Beethoven's Symphony no. 9

Alexander Rehding

"Beethoven's Ninth Symphony has held musical audiences captive for close to two centuries, with each generation rediscovering the work for itself and making it its own. Zooming in on the significance of the symphony in contemporary culture, this book establishes a dialog between Beethoven's world and ours, marked by the earthshattering events of 1789 and 1989, and outlines in particular what is special about the Ninth in millennial culture. As music today is encoded not only as score but also as digital technology, we encounter Beethoven 9 flashmobs, virturally reconstructed concert halls, globally synchronized performances, and other time-bending procedures. The digital artwork "9 Beet Stretch" perhaps represents the extreme, presenting the Ninth at glacial speed over twenty-four hours, and challenges our understanding of the symphony while it encourages us to confront the temporal...