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The second section of Beethoven's 9th symphony: 4th movement is my favorite of all four sections. You will find out why when you move through the analysis.

 

 

 

Music Analysis

 

 

 

Second section

 

 

 

11:11-11:50 This section of Beethovens's 9th symphony is written in the Turkish style of music. It is not actually Turkish music but an adaptation of the march which the Turkish military bands played. You can hear the bassoon playing the part which a drum would play if it was a military band. The bassoon starts playing then the rest of the woodwind section of the orchestra joins in. If you listen carefully to the tune, you will hear how similar it is to the ode to joy theme in the last section.

 

 

 

11:51-12:43 The tenor starts singing the lively tune until the third time he sings Bahn, where he slides up an octave (the slide is only in this recording of the piece and is one of the reasons why I chose this recording). The choir then sings the same tune and words from Laufet whilst the tenor sings the magnificent melismatic sequence (a melismatic sequence is where there are lots of notes on just one syllable of a word). The melody gets more complex and develops whilst the choir and tenor is singing Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen. This is my favorite part in the whole of Beethoven's 9th symphony.

 

 

 

Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen                                                   Gladly, just as His suns hurtle

Durch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan,       which means          through the glorious universe,

Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn                                                             So you, brothers, should run your course,           Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.                                              joyfully, like a conquering hero.

 

 

 

12:44-14:06 In this orchestra only section the piece changes from B flat major to D major with a memorable,fast and dramatic tune. At 13:58 the whole orchestra plays F sharps together.

 

 

 

14:07-15:08 The French horn plays one note repeatedly then the orchestra plays the beggining of the ode to joy tune and then stops while the french horn carries on. Then the orchestra plays a minor version of the ode to joy tune and then stops to build tension while the french horn still carries on. Then the orchestra (including the french horns) plays the ode to joy theme (this time back in D major like in the first section) and then goes straight into the choral section. It is so inpiring and powerful when the tension ends and the music goes straight into the joyous song. They sing from Freude, schöner until Flügel weilt and then from Deine Zauber until Flügel weilt. (The full words and translation are in the first section of the analysis). While they are singing notice the powerful drums and the fast sequence of notes on the string instruments. The short section at 15:05 leads into the third section.