Sir

Elapsed time

0:00 The movement opens agitatedly as the orchestra picks up fragments of one theme after another

from the previous three movements, as if seeking a satisfactory vehicle for its expression; but each is

discarded in turn.

1:15 The first seven notes of the main theme to come are tentatively uttered, but it too is abandoned

as the search continues.

2:17 Once again the theme begins, this time in the woodwinds, but it soon breaks off.

2:46 Finally, the theme emerges decisively in the basses for a subdued first statement.

3:24 The second statement is calm, tranquil, confident, and the theme continues onward in the

various voices of the orchestra, broad and flowing.

4:38 The winds make a strong statement of the theme.

5:49 The flow of the music abruptly halts--there are rapid shifts--great agitation, until

6:02 the orchestra introduces the baritone singing the first three lines of the poem, rejecting the

feverish discords of the previous passage, calling for a different music, whose nature is suggested by

the strings beneath his voice:

O Freunde, nicht diese Tцne,

O friends, not these notes!

sondern lasst uns angenehmere

Rather let us take up something more

anstimmen, und freudenvollere.

pleasant, and more joyful.

6:43 The chorus echoes his "Freude!" and he is off through the first part of the ode on the main

theme:

Freude, schцner Gцtterfunken

Joy, lovely divine light,

Tochter aus Elysium

Daughter of Elysium

Wir betreten feuertrunken,

We march, drunk with fire,

Himmlische, dein Heiligtum.

Holy One, to thy holy kingdom.

Deine Zauber binden wieder,

Thy magic binds together

Was die Mode streng geteilt;

What tradition has strongly parted,

Alle Menschen werden BrÑŒder,

All men will be brothers

Wo dein sanfter FlÑŒgel weilt.

Dwelling under the safety of your wings.

7:12 The chorus recapitulates the last four lines of this section.

7:30 The theme is now presented by a vocal quartet, which continues the ode:

Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen,

He who has had the great pleasure

Eines Freundes Freund zu sein

To be a true friend to a friend,

Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,

He who has a noble wife

Mische seinen Jubel ein!

Let him join our mighty song of rejoicing!

Ja--wer auch nur eine Seele

Yes--if there is a solitary soul

Sein nennt auf' dem Erdenrund!

In the entire world which claims him--

Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle

If he rejects it, then let him steal away

Weinend sich aus diesem Bund.

Weeping out of this comradeship.

alternating with the chorus, which repeats the last four lines, and the quartet then sings:

Freude trinken alle Wesen

All beings drink in joy

An den BrÑŒsten der Natur;

From nature's breasts.

Alle Guten, alle Bцsen

All good and evil things

Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.

Follow her rose-strewn path.

KÑŒsse gab sie uns und Reben

She gives us kisses and grapes,

Einen Freund, geprÑŒft im Tod;

A friend, tested unto death,

Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,

Pleasure is given even to the worm

Und der Cherub steht vor Gott.

And the cherubim stand before God.

with the chorus repeating the last four lines of this section. Each time through the theme is treated to

ever more elaborate variations.

9:10 There is a dramatic pause at the climax of the word "God", and the theme emerges rhythmically

transformed in the winds as a military march, matching the martial words of the tenor in these lines:

Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen

Happy, like thy Sun which flies

Durch des Himmels prÐ'cht'gen Plan,

...