I Want to Play ... Beethoven's Ninth!: A Guide to the Cello Part

Beethoven was a musical visionary. And no other of his works proves this in a better way than his ninthsymphony. Up to the 19th century, apart from operas, combining an orchestra with a chorus was doneonly in religious works. Oratories or cantatas served to praise god. However, Beethoven chose adifferent purpose for his symphony: Rather than confiding his work to a church, he chose to publiclypraise humanity and freedom.Of course, Beethoven knew well about the power of music, his very own powers. Rarely have theideals of humanity and freedom been brought forward in a more splendid musical surrounding. Overtime, Beethoven's vision crossed political and religious borders, becoming truly world-music.It is well understandable that both orchestras and choruses love to perform this magnificent piece ofmusic. However, before being able to rejoice in musical splendour, hard work is necessary.Especially the cello part is very demanding. After three long movements, the grand Finale looms,starting with a Recitativo. Here, the orchestra recalls the main themes of the previous movements. Inbetween, the cellos and basses are providing a musical train of thought that connects these fragments,finally preparing the way to the onset of the Allegro. Then, the same instrument groups have the task ofintroducing the famous melody "Freude schöner Götterfunken", from where it is taken up by otherinstruments and developed further. In all, there are very few chances to rest throughout the wholemovement. Participating in Beethoven's Ninth on the cello means that you need to be on top of yourgame. There is little time to relax, and little time for errors.To help you with the preparation, we have put together this manual. In three parts, we will guide youthrough the symphony. We further added technical exercises to give you a broad base of how topractice. As in our method 24lessons, all musical examples are available on Youtube to listen and playalong.