Chapter V

The Symphony in D Minor-Its Technical History-Schiller's "Ode to Joy"-An Address to Beethoven-The Concerts of 1824-Laborious and Protracted Preparations-Production of the Symphony and Mass in D-Financial Failure Negotiations with Publishers Resumed.

TH

HE Symphony in D minor, familiarly known the world over as the "Ninth,” and also as the "Choral" Symphony in England and America, was completed in February, 1824. The conclusion of the work upon it, Schindler says, had a cheering effect upon Beethoven's spirits. He no longer grudged himself occasional recreation and was again seen strolling through the streets of Vienna, gazing into the shop-windows through eyeglasses which dangled at the end of a black ribbon, and, after a long interregnum, greeting friends and acquaintances as they passed. The history of the work is far more interesting than that of any of his compositions, with the possible exception of the Mass in D. Nottebohm has painstakingly extracted from the sketchbooks all the evidence which they afford, touching the origin and development of the work, and presented it in a chapter of his "Zweite Beethoveniana";1 and his conclusions have been adopted in the presentation of facts which follow.

Thoughts of a symphony to succeed the Symphonies in A and F major (Nos. 7 and 8), were in the composer's mind while he was making sketches for those two works in 1812; but the memoranda there found tell us only in what key the new symphony was to be; they are mere verbal notes: "2nd Sinfonie, D minor" and "Sinfonie in D minor-3rd Sinfonie." A fugue-theme, identical, so far as the first three measures go, with that of the Scherzo of the Ninth Symphony, presented itself to him and was imprisoned in his note-book in 1915, being recorded among the sketches for the

1Page 157 et seq.

GROWTH OF THE CHORAL SYMPHONY

145

Sonata for Pianoforte and Violoncello in D, Op. 102, No. 2.1 There is another sketch with a note2 to show that Beethoven was thinking of a new symphony at the time; but the sketch cannot be associated with the Ninth Symphony, the composition of which really began when the beginning of the first movement was sketched. Of this fragments are found on loose leaves belonging to the year 1817. By the end of that year and the beginning of 1818 (presumably from September to May) extended sketches of the movement were made. The principal subject is definitively fixed, but the subsidiary material is still missing. The fugue-theme of 1817 is assigned to the third movement. There is no suggestion of the use of Schiller's "Ode to Joy," but a plain intimation of an instrumental finale. In 1818 a plan is outlined for the introduction of voices into the slow movement of a symphony which is to follow the "Sinfonie in D." It is as follows:

Adagio Cantique.

Pious song in a symphony in the ancient modes-Lord God we praise Thee alleluia-either alone or as introduction to a fugue. The whole 2nd sinfonie might be characterized in this manner in which case the vocal parts would enter in the last movement or already in the Adagio. The violins, etc., of the orchestra to be increased tenfold in the last movement. Or the Adagio might be repeated in some manner in the last movement, in which case the vocal parts would enter gradually-in the text of the Adagio Greek myth, Cantique Ecclesiastique-in the Allegro feast of Bachus [sic].

It will be recalled that in 1822 Beethoven told Rochlitz that he had two symphonies in his mind which were to differ from each other. One difference at least is indicated here by the purpose to use voices in a movement to be written in the old modes. His well-known love for classic subjects, no doubt, prompted the thought of the "pious orgies" of a Pagan festival. Schiller's hymn is still absent from his mind. These sketches were all sidewise excursions undertaken while Beethoven was chiefly occupied with the composition of the Pianoforte Sonata, Op. 106. What progress, if any, was made with the Symphony during the next four years can not well be determined. The work was interrupted by

There are several stories touching the origin of the fugue-theme of the Scherzo of the D minor symphony, which may be given for what they are worth. Czerny says that the theme occurred to Beethoven while listening to the twittering of sparrows in a garden. Holz told Jahn that one evening Beethoven was seated in the forest at Schönbrunn and in the gloaming fancied he saw all about him a multitude of gnomes popping in and out of their hiding-places; and this stirred his fancy to the invention of the theme. Another story has it that it flashed into his mind with a sudden outbursting glitter of lights after he had long been seated in the dark.

Sinfonie at the beginning only 4 voices, 2 viol. viola, basso, amongst them forte with other voices and if possible bring in all the other instruments one by one and gradually."

the composition of other works, notably the Mass in D, the last three Pianofortes Sonatas and the overture and chorus for "The Consecration of the House." It was not until the Mass and the Josephstadt Theatre music were finished in the sketches that he gave his attention largely to the Symphony. In the sketches of 1822, there are evidences of considerable progress on the first movement, little if any on the Scherzo (designed to take third place in the scheme of movements), the fugue-themes of 1815 and 1817 appearing in them almost unchanged. There is no hint as yet of the slow movement, but among the sketches appears the beginning of the melody of the "Ode to Joy" with the underlying words, assigned as a Finale. The thought of using the ode for a concluding movement had presented itself, but only tentatively, not as a fixed determination. Following this sketch, but of another date (to judge by the handwriting and the contents), comes a memorandum indicating that the symphony in mind was to consist of four movements the first (no doubt, though it is not mentioned) being the present first, the second in 2-4 time, the third (presumably) in 6-8, while the fourth was to be built on the fugal theme of 1817 and to be "well fugued." The next recognizable sketch is for a Presto in 2-4 designated as a second movement and this is followed by the beginning of the first movement preceded by four measures in triple time marked "Alla Autrichien." A third sketch is marked as belonging to a "Sinfonie allemand." It is a new melody to the words beginning Schiller's ode to be used in a chorus; and again the accompanying memorandum reads: "Sinfonie allemand," but now with this addition: "either with variations after which the chorus Freude schöner Götterfunken Tochter aus Elysium enters or without variations. End of the Sinfonie with Turkish music and vocal chorus." It is possible that the melody had an earlier origin than that which appears first in the sketches and was eventually used. The last relevant sketch in the book of 1822 is a sort of thematic index to the symphony as it now lay planned in Beethoven's purpose:

Comincia

3. Adagio

Presto

2tes Stück

5tes

The second movement was to be a fugued Scherzo with the theme of 1815, the fourth the Presto in 2-4 time which first appeared in

TWO SYMPHONIES IN CONTEMPLATION

147

this year, the fifth the "Ode to Joy." In the midst of these sketches appears the significant remark: "Or perhaps instead of a new symphony, a new overture on Bach, well fugued with 3- 991

The conclusions to be drawn from the sketches thus far are that, as was the case in 1812 when the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies were brought forth as a pair, Beethoven was again contemplating the almost simultaneous production of two symphonies. He did not adhere to the project long, so far as we can know from the written records, and the remark about the substitution of an overture on B-a-c-h probably marks the time when he began seriously to consider the advisability of abandoning what would then have been the Tenth Symphony. With the exception of a portion of the first movement, the Ninth Symphony was still in a chaotic state. Taken in connection with negotiations which had been concluded with the Philharmonic Society of London, it may be assumed, however, that the present Symphony in D minor was associated in Beethoven's mind with the English commission, and that the second, which he had thoughts of abandoning in favor of the overture, was to have been a "Sinfonie allemand." For a time, at least, Beethoven is not likely to have contemplated a choral movement with German words in connection with the symphony for the London Philharmonic Society: this was to have an instrumental finale. The linguistic objection would be invalid in the case of the German symphony, however, and to this was now assigned the contemplated setting of Schiller's poem.

Work now proceeded with little interruption (except that occasioned by the composition of the Variations, Op. 120), and most of the first half of 1823 was devoted to the first movement, which was nearly complete in sketch-form before anything of the other movements appeared beyond the themes which have already been cited. When the foundation of the work is firmly laid we have the familiar phenomenon of work upon two or three movements simultaneously. In a general way it may be asserted that the year 1823 saw the birth of the Symphony, though work was carried over into 1824. The second movement was complete in the sketches before the third-this was about August; the third before the fourth-about the middle of October. The second theme of the slow movement was perfected before the sketches for the first movement were finished. In a Conversation Book used in the fall of the year 1823 the nephew writes: "I am glad that you have brought in the beautiful andante." The principal theme of the movement appears to have been conceived between May and 'Nottebohm fills the hiatus with "Trombones? Subjects?"

July, 1823, but it had to submit to much alteration before it acquired the lovely contours which we now admire. This was the case, too, with the simple folksong-like tune of the Finale.

Sketches for the Finale show that Beethoven had made considerable progress with the setting of Schiller's ode before he decided to incorporate it with the Symphony. In June or July, 1823, he wrote down a melody in D minor which he designated "Finale instromentale," and which, transposed into another key and slightly altered, was eventually used in the finale of the Quartet in A minor, Op. 132. That it was intended for the Finale of the symphony is proved by the fact that it is surrounded with sketches for the Symphony in D minor and Beethoven recurred to it twice before the end of the year; there was no thought of the quartet at the time.

When he began work on the Finale, Beethoven took up the choral part with the instrumental variations first and then attacked the instrumental introduction with the recitatives. The present "Joy" melody, as noted in the fall of 1822, was preceded by a different one conceived later, if the sketches are taken as a guide. After adoption the tune, especially its second period, underwent many transformations before its definitive form was established. Among the musical sketches occur several verbal memoranda containing hints which were carried out in part, for instance: "Turkish music in Wer das nie gekonnt stehle”; in sketches for the Allegro alla marcia: "Turkish music-first pianissimo a few sounds pianissimo a few rests-then the full strength"; a third: “On Welt Sternenzelt forte trombone blasts"; a fourth (in studies for the final chorus: "the height of the voices to be more by instruments" (which may be interpreted to mean that Beethoven realized that he was carrying the voices into dangerous altitudes and intended to give them instrumental support). Other sketches indicate that Beethoven intended for a considerable time to write an instrumental introduction with new themes for the Finale. For this prelude there are a number of sketches of different kinds, some of them conceived while sketches for the first movement were still in hand. Before July, 1823, there are no hints of a combined vocal and instrumental bridge from the Adagio to the setting of the "Ode to Joy." After that month there are evidences that he had conceived the idea of introducing the "Joy" melody played upon wind-instruments with a prelude in the recitative style, a reminiscence of the first movement and premonitory suggestions of the fundamental melody. This was the first step towards the eventual shape of the finale. The lacking element was the verbal link which should