In Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy", he proclaims that there is no racism in all the world, by writing: "Alle menschen werden Bruder". This is a line from Schiller's full poem in the Choral movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, which I feel is the greatest piece of music ever composed! Hal
It was sort of a hymn about European brotherhood. Perhaps considered more of a wishful prayer, than an actual social synopsis.
Wouldn't that be slightly too simplistic, Hal? As someone who had studied Kant's works and who considered himself a Kantian, Schiller was aware of the different races. Like other intellectuals of his time he spread that cultural code by describing the Mayas and Aztecs as silly kids. In his inaugural lecture as professor of history in Jena he said to his students: "They (the seafarers) show us people camping down around us on different levels of education like kids standing around an adult and reminding those of what they used to be and where they started from." The line you quote does not refer to racism, though. At the time Schiller was composing the poem he had just escaped from prison because he was deep in the red. When his friend Korner repaid Schiller's crippling debt and relieved him of an enormous burden, Schiller was full of joy and thankfulness. The Ode to Joy was written as a bacchanalian song. That's why is was so full of pathos. The line quoted has a future meaning: "people will be brothers" and, in my book, does not imply that there was no racism. He rather picked up the ideal of social equality because he had been inspired by the French revolution and its slogan "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" but there may also be a reference to the brotherhood of Freemasonry as well as to friendship as such which was another ideal of his time. People at his time didn't think so much in terms of Europe. Schiller was "in Tyrannos". The nation state, particularly in Germany, was at the top of the agenda and the ultimate goal.
Well, Thomas...you've sufficiently pounded me about the head and ears with that discourse! I posted it especially for your pleasure, since I admire Germans and their contribution to the Arts and Literature. Herr Pollner
To my friend @Hal Pollner No harm meant. No pounding intended. Just a little feedback and an exchange of opinion and information. That's what we're here for, isn't it? That's for your pleasure: Here you can see what used to be an old farm house in which Schiller lived and composed the first version of Ode to Joy. At his time it was situated outside of the city boundaries. "Composing" meant getting up at 3 or 4 in the morning and, wearing his dressing gown only, cutting across the fields accompanied by a 12 year-old boy servant who had to carry a jug of water and a glas. Once back, he wrote down or dictated what had crossed his mind such as this: "Brothers, fly from your perches,//When the full cup is passed,//Let the foam spray to the heavens//This glass to the good spirit." Perhaps you'll remember this when you are having your next 16 oz. stein at Steer 'n Stein. Cheers! Appaloosa [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] I share your appreciation of German classical music and I bet you'd be able to say a lot more about it than I do. You are a musician and I admire you for being able to play the piano. I just enjoy listing to a limited selection of such masterpieces like Beethoven's Nineth. Sometimes I go all out and order tickets for a performance of it on New Year's Eve in our renowned concert hall, the Gewandhaus. But I watch it on TV regularly. This concert hall was rebuilt before the wall came down while I was living in Leipzig. Kurt Masur, who later conducted the New York Philharmonic , is seen here laying the foundation stone. Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-S1108-028 / Raphael (verehel. Grubitzsch), Waltraud / CC-BY-SA 3.0 Ichwarsnur [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)] Amrei-Marie [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] The organ has 91 registers (6,845 pipes) and four manuals, the largest pipe being 9.6 m long in total. I'm sure you could play it, too. Thomas
I could play the Manuals,Thomas, but I never did learn to be fluent on the 32-pedal clavier. I can play the first part of Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in D minor, but the Fugue requires perfect coordination of both hands and both feet, which I never had...I'm no E. Power Biggs! Hal
@Hal Pollner, Sir Hal, would you be so kind as to recommend two or three pieces of clasical music you find satisfying and relaxing, something to soothe the soul, as it were?
I think that line means "All people will be brothers." It's Schiller's dream about a happy future. I sang that symphony (Beethoven's 9th) with a chorus at the Strathmore Concert Hall a few years ago.Really inspiring! The other Beethoven symphony I love is the 7th. I also love almost anything by Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, and Brahms, and Saint Saens' Organ Symphony. Wow, that one can knock your socks off. Bill, you can't go wrong with any of those.