Beefy Tones with at Beethoven's Symphony No 9
I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 ("Choral")
I'm Ludwig van Beethoven, and I'm about to explain the I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo movement of my Symphony No 9. You'll hear a hushed shimmer on two bare notes, A and E, suddenly give way to a first theme that erupts in D minor, and that sudden jolt is worth your time. On this site my fellow composers and I help you learn to recognize our pieces the moment they begin, so why not take the Trainer for a spin ?
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Lean In, Then Hold On
Before you press play, put your phone down, because the beginning of this movement is very easy to miss. Listen first to the strings, which hover over two plain notes, A and E, in a soft shimmer made by bowing very fast. Out of that mist the rest of the orchestra slowly gathers, and the strings, winds and brass stop being background and start trading phrases like people in a lively debate. Your only job is to notice who carries the tune at each moment, and to feel how the volume swings between a whisper and a roar.What's in a Name
I marked this movement Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso, and every part of that is an instruction to the players. Allegro means lively, and ma non troppo adds "but not too much," so nobody should dash off as if they were late for a train. Un poco maestoso asks for a touch of grandeur, a little dignity in the way the music walks. I wanted energy with real weight behind it, because the main theme needed room to stand tall.Choosing the Blueprint
Choosing the form for this movement was an adventure in itself, and I settled on sonata form, in D minor and counted in 2/4. Sonata form works like a little story in three parts: you meet the themes, you watch them get tossed around and tested, and then you see them come home again. I left out the repeat of the first part, so the music moves on without playing the same opening twice. After the three parts comes a coda, and in the next paragraphs I'll take you through the four sections one by one.Section 1: The Fog Lifts and the Lightning Strikes
The first section, the exposition, begins in hush, on those bare open notes that don't yet tell you whether the mood will be sad or bright. Small fragments of the theme flicker up out of the fog and fall back again, as if the music were gathering its nerve. Then, at bar 17, which arrives sooner than you expect, the first theme erupts violently in D minor and the quiet is gone. After that the music makes room for calmer, more singing material, but the tension never completely leaves.Section 2: The Themes Get Put Through Their Paces
In the development I take the ideas you've just heard and pull them apart, stretch them and set them against each other. Short pieces of the themes wander through many different keys, so you lose your footing a little, and that is exactly the point. The mood grows darker and more restless as the pieces collide, and the whole orchestra gets drawn into the struggle. Everything builds toward one big moment, where the music finally finds its way back to where it started.Section 3: Coming Home in a Brighter Coat
The recapitulation brings the first theme back, and this time it returns in D major instead of D minor. You might expect a major key to sound comforting, but here it gives the theme a hard, defiant glow instead. The familiar ideas pass by again, now changed by everything that happened in the development. It feels less like a simple repeat and more like meeting an old friend after a long and difficult journey.Section 4: The Coda That Wouldn't Leave
A coda is normally a short goodbye, but mine takes up nearly a quarter of the whole movement, like a guest who stays for a quarter of the evening. In it the music keeps circling back to its most important ideas, pressing on them harder each time. The mood stays dark and stormy, and the tension piles up until it feels as if something has to give. When the movement finally ends, it does so firmly, in the same serious spirit in which it began.Your Turn to Press Play
Now it's your turn to hear this movement for yourself, so find a comfortable spot and press play. Let the quiet opening settle around you, and don't worry if you can't name every instrument you hear. As you listen, keep in mind the hush, the sudden eruption at bar 17, and the long coda that arrives near the end. I hope you find the journey through this movement as thrilling as I did when I wrote it.---
Did you enjoy working your way through the listen guide to Symphony No 9's I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo? I hope the movement sounds a little different to you now than it did before you started. Think back to that opening, where the music seems to come out of nothing and slowly gathers itself. By the end, the coda takes up nearly a quarter of the whole movement, as if I couldn't bring myself to let the story go. What I love most is that you can return to this music again and again and keep hearing something you missed. The first movement is only the beginning, because there is much more of Symphony No 9 to explore. The scherzo, the slow movement and the great choral finale each have their own surprises waiting for you. The story of how the symphony came to be, and of the night it was first performed, is worth discovering too. If you're curious, please click on the links provided and carry on exploring Symphony No 9. I'd be glad to have you along for the rest of the journey.