Lecture: Romanticism and Socialism

There just isn't anything like Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (Symphony in D Minor, opus 125), completed in 1824. Using Friedrich Schiller's poem Freude (Joy), the last movement is as much an ode to freedom as to joy. Beethoven himself had been a supporter of Napoleon, until he crowned himself emperor; freedom was Beethoven's creed. (Lyrics for this section in German and English)

Unlike some other music selections in this course, I have grave misgivings about putting up a "clip" of this symphony. If you get a chance, get the whole thing, on CD. Lie down on the floor and turn it up loud. I wish I could remember who said this was a cure for depression; I think it was Garrison Keillor.