": the setting to music of Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy" with its simple, catchy melody and the statement "All men will be brothers" is known to many people all over the world. Thus the "Ode to Joy" was named European Anthem.

The complicated musical structure of the final movement was out of the question for a wind orchestra transcription. The editing is therefore limited to parts that the listener can easily refer to the main theme of the final (= European anthem). Now a small sequence of variations arose, which are all taken from the Beethoven finale, but appear differently composed by the restriction to the hymn melody.

The following overview gives information about the structure of our wind orchestra version:

Adaptation | Beethoven's Original:

(4/4) T. 1-4 | T. 237-240 (instrumental introduction)

Part A T. 5-28 | T. 241-264 (baritone solo) T. 29-32 | T. 265-268 (Epilogue)

Part B T. 33-56 | T. 140-163 (four-part string section)

Part C T. 57-80 (European Anthem) | T. 164-187 (full orchestra) T. 81-84 | T. 293-296 (Epilogue) (6/8) T. 85-96 | T. 331-342 (military chapel elevator)

Part D T. 97-152 T. 375-430 (alla marcia) T. 153-170 T. 525-542 (return line)

Part C recapitulation of the hymn part

In addition to the five-part series A - B - C - C - D - C offered here in print, the following shorter versions are possible: A – B – C or B - C - D - C or B - C or C - D - C or C alone.

The performance capacity of the orchestra and/or the occasion of the performance determine which of the conceivable versions of the series of variations should be chosen.

Notes on interpretation: (1) The tempos in Beethoven's original score are extremely fast. Since today's listener starts from the usual tempo of the European anthem (to which this adaptation is limited), a "compromise tempo" of approx. MM 126 is proposed. (2) The horns play a not insignificant role, they are almost entirely linked to the melody of the woodwinds. For orchestras with unsatisfactory or weakly occupied horn registers, transposed voices for tenor horn in Bb were added to the voice set. Even if the horn parts are amplified or replaced by (no more than 2!) tenor horns, there should remain enough instrumentalists for the important baritone / euphonium part.