From Chorister Mary: Last June Tom Ashcroft aired an entire episode devoted to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on his NPR show On Point. In this broadcast he interviews Harvey Sachs, music historian and author of the book, “The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824.” They discuss the oppressive political environment that influenced Beethoven’s composition and how Beethoven felt his mission was to encourage mankind to lift itself out of those dark circumstances. The broadcast is 47 minutes long, and specific discussion about the choral section, though slight, begins at about the 37 minute mark.
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2010/06/15/beethovens-ninth-symphony
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