Beethoven's 9th Symphony is a classic of Classical music. Originally titled Symphony in D minor, № 9, it is also known as "The Chorale" and "Ode to Joy."
This blog is largely about contemporary culture with a dabbling of politics, so why am I writing about classical music at the Bootcamp Planet on the 7th of July?
1. Partly because my writing got stuck on my July 4th post — real life happened, I didn't get it finished, and it still needs edited because the draft is long and rambling. It is my personal story of immigration during the era of America's founding and I'll post it when it is ready.
2. Because the news today is about the G20 meeting in Hamburg, and the Daily Mail reported that "German Chancellor Angela Merkel treated her G20 guests to Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th Symphony hoping to spread her vision with 'a hymn to humanity, peace and international understanding'." It turns out that the last part of the symphony, sans words, is the European Union's official anthem, which I did not know.
3. Serendipitously, I am actually a little bit familiar with the words for this chorale. And if you read to the end, you will find out why they do not use those lyrics for the EU's anthem.
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| G20 at the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall |
I am guessing that Ms. Merkel liked the part about all mankind becoming bothers:
Alle Menschen werden Brüder.
All mankind become brothers
The problem with that is it's only half of the sentence. The full text is:
Alle Menschen werden Brüder,
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
Using a translation that aims to keep a sense of poetry rather than being compulsively literal, we get:
All men shall become as brothers
Wherever your gentle wing hovers.
And earlier in the poem, we are told exactly where that Wing is hovering: Elysium.
To the ancient Greeks, Elysium was the paradise afterlife. Only the gods and heroes would make it in; the commoners ended up in Hades. Pindar describes is as a place where those who gladly kept their oaths enjoy a life without tears. In Virgil's Aeneid, Elysium is on the path to the right whilst the road to the left leads to Tartarus. I have always imagined Elysium to be similar to the Undying Lands of Valinor, which are inhabited by immortals in Lord of the Rings.
So in the chorus to the 9th Symphony, the glorious joys of brotherhood are restricted to immortals? No one at the G20 meeting qualifies yet! (There is hope that some will make it someday.)
The part of Schiller's poem that really floored me, after I learned what the words meant, comes closer to the end of the section of the poem used in the Chorale. In English it reads:
Brothers, above the starry canopyI was stunned by the word "Creator," although, given that it was written in the 1700s, perhaps I should not have been that surprised. Evolutionary theory only began to catch on in the last half of the 1800s.
a loving father must dwell.
Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek Him above the canopy of stars!
He must dwell beyond the stars.
I was amazed because the words closely reflect my own experience and beliefs. When I stand alone under the canopy of stars and gaze upwards, this is when my Creator is easiest to sense. In looking at the greatest distance, He seems nearer than ever. Yes, He dwells beyond the stars, but He also dwells in my heart. I will travel those stars someday. And those that travel with me will be my brothers.
When I read that the last part of the 9th Symphony is the EU's official anthem, I had to laugh. And I think that I laughed with God's sense of humor on this one! Unsurprisingly, the EU anthem is instrumental only—no words. That makes sense since they are an unlikely bunch to acknowledge a Creator in public. In fact, some of the representatives there, such as France's Macron, are... just check the footnotes. I need to stay on-topic.
Sometimes God sits in the heavens and laughs at mankind's folly. The scripture for that is Psalm 2:2,4 — The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the LORD and His Anointed One... The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them.
God surely has laughed at this group of rulers who, in some ways, have conspired together to set up a Tower-of-Babel ideology that rebels against the Lord's purpose. God is not a globalist. He is the God of the Nations.
So, what will become of the meetings at the G20 summit? I do not know. It is my hope that some would sense their Creator and seek His wisdom before time runs out. In the next verse, after God is done laughing, He speaks with anger and wrath.
Footnotes
• Photo credit: Reuters, used solely for educational purposes.
• In 1907, American Henry van Dyke wrote a new set of English lyrics set to the Ode to Joy music. Published four years later, his lyrics are more commonly used in American churches now. More information at wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hymn_of_Joy
• The full text of Schiller's original poem is here: http://raptusassociation.org/ode1785.html
Not all of it was used in the chorus, and some of it was changed to better fit the 9th Symphony.
• This is a link to photos of the G20 dinner following the concert: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4675832/G20-leaders-enjoy-performance-Beethoven-s-Ode-Joy.html#ixzz4mCESTw8Y
• French President Macron has displayed signs of demonic influence. He recently declared he will govern France like Jupiter, the Roman king of the gods. Modern society calls Jupiter a myth, but the ancients were worshiping a demonic entity. Italian psychologist Dr. Adriano Segatori has said, "Macron est un psychopathe," and you don't have to know Italian to know what he meant. He calls Macron a remorseless elitist who is particularly dangerous because he will make decisions to support his fragile ego, not in the best interests of the French people. The point being made in this blog is that those who have globalist and/or Luciferian goals are not going to acknowledge the Creator.
