Symphoniker Hamburg / Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Chor Hamburg / Pablo González

Performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Laeiszhalle at the turn of the year have long since become a popular tradition. The composer made music history with the fourth movement of the work, which was premiered around 200 years ago, as he introduced the use of vocal soloists and choir in a symphony that was unusually large in scope and was to change the genre forever. Schiller’s »Ode to Joy«, set to music in this work, conveys a vision of universal brotherhood and unity among all people that transcends national and cultural boundaries. Beethoven set the words to emotionally powerful music, which Berlioz praised as »unsurpassably great«, Mendelssohn complimented as »the highest a human being can achieve«, Wagner hailed as the »human gospel of the art of the future« and Tchaikovsky elicited the poignant judgement: »Beethoven’s Ninth is not only the greatest, but also the most human of all symphonies.«