0:00:02 > 0:00:05MUSIC: "Ode To Joy" by Beethoven
0:00:14 > 0:00:17The Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven
0:00:17 > 0:00:20is the most ambitious of his great revolutionary works.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24There are few symphonies in the history of classical music
0:00:24 > 0:00:25that reach out over the centuries
0:00:25 > 0:00:28with such memorable and universal appeal.
0:00:28 > 0:00:29With each successive symphony,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32Beethoven broke the mould that he had created,
0:00:32 > 0:00:33and with the Ninth, his last,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36he wrote a work of well over an hour in duration,
0:00:36 > 0:00:38using chorus and soloists in the final movement,
0:00:38 > 0:00:41which is the setting of Schiller's Ode To Joy,
0:00:41 > 0:00:45and evokes universal human brotherhood.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48In this classic recording from the 2004 BBC Proms, Sir Simon Rattle
0:00:48 > 0:00:52brought the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra to London
0:00:52 > 0:00:55and united them with the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
0:00:55 > 0:00:57and four world-class soloists.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59This performance took place
0:00:59 > 0:01:03just two years after Rattle took up his role as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic,
0:01:03 > 0:01:07and it's fascinating to hear them perform this great work -
0:01:07 > 0:01:09the summit of symphonic repertoire.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11It's the peak.
0:01:11 > 0:01:17There are other symphonies which are more...which are more perfect...
0:01:17 > 0:01:19where there's not so many edges.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21Part of the glory of the Ninth
0:01:21 > 0:01:23is that this was a man who had written
0:01:23 > 0:01:26eight great symphonies already
0:01:26 > 0:01:31and had had an enormous emotional, psychological, physical crisis
0:01:31 > 0:01:34in between the Eighth Symphony and this.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38And so it's someone looking at the world in a very different way,
0:01:38 > 0:01:39in a much more cosmic way,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42and in a way where simply the idea
0:01:42 > 0:01:46that there are edges and grotesqueries and uglinesses
0:01:46 > 0:01:48simply doesn't matter.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Then he'd really release the reins.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01So here is Simon Rattle from his 2004 Proms performance to conduct
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22MUSIC STARTS
0:31:20 > 0:31:23APPLAUSE
0:32:16 > 0:32:19MUSIC STARTS
0:49:04 > 0:49:06MURMURING
0:49:28 > 0:49:30MUSIC RESTARTS DRAMATICALLY
0:55:51 > 0:55:54HE SINGS IN GERMAN
0:57:13 > 0:57:16THEY SING IN GERMAN
0:57:57 > 0:58:00THEY ALL SING IN GERMAN
0:58:44 > 0:58:46THEY ALL SING IN GERMAN
1:00:38 > 1:00:40HE SINGS IN GERMAN
1:00:42 > 1:00:45THEY ALL SING IN GERMAN
1:02:39 > 1:02:43THEY ALL SING IN GERMAN
1:03:46 > 1:03:49THEY SING IN GERMAN
1:04:32 > 1:04:35THEY SING IN GERMAN
1:06:32 > 1:06:35THEY ALL SING IN GERMAN
1:06:50 > 1:06:53THEY SING IN GERMAN
1:09:01 > 1:09:04THEY SING IN GERMAN
1:09:36 > 1:09:39THEY ALL SING IN GERMAN
1:10:07 > 1:10:09THEY SING IN GERMAN
1:10:15 > 1:10:18THEY ALL SING IN GERMAN
1:10:23 > 1:10:25THEY SING IN GERMAN
1:11:26 > 1:11:29THEY ALL SING IN GERMAN
1:12:47 > 1:12:51CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:12:58 > 1:13:01The Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven
1:13:01 > 1:13:04in this classic performance from 2004.
1:13:14 > 1:13:18The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by Sir Simon Rattle
1:13:18 > 1:13:20with the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus,
1:13:20 > 1:13:23and the soloists were Christiane Oelze, soprano,
1:13:23 > 1:13:26Birgit Remmert, mezzo-soprano,
1:13:26 > 1:13:27Timothy Robinson, tenor,
1:13:27 > 1:13:29and John Relyea, bass.
1:13:43 > 1:13:45APPLAUSE CONTINUES