WASEDA WEEKLY |
Recommended! : “The Ninth Symphony”
|
|
[Commenter]
Hiroyuki Sasahara Associate Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences Born 1965, appointed to present office in April 2005 Lectures: The Cultural Sphere of Kanji (Chinese characters), Linguistic Expression, Studies on the media and language, etc Major field of study: Japanese Studies （Japanese letters and expression） Published work: “Nihon no Kanji (Japanese Kanji)”, Iwanami Shinsho |
This is a performance that took place in Berlin, the capital of the Third Reich, in 1942, during World War II. The source of this CD is a recording of the performance that survived because it was taken away from Germany by the Soviet army. In a world where sound is the only sensory stimulation, it is possible even for amateur music-lovers such as I to imagine many things from the music. This sort of world is actually more refreshing to us modern people than the world of sight and sound that we are used to.
Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, and Goebbels, its Propaganda Minister, liked to have Beethoven's pieces performed for the purpose of lifting the nationalistic spirit of the German people, and so Beethoven's works were widely broadcast on the radio as well. In this abnormal situation, the free and perfectly controlled conducting of this piece by the great conductor Furtwaengler (who did not give into the repeated requests of the Nazi Party) gives this rendition an unearthly beauty and elegance, climaxing in the final part of the 4th movement. The high performing technique of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra that kept up with the conductor's attempt to gradually increase the atmosphere and beauty of this piece, as it presses forward, is also amazing.
On the other hand, the piece of music itself also hides a deep and profound drama behind it. This is the last of Beethoven's symphonies, one that was written by the composer after he had lost his hearing. The piece was completed in 1824 after a long period in which no works were published. It was first performed in the city of Vienna, where the composer had to be accompanied by an assistant on the podium.
The lyrics of the piece are actually taken from a poem titled “An die Freude (Ode to Joy)” by the poet Schiller, a German poem that lyrically praises the universal love of humanity but which the poet himself recalled later as “the product of my youthful folly”. The musical piece is a powerful masterpiece in which the genius composer's love for this poem, cherished since his youth when he first came to know of it, is expressed in choral form. The sublime perfection of this buoyant but solemn piece shows that it must have been a truly satisfying piece of work for the great artist. How great the composer's joy was at this piece, written after his lifetime of agony, we can only imagine.
In this busy age, we tend to not have even the breadth of mind to take the time to listen to music at leisure. Also, there is a tendency amongst us to keep away from the heavy and profound. And yet, even when we are doing some small task, are there not times when we feel as though the accomplishment of it would bring us some satisfaction, a rare sense of fulfillment? So it might be a good idea, for example, to ponder on the words that are sung in the record, words such as “Elysium”, “Rosenspur” and “eure Bahn”. When you are considering doing something, on embarking on an endeavor where you want to accomplish a task, why not listen to this unquestioned heritage of mankind, which connects so many historical figures and whose history shows us the great potential that human beings possess.