Eva Turner (soprano) ; Muriel Brunskill (contralto) ; Parry Jones (tenor) ; Dennis Noble (baritone). The Alexandra Choir: conductor, Charles Proctor. BBC Symphony Orchestra (leader, Paul Beard ), conducted by Sir Henry Wood
Symphony No. 9, in D minor (Choral)
Beeihoven
From the Royal Albert Hall , London
Beethoven's Ninth and last Symphony, first performed on May 7, 1824, marks the final stage in his conversion of the classical symphony into something entirely new, turning it from a .mere pattern of beautiful sounds into a world of thought and emotion.
He was so anxious to make the meaning of his symphony clear that, following the precedent of von Winter and other now forgotten composers, he introduced in the finale vocal soloists and a chorus singing Schiller's ode ' To joy '—really an ode ' To Freedom which had to be lightly disguised for political reasons.
Splendid as this finale is, critics have from time to time found fault with this or that detail of it. But not one has yet dared to suggest that the first three movements do not show Beethoven at the supreme height of his genius.