The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy”

Re:The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy” by jethkl on Saturday May 28, 2022 @08:02AM (#31539633)

Late Beethoven works are astonishing. The Great Fugue [1,2] is also remarkable -- fiendishly tough on both audiences and players. It is hard to believe it was written during the early 19th century. The fugue also has an interesting story: originally the 4th movement of a quartet, its terrible reception caused the publisher to request a new 4th movement, and the fugue became a standalone piece. The best description I've heard of it is from Stravinsky: "a contemporary piece of music that will be contemporary forever".

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grosse_Fuge

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13ygvpIg-S0

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Re:The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy” by zasdffaa on Saturday May 28, 2022 @09:17AM (#31540110)

"fiendishly tough on both audiences" is this a way of saying it's not very nice without saying it?

(Thanks for the YT link to it, nice touch)

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Re:The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy” by jethkl on Saturday May 28, 2022 @09:30AM (#31540193)

At the end of the YT video, the audience applause seems tepid, nobody stands, and yet the performers must be exhausted. (I think it's a great performance.) There's no singable theme, nothing really catchy, just 15 minutes of pretty intense focus required by everybody. For me, it's completely gripping - it can't be background music and I cannot do other work if it is playing. I think it is somehow alien, and so it will never be as widely celebrated as his other works.

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Re:The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy” by funstuff007 on Saturday May 28, 2022 @09:31AM (#31540199)

Indeed, listening to 2/3rds of it left me in a fugue-like state.

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Re:The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy” by ed-209 on Saturday May 28, 2022 @10:25AM (#31540572)

And that is how headbanging was invented

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