his life where he knew what risks he could and could not take. For years Beethoven had contemplated setting Schiller's Ode to Joy, but when he decided to make this the setting to the final movement to his ninth symphony he was very uncertain as to how to introduce the voice. " ... there are reports of him striding up and down his room trying to solve this problem" ( Pike 70). Although some of the ideas used in the Ninth Symphony appear in sketches of 1817-18, Beethoven only began concentrated work on the score in 1822. It occupied him throughout 1823, and he completed it in February 1824. The first performance took place at the Karntnerthor Theater in Vienna on May 7, 1824. Beethoven stood there completely deaf beating time and turning pages of his score, but the real conduction was done by Michael Umlauf. The orchestra leader was Schuppanigh. The dedication was to King Frederick William III of Prussia.( Steinberg 47-48)The first vocal soloists to perform this were Henriette Sontag (soprano), Karoline Ungersabatier ( alto), Anton Haizinger ( tenor), and Joseph Seipelt (bass). Only two rehearsals were gad been possible for the performance with mixed critical success. The symphony's required orchestration includes: two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, triangle, cymbals, bass drums, and strings, plus soprano, alto, tenor, and bass solos and four part- mixed chorus. The proper title of the Ninth Symphony is Symphony with final chorus on Schiller's Ode of Joy'. We can see from the name that it was conceived first and foremost as an instrumental work. Most people see the choral part as the main attraction to the symphony. "... it is important to remember that when we refer to the Ninth Symphony as the Choral Symphony' we are crudely recognizing the dramatic power of the human voice to throw everything else, no matter how important into the bac...
