In a cramped apartment, a man hunches over papers. At 52, Beethoven looks older—he is in constant pain, and rarely appears in public. He is poring over a copy of the popular poem “Ode to Joy” by Friedrich Schiller. His new symphony will be an ambitious, experimental, political work. It will be without precedent, written for orchestra, chorus, and soloists. Its joyful celebration of community will cross the globe. It will change music forever.

Things to Know

• Beethoven was a passionate progressive. He resisted divisions in society. His Ninth Symphony sets a poem that links joy with friendship, with kinship: “All men shall become brothers/Wherever [joy’s] gentle wings hover.” Seeing hatred and division, Beethoven responded with optimism. 
• Gemma New was the SLSO’s Resident Conductor for four seasons. “We come to this concert of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony from our everyday lives,” says New, “with our many daily challenges. We come to be transformed together. And we all unite in listening to this music and being moved by it.”
• Kevin Puts’ radiant Hymn to the Sun is inspired by an ancient Egyptian appeal to the godlike sun. “I imagined a wild, sacred dance to call forth the sun and all its powers,” says Puts. “The image of the sun’s rays binding all the lands is particularly moving to me in the context of today’s tense global climate.”