Ode to Joy
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"Ode to Joy" is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by the German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller. It was published the following year in the German magazine Thalia. In 1808, a sli
Autograph manuscript, c. 1785
Schillerhaus in Gohlis
Ludwig van Beethoven
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Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer, conductor, and pianist. Regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, he was mentored during the Classical period, and his musi
Ode to Joy
…Thalia. In 1808, a slightly revised version changed two lines of the first stanza and omitted the last stanza. "Ode to Joy" is best known for its use by Ludwig van Beethoven in the final (fourth) movement of his Ninth Symphony, completed in 1824. Beethoven's text is not based entirely on Schiller's poem, and it introduces…
Beethoven with the Manuscript of the Missa Solemnis (1820)
Beethoven's birthplace at Bonngasse 20 in Bonn is now the Beethoven-Haus museum.
Christian Gottlob Neefe, one of Beethoven's first music teachers, depicted in a c. 1798 engraving
Count Waldstein, depicted in a c. 1800 portrait by Antonín Machek