Ode to Joy: Beethoven’s Ninth

On this program, we honor the 200th anniversary of the world premiere of perhaps THE most famous piece of orchestral music ever written: Beethoven’s towering Ninth Symphony – the first symphony ever to feature vocalists and a chorus. It was judged to be the greatest symphony ever when it was composed in 1824 – so great, in fact, that Brahms famously avoided writing his first symphony for decades, scared to death of the comparison with Beethoven’s...