Beethoven composed his Ninth Symphony with Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy" (1785) in mind. Schiller's message is universal, celebrating the possibility of unification and the notion that "all men shall become brothers," and it has resonated with audiences ever since the symphony's premiere in Vienna in May 1824. The symphony has been performed at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games, and the "Ode to Joy" from the final movement is the official anthem of the European Union. The "Ode to Joy" was played in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and during the fall of the Berlin Wall. On Christmas Day in Berlin in 1989, Leonard Bernstein led an international orchestra and chorus in the symphony, changing Schiller's text from "An die Freude" (Ode to Joy) to "An die Freiheit" (Ode to Freedom). Given the enormous impact of the Ninth Symphony, it isn't surprising that composers after Beethoven—Brahms, Wagner, Bruckner, and Mahler, to name a few wrestled with the obvious question: How does one write a symphony after the ultimate triumph of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony?

The monumental quality of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is audible from the start; the violins emerge from the murmuring low strings like a ray of light amid complete darkness. Unconventionally, the simultaneously humorous and bombastic scherzo follows, its octave leaps and timpani almost suggesting hammer blows. (Stanley Kubrick made much of this movement in his movie "A Clockwork Orange.") The slow movement, marked Adagio molto e cantabile, evokes a Romantic yearning that seems even more poignant after the first and second movements. It is the final movement that has attracted the most attention, however. In stark contrast to the gentleness of the Adagio molto e cantabile, the Allegro assai begins with a massive orchestral cacophony that Richard Wagner called the "terror fanfare." The dissonance gives way to a "recitative" (Beethoven's designation) for the cellos and basses. Melodic fragments from the previous three movements emerge and disappear, seemingly rejected by the low strings. Finally, the famous "Ode to Joy" appears, almost like an aria in an opera. After the "terror fanfare" appears briefly, the bass recitative banishes it forever with Beethoven's own words: "O friends, not these tones. But rather, let us strike up more pleasant and more joyful ones." The symphony closes with a grand choral finale, reaching out to all of humanity with the words, "Be embraced, all ye Millions! With a kiss for all the world!" The Ninth Symphony seems larger than life—as Russian revolutionary Michael Bakunin reportedly said, "Everything will pass, and the world will perish, but the Ninth Symphony will remain."