On August 30, our Chamber Ensemble performed three music pieces including “Ode to Joy” of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. We loved the “Ninth” because it inspires our spirits, brings hopes, stirs the longing to peace and brotherhood.
Here is the trailer for the film: “Following the Ninth” by Kerry Candaele, a documentary exploring the worldwide cultural and political influence of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
“The film tracks the global impact of the 9th, from China to Chile, from Japan to Vienna. Includes the story of Billy Bragg and his writing of a new version of the 9th for our time. Leonard Bernstein performed the Ninth at the fall of the Berlin Wall, and four months earlier students at Tienanmen Square broadcast the 9th over loudspeakers to the world. In Chile, women sang the Ode To Joy in the streets under the Pinochet regime. The Ninth has transformed lives, healed and repaired, since Beethoven composed one of the greatest works of art in 1824.”
This film has inspired flashmob performances by musicians in the world: Hong-Kong, Leipzig, Germany, Japan, Spain, and Hartford, CT, US.