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This blog is in no way, shape, or form a democracy. This blog is a dictatorship, or maybe just a monarchy. At any rate, I am HRH. I own this blog. Whether you agree or disagree with me, you are welcome to comment provided a) you are an adult and b) you can act like one. NO personal attacks, no drunken rants, and mild expletives only, please. Otherwise, you'll be deleted, banned, or drawn and quartered. My choice.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

That's what we call "bringing the house down", kids.

In 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down and Germany was reunified, Leonard Bernstein was asked to conduct Beethoven's 9th Symphony at a celebration at East Berlin.
For this concert, "Ode to Joy" was changed to "Ode to Freedom" and in each place where the word "joy" had been, the word "freedom" ("freiheit") was now sung.
The end result was spectacular.

Here is part of the original concert. (The rest is on You Tube also, if you search "Ode to Freedom Bernstein.")

Bernstein's spontaneous leap for joy towards the end of this video, as well as the faces of the performers (they were a mix of East Germans and West Germans) is pretty priceless.



BARITONE
Oh friends, not these tones!
Let us raise our voices in more
pleasing and more joyful sounds!

ODE TO JOY (Friedrich Schiller)

BARITONE, QUARTET, AND CHORUS
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter fire imbibed,
Heavenly, thy sanctuary.

Thy magic reunites those
Whom stern custom has parted;
All men will become brothers
Under thy gentle wing.

May he who has had the fortune
To gain a true friend
And he who has won a noble wife
Join in our jubilation!

Yes, even if he calls but one soul
His own in all the world.
But he who has failed in this
Must steal away alone and in tears.

All the world's creatures
Draw joy from nature's breast;
Both the good and the evil
Follow her rose-strewn path.

She gave us kisses and wine
And a friend loyal unto death;
She gave lust for life to the lowliest,
And the Cherub stands before God.

TENOR SOLO AND CHORUS
Joyously, as his suns speed
Through Heaven's glorious order,
Hasten, Brothers, on your way,
Exulting as a knight in victory.

CHORUS

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter fire imbibed,
Heavenly, thy sanctuary.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.

Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.

Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell.

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter fire imbibed,
Heavenly, thy sanctuary.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.

Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.

Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell.

Joy, daughter of Elysium
Thy magic reunites those
Whom stern custom has parted;
All men will become brothers
Under thy gentle wing.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.

Joy, beautiful spark of Gods!,
Daughter of Elysium,
Joy, beatiful spark of Gods!.