Chapter 311. Exercise MLA 3-1

ORIGINAL SOURCE

In a work so elusive and kaleidoscopic, a number of perspectives suggest themselves. One is seeing the Ninth [Symphony] in light of its sister work, the Missa Solemnis. At the end of Beethoven’s Mass the chorus is declaiming “Dona nobis pacem,” the concluding prayer for peace, when the music is interrupted by the drums and trumpets of war. Just before the choir sings its last entreaty, the drums are still rolling in the distance. The Mass ends, then, with an unanswered prayer.

Beethoven’s answer to that prayer is the Ninth Symphony, where hope and peace are not demanded of the heavens. . . . In the end, though, the symphony presents us as many questions as answers, and its vision of utopia is proclaimed, not attained. What can be said with some certainty is that its position in the world is probably what Beethoven wanted it to be. In an unprecedented way for a composer, he stepped into history with a great ceremonial work that doesn’t simply preach a sermon about freedom and brotherhood, but aspires to help bring them to pass. Partly because of its enigmas, so many ideologies have claimed the music for their own; over two centuries Communists, Christians, Nazis, and humanists have joined in the chorus. Leonard Bernstein conducted the Ninth at the celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and what else would do the job? Now the Joy theme is the anthem of the European Union, a symbol of nations joining together. If you’re looking for the universal, here it is.

From Swafford, Jan. “Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125.” Boston Symphony Orchestra, 3 May 2012, bso.http.internapcdn.net/bso/ images/program_notes/beethoven_symphony9.pdf.

Excerpt from “Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125.” Boston Symphony Orchestra, May 3, 2012. Used by permission.

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