Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125

The 9th Symphony in D minor, Op. 125 is Beethoven's last symphony, completed in 1824 and premiered in the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna.
The symphony is divided into four movements: the first one is in sonata form, and the mood is often stormy; the opening theme, played pianissimo over string tremolos, so much resembles the sound of an orchestra tuning, many commentators have suggested that was Beethoven's inspiration-but from within that musical limbo emerges a theme of power and clarity that later drives the entire movement. At the outset of the recapitulation section, the theme returns fortissimo in D major, rather than the opening's D minor. The introduction also uses the mediant to tonic relationship, which further distorts the tonic key until, finally, the bassoon plays in its lowest possible register. The coda employs the chromatic fourth interval. The second movement is a scherzo and trio; the scherzo section has an elaborate internal structure and it is a complete sonata form; within this particular form, the first group of the exposition starts out with a fugue before modulating to C major for the second part. The exposition then repeats before a short development section. The recapitulation further develops the exposition, also containing timpani solos. A new development section leads to the repeat of the recapitulation, and the scherzo concludes with a brief codetta. The contrasting trio section is in D major and in duple time. The trio is the first time the trombones play in the movement. Following the trio, the second occurrence of the scherzo, unlike the first, plays through without any repetition, after which there is a brief reprise of the trio, and the movement ends with an abrupt coda.
The third movement is an Adagio, solemn, majestic and lyrical, which is in a loose variation form, with each pair of variations which progressively elaborates the rhythm and melody.
The final movement is a choral finale, with the text largely taken from Schiller's "Ode an die Freude"; it contains and develops themes from th previous movements, like an "inner symphony": first, theme and variations with slow introduction, while the main theme, which first appears in the cellos and basses, is later recapitulated with voices; second, a scherzo in military style followed by a variation of the main theme with chorus; third, a slow meditation with a new theme on the text "Seid umschlungen, Millionen!"; fourth, fugato finale on the themes of the first and third sections.
Performers: Mariss Jansons & Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.