Essentials of Music - Audio Examples

Beethoven: Symphony No.9 in D minor, Op.125 "Choral"

First movement
The opening measures present a quiet chaos. The stark opening fifths don't tell us if the piece is major or minor, and the powerful first theme emerges slowly before it asserting itself.
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Beethoven: Symphony No.9, Fidelio Overture

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Essential Classics

Fourth movement
Here the opening measure is almost a gesture of rage. Beethoven follows this with what sounds like a recitative for the double basses, and then brings back themes from the first three movements. All of this leads to the introduction of the choir -- a bold and innovative approach to both form and sound.
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Fourth movement, "Ode to Joy"
This melody features four phrases, each of which ends in a cadence. The resting places, or cadences, after the first and third phrases are inconclusive (like a comma in a sentence); those after the second and fourth phrases sound final (like a period closing a sentence).
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Fourth movement, "Turkish March"
Turkish music and fashion was all the rage in early nineteenth century Vienna. Nonetheless, scholars are still at a loss as to why Beethoven chose to put this little Turkish March in this movement.
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