Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, his last complete symphony, was first performed in Vienna in 1824 and published two years later. It was the first symphony by a major composer to include solo singers and a chorus, which join the orchestra in the final movement in a setting of Friedrich Schiller's poem Ode to Joy. By that time Beethoven was almost entirely deaf, and the story that he had to be turned around at the premiere to see the applause is often told. The work expresses ideals of human brotherhood, and the Ode to Joy theme has been adopted as the anthem of the European Union. The symphony remains one of the most performed works in the repertoire.
Before and after
- 27 September 1825The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens
- 25 October 1825Birth of Johann Strauss II
- from 10 December 1825 to 27 August 1828Cisplatine War
- 26 December 1825Decembrist revolt
- 1826Symphony No. 9
- 1826Rise of House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry
- 15 January 1826Founding of Le Figaro
- from 21 June 1826 to 28 August 1826Ottoman–Egyptian invasion of Mani
- 4 July 1826Death of John Adams
More in Art, literature & culture
- 10 August 1793Construction of Louvre Museum
- from 18th century to 19th centuryRomanticism
- 1 November 1800Construction of White House
- 1886Statue of Liberty
- c. 1900sRise of modernism
- 1907Rise of cubism
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.