I have a friend on Facebook who shared with me that she became familiar with Beethoven’s Symphony number 9 as a young child.
Amazing, huh?
The very first recording I received as a gift when I was about 13 years old was the Bach Brandenburg Concerto number 2. I am pretty sure that I still have this recording somewhere….
Let me return to Beethoven. I have created a playlist for my FB friend, in which there are performances of Beethoven’s masterpiece under three conductors: Sir Simon Rattle, Charles Mackerras, and Riccardo Chailly.
Symphonic music of Beethoven’s predecessors did not include choir or singer soloists. Beethoven’s innovation was to add this feature, which led other composers such as Mahler to add this format to their music, too.
You know who you are, good friend, so please enjoy and compare these performances. Oh, yes, one final thought: Beethoven completed this work in 1824. That is 192 years ago. And we are still listening to this music!
