Ode to Joy for the 21st Century and On Becoming an Expert
John ShanahanMay 29, 2023
Friedrich Schiller’s poem and Wolfgang Beethoven’s Choral Movement in his Ninth Symphony will be masterpieces for all time.
Three important feelings are: a) happy, b) fulfilled, c) joyful.
Friedrich Schiller wrote the poem Ode to Joy in the summer of 1785 as a celebration of the brotherhood of man. It was first published the following year. Schiller made several revisions to the poem and the final version was published posthumously in 1808.
Beethoven used Schiller’s Ode to Joy in the fourth movement of his Ninth Symphony, making some additions. The Ninth Symphony was first performed in Vienna in 1824. Beethoven was a huge admirer of Schiller’s philosophical work as well as that of Goethe and Kant, whose ideals he espoused. In fact, the Ode’s themes of humans as free and rational beings and the sanctity of brotherhood and peace closely align with Beethoven’s beliefs.
The poetic and musical versions of “Ode to Joy” have particular significance in the late 20th and 21st Centuries as Europe, North America and Australia move away from the ideals of brotherhood and peace espoused in these works and toward One World Government run by unelected Elites who insist on abandoning the energy and
energy by-products that created a magnificent modern world.
Friedrich Schiller
Poem - Ode to Joy (An die Freude)
Leipzig, Germany, 1785
Ludwig Beethoven
Ninth Symphony with Choral
“Ode to Joy “
Premiered in Vienna, Austria, 1824
Joy, beautiful spark of gods, Daughter of Elysium, We enter, drunk with fire, Heavenly One, thy Holiness!
Thy magic binds again
What custom strictly divided;*
All humans become brothers,* Where thy gentle wing abides.
Whoever has succeeded in the great attempt,
To be a friend's friend, Whoever has won a lovely wife, Add his to the jubilation!
Yes, whoever also has just one other's Soul To call his own on this Earth's round!
And he who never managed it should slink
Weeping from this union!
All creatures drink of joy
At nature's breasts.
All the Good, all the Evil Follow her trail of roses.
Kisses she gave us and grapevines, A friend, proven in death.
Lust was given to the serpent And the cherub stands before God.
Gladly, as His suns fly through the heavens' grand plan Journey, brothers, on your way, Joyful, like a hero to victory.
Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss to all the world!
Brothers, above the starry canopy There must dwell a loving Father.
Are you collapsing, millions?
Do you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy! Above stars must He reside.
Friedrich Schiller’s poem “Ode to Joy,” English translation above, and Ludwig Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Choral “Ode to Joy” have a special place in literature and music.
Some people bring special joy to others. That is different from happiness and fulfillment.
Some people go through life on their way to becoming an “expert.”
One definition of an expert is someone who has made mistakes and learned from them.
Some examples of “experts”:
- Mark Cuban said he was once so poor that he would bring dates home only to find the electricity had been shut off by the power company. He is now a very successful businessman and owns the Dallas Mavericks’ basketball team.
- Thomas Edison developed thousands of prototypes of the light bulb before finding the one that worked. He is one of the greatest inventors ever in America.
- Albert Einstein was unemployed for two years after he graduated college. He became one of the world’s greatest scientists.
- Failure gave J.K. Rowling the freedom to pursue her art.
In 1993, the Harry Potter author was an unemployed, single mother who saw herself as a failure.
But in a 2008 commencement speech at Harvard, she says this
experience actually helped her by getting rid of her fear of failure — which allowed her to focus on writing the stories that would ultimately become the Harry Potter novels.
Joy and “becoming an expert” are two wonderful things to experience in life’s journey.
Waban, Massachusetts - 1975
The last rose of autumn is covered with dew.
