"Ode to Joy" (German:"An die Freude"[andiːˈfʁɔʏdə]) is anode written in the summer of 1785 by the German poet, playwright, and historianFriedrich Schiller. It was published the following year in theGerman magazineThalia. In 1808, a slightly revised version changed two lines of the firststanza and omitted the last stanza.
Schiller wrote the first version of the poem when he was staying inGohlis,Leipzig. In 1785, from the beginning of May till mid-September, he stayed with his publisher,Georg Joachim Göschen, in Leipzig and wrote "An die Freude" along with his playDon Carlos.[2]
Schiller later made some revisions to the poem, which was then republished posthumously in 1808, and it was this latter version that forms the basis for Beethoven's setting. Despite the lasting popularity of the ode, Schiller himself regarded it as a failure later in his life, going so far as to call it "detached from reality" and "of value maybe for us two, but not for the world, nor for the art of poetry" in an 1800 letter to his longtime friend and patronChristian Gottfried Körner (whose friendship had originally inspired him to write the ode).[3]
Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum! Deine Zauber binden wieder Was die Mode streng geteilt;* Alle Menschen werden Brüder* Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
Wem der große Wurf gelungen Eines Freundes Freund zu sein; Wer ein holdes Weib errungen Mische seinen Jubel ein! Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund! Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle Weinend sich aus diesem Bund!
Freude trinken alle Wesen An den Brüsten der Natur; Alle Guten, alle Bösen Folgen ihrer Rosenspur. Küsse gab sie uns und Reben, Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod; Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben und der Cherub steht vor Gott.
Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen Durch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn, Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.
Seid umschlungen, Millionen! Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt! Brüder, über'm Sternenzelt Muß ein lieber Vater wohnen. Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen? Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt? Such' ihn über'm Sternenzelt! Über Sternen muß er wohnen!
Ode to Joy
Joy, thou shining spark of God, Daughter of Elysium, With fiery rapture, goddess, We approach thy shrine! Your magic reunites those Whom stern custom has parted;* All men will become brothers* Under your protective wing.
Let the man who has had the fortune To be a friend to his friend, And the man who has won a noble woman, Join in our chorus of jubilation! Yes, even if he holds but one soul As his own in all the world! But let the man who knows nothing of this Steal away alone and in sorrow.
All the world's creatures draw Draughts of joy from nature; Both the just and the unjust Follow in her gentle footsteps. She gave us kisses and wine And a friend loyal unto death; She gave the joy of life to the lowliest, And to the angels who dwell with God.
Joyous, as His suns speed Through the glorious order of Heaven, Hasten, brothers, on your way Exultant as a knight victorious.
Be embraced, all ye millions! With a kiss for all the world! Brothers, beyond the stars Surely dwells a loving Father. Do you kneel before Him, oh millions? Do you feel the Creator's presence? Seek Him beyond the stars! He must dwell beyond the stars.[4]
The lines marked with * were revised in the posthumous 1808 edition as follows:
Original
Revised
Translation of original
Translation of revision
Comment
was der Mode Schwerd geteilt
Was die Mode streng geteilt
what the sword of custom divided
What custom strictly divided
The original meaning ofMode was "custom, contemporary taste".[5]
Bettler werden Fürstenbrüder
Alle Menschen werden Brüder
beggars become princes' brothers
All people become brothers
The original, later eliminated last stanza reads
Rettung von Tirannenketten, Großmut auch dem Bösewicht, Hoffnung auf den Sterbebetten, Gnade auf dem Hochgericht! Auch die Toden sollen leben! Brüder trinkt und stimmet ein, Allen Sündern soll vergeben, und die Hölle nicht mehr seyn.
Rescue from the chains of tyrants, Magnanimity to the villain too, Hope on the deathbed, Mercy in the high (law) court, Even the dead shall live! Brothers, drink and join That all sinners shall be forgiven And hell shall be no more.
Academic speculation remains as to whether Schiller originally wrote an "Ode to Freedom" (An die Freiheit) and changed it to "To Joy".[6][7] The American journalistAlexander Wheelock Thayer wrote in his biography of Beethoven, "the thought lies near that it was the early form of the poem, when it was still an 'Ode to Freedom' (not 'to Joy'), which first aroused enthusiastic admiration for it in Beethoven's mind".[8] The musicologistAlexander Rehding points out that even Bernstein, who used "Freiheit" in two performances in 1989, called it conjecture whether Schiller used "joy" as code for "freedom" and that scholarly consensus holds that there is no factual basis for this myth.[9]
It was performed (conducted byLeonard Bernstein) on Christmas Day after thefall of the Berlin Wall replacing "Freude" (joy) with "Freiheit" (freedom), and atDaiku (Number Nine) concerts in Japan every December and after the2011 tsunami.[11]
It has recently inspired impromptu performances at public spaces by musicians in many countries worldwide, includingChoir Without Borders' 2009 performance at a railway station[12] in Leipzig, to mark the 20th and 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall,Hong Kong Festival Orchestra's 2013 performance at a Hong Kong mall, and performance inSabadell, Spain.[13]
A 2013 documentary,Following the Ninth, directed by Kerry Candaele, follows its continuing popularity.[11][14]
The BBC Proms Youth Choir performed the piece alongsideGeorg Solti's UNESCO World Orchestra for Peace at theRoyal Albert Hall during the 2018Proms at Prom 9, titled "War & Peace" as a commemoration to the centenary of the end ofWorld War One.[16]
The alleged Christian context of the song was one of the main reasons given byNichiren Shoshu priests for expelling theSoka Gakkai International on 28 November 1991 due to the song being performed at SGI meetings, which was deemed by some priests as bothsyncretism andheresy.[17]
^Schiller, Friedrich (21 October 1800)."[Untitled letter]".wissen-im-netz.info (in German). Archived fromthe original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved29 May 2019.
^"Beethoven"(PDF). Harmonia Orchestra and Chorus. 1993. Retrieved29 September 2023.
^Duden – Das Herkunftswörterbuch. Mannheim: Bibliographisches Institut. 1963. p. 446.ISBN3-411-00907-1.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) The word was derived via French from ultimately Latinmodus.Duden cites as first meanings "Brauch, Sitte, Tages-, Zeitgeschmack". The primary modern meaning has shifted more towards "fashion".
