4. Ludwig Van BeethovenSymphony Number Nine
Here’s the thing; we all like lots of records, but when we use the word ‘genius’, let’s use it sparingly. I reserve the word genius for this piece, because every time you hear it, it sounds different, it’s never the same twice. The young Beethoven was 17 when he first had the idea and created sketches for this symphony and he didn’t finish it until the end of his life in Prague, which was Mecca for all composers. He had the idea of using [Friedrich] Schiller’s words which was radical at the time because Schiller’s ‘Ode To Joy’ is not a religious expression – which was commonplace at the time – it was more humanitarian. It’s a dream of a global family and that’s why it was the perfect music for the reunification of Germany. My god, whenever I’m really depressed or if anyone is really depressed out there, get the words or translation of ‘Ode To Joy’ and put the ninth symphony on and listen to it from beginning to end and you will be in such a fantastic place at the end. If you listen to it intensely, it doesn’t matter how depressed you were before, you will be in the heavens by the end. It has this fantastic effect and I don’t know many pieces of music that can do that.
