The spine-tingling symphony has been used and abused for 200 years: from marking the fall of the Berlin Wall to being Hitler’s birthday song. We follow its rocky road to this year’s Proms
There was nothing unusual – the world being as it is – in the fact that Hulk Hogan was one of more erudite speakers at the recent Republican National Convention, performing with typical subtlety, nuance and jacket-throwing. What was bizarre was what happened next: Melania Trump’s non-speaking appearance and, in particular, the music that accompanied her entrance. Melania walked on to the sound of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. And not the Ode to Joy of the finale either, but the rapt intensity of the slow movement, as Beethoven unfurls the first variation of the opening melody. In most contexts, this music is a balm for the soul. At the RNC, it was a moment of absurdist drama.
What did it mean? Was Melania celebrating the 200th anniversary of arguably the most significant premiere in western music? And, by entering to an excerpt from the Ninth that few are likely to have identified, was she trying to improve the cultural horizons of her party and, by extension, the American people?
