Beethoven's 9th is the highest mountain of all music history, and the double fugue is its top peek.

Deserted on an island, Beethoven's music is what would keep me happy.

This is why, to me, this is the greatest piece of music ever written.

I think Beethoven would love that it became the anthem of Europe. This totally reflects his (and Schiller's!) intentions.

*I pray that on my death bed, this entire piece of music, Beethoven’s 9th, is played for me. It would mean that I lived a good life for which I hope to have been worthy of living.*

Takes my breath away...every time. Nothing is greater, nothing. Its hard to stay out of the cosmos while listening to this.

"This deaf man listened to the infinite. " V. Hugo

You can’t hear and be unmoved. He wasn’t saying “I will convince you that all men are brethren “… he was making it impossible not to feel unified through the music with all mankind. Because the music is ecstatic. Art is for transformation, not appreciation.

Ever since childhood, long before I had even heard the term "fugue," I have found that bit ecstatically beautiful. Truly intoxicating, and perhaps that's the whole idea. :-)

I've been madly fascinated by this music ever since we selected the 4th movement (the "Joy" theme w/o the singing) as the bridal processional at our wedding. :D

This is definitely cliche, but I'll say it. I absolutely love the 9th! The symphony's entire theme is just so perfectly in tune with the philosophy of life and existence I've had even before I liked classical music. The coincidence is just extremely insane for me, the symphony's absolutely beauty and the way how my philosophy in life just is just coincidentally the main focus of it makes me feel ecstatic once I listen to it. I couldn't possibly think of a work that would be able to beat big Beet's 9th for me, it just fits every criteria there is for me

Even as a Second violin, Beethoven nine is one of the hardest things I have ever had to learn. The coordination you need for the fast passages in the first fugue is crazy. The ending is also super hard.

Beautiful interpretation and insights for one of the single most beautiful pieces ever written.

Excellent work. Please keep it up. You make the internet a better place with your work

That was beautiful mate! Just one of my reasons why Ludwig is my favorite artist to have ever lived!

I’ve heard people complain that they consider the 9th Symphony an anti-climax- that from the first to the third movements, the symphony goes progressively more “inwards”, and then ends in what is effectively a populist beer hall song. That is to say, the promise of the first three movements could only be topped by something akin to Op. 111 Mvmt. 2, or the Heiliger Dankgesang- late Beethoven at his most hermetic and rarefied. Aside from any qualitative assessments (the 9th symphony is my favorite piece of music, bar none,) I think these people fail to appreciate the differing demands brought by differing musical genres. The symphony is an inherently _extrovert_ genre, and the allegedly superior examples they cite are chamber works meant for private audiences. Secondly, Beethoven already had his transcendent slow movement in the Adagio molto e cantabile, which was as radical in its Medieval tempo as the Heiliger Dankgesang was in its choice of Medieval mode. I agree with this video’s assessment that the choral movement represents a union of the Earthly and the Heavenly, and would add that it also represents a union of the private and the public- the idea that our private transcendent experiences must at some point be merged in public celebration.

Brilliant analysis. I've been listening to this for 50 years, and I never thought of it that way. Thanks.

Excellent! I've always felt that the latter part of the fourth movement takes place "above the starry vault." There's really nothing better in the history of music than this universally loved symphony, IMO.

Very interesting hypothesis! Had never realized that those were the two themes (subjects) of the double fugue. So the philosophical conclusion is really verisimilar and I agree with it. Also I like the instrumental fugue at the end of the exposition of the joy anthem, just before the vocal part begins....

This was the first piece of Classical Music I ever heard. It mesmerized me when I was a boy. I think this analysis strengthens the idea that The Master put into his ending masterpiece . The Universal Brotherhood of man is depicted with power, compassion, and spirituality. After The Double Fugue, The Master uses 11 of the 12 tones of our chromatic system to display that The Lord God also works in this Brotherhood “unrooted in Earth” to borrow a quote from Leonard Bernstein. A masterpiece that brings tears to my eyes Everytime I hear it.

The double fugue is so triumphant

And to think that Beethoven was mocked for his orchestration skills....

Really great video. keep up the good work!!

Very well made. Appreciate the effort you put into this.

Now you know why, at the end of the 9th all the sopranos rush into the dressing room and take a deep drink of water before collapsing.

That was very goofed! Thank you for this video!

I love your channel so much

Great video!!!

Good video!

Good video!!! Not enough dancing babies....

Which recording is this? The brass rocks

Hello ! Great and funny video ! Is it too much asked to know who was the cast of the audio ? Great chorus by the way !

What recording did you used for this video?

Great video! There is one wrong note in the 1:24 because it shows G and plays F… doesn’t rlly matter though

Do you know what piece I never understood? Eroica. I mean parts of sound like the Hero especially the finale where the tempos that of galloping horses coming home to a hero’s welcome. And other parts maybe the hero is reflecting,. I love symphony #3 but it doesn’t have a hero theme overall for me. Just my thoughts.

It would be nice if for newcomers like me if you could explain what a fugue is in the first place

BEETHOVEN IS GOD! 🎹👊🏾😈✨

Which performance is this?

I get Evangelion flashbacks.

I found the answer...

What is this interpretation?

Did they even hire Altos? 😂 It's always the Altos you can barely hear. Seems the sound masters hate them. My first girl friend was an Alto, she was very angry with recordings like that.

Gyip guiip guilde glides dandes denders greaters bitcies maners

Great music has the meaning of life infused into its being, not in the rhythm or melody on their own, nor even in their interplay, and certainly not in the lyrics. Beethoven was a great composer, no doubt, but for symphonies I'm thinking of Schubert's 9th and Bruckner and sometimes Shostakovich understood how to express the meaning of life in their music. Beethoven took the symphony to its logical conclusion. His work is about logic, not life.

Couldn’t follow.

Too much nose-bleed high strident sopranos.

Beethoven only used what was needed. Clean the video. Take away worst jokes. :D

Beethoven is a clumsy, tedious composer in general. For fugues, give me Bach any day.

GREAT VIDEO! I love the technical aspects, you explained them really well. And I love how you brought it the meaning and what LVB may have been trying to communicate to us. Here’s me while listening 🥲