The most stolen piece of music in history turns 200 — and it's still starting revolutions.
Composed in 1824, Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" will celebrate its bicentennial in 2024. With its famous finale based on Schiller's poem "An die Freude" (Ode to Joy), this colossal work is now one of the symbols of European unity. How was this symphony created? And how has it survived two centuries of history?
Direction
Traudes weaves archival footage like a symphonic movement itself.
Director
Carmen Traudes
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Beethoven was so deaf at the premiere that a singer had to turn him around to see the standing ovation he couldn't hear.
The EU adopted Ode to Joy without lyrics because nobody could agree which language should sing 'freedom' — the ultimate European compromise.
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