Werner Krotz-Vogel at the Schiller House in Leipzig

Thanks Werner!!!



Transcription of Spoken Text in Video:

"Rock'n'Roll!
Barry, this is for you...
In this house Freiderich Schiller wrote the Ode to Joy, 250 years ago...

40 years later Franz Schubert set it to music,

and 50 years later came Ludwig van Beethoven's version...

TODAY, 250 years later... check it out!!!"

Flash Mob in Leipzig

Hi Chris! 
Hi readers!

It seems we may have finally gotten a bit of momentum with this project....

I hope you aren't finished with it yet, Chris....

An old friend of mine sent me this link today...



I actually got alittle teary-eyed ...

Thanks Mareike!!!

1st Video

Hi everybody.... Here's the first one... Have had a scratchy throat this week, so I had to sing it in a lower key...

Sheet Music

Click to enlarge...

This version is used as the official European Hymn and is taken from Beethoven's 9th Symphony. He composed it in 1824, about 40 years after Schiller wrote the text. There is also a Schubert setting: “An die Freude” D189 (1815) and I know of a German Folksong using the text... I will try to find it... Would be interesting to compare these different versions...

German Text with English Translation

Ode an die Freude

Freude, schöner Götterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!

(X2)
Deine Zauber binden wieder
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
Alle Menschen werden Brüder,
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Ode to Joy

Joy, beautiful spark of the Gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
Drunken with fire, we enter
The Heavenly, your holy shrine!

(x2)
Your magic connects again
What fashion has strictly divided;
All people become brothers (and sisters of course),
Where your tender wing remains.

Schiller Original

German
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum.

(x2)
Deine Zauber binden wieder
Was der Mode Schwert geteilt;
Bettler werden Fuerstenbrueder,
Wo dein sanfter Fluegel weilt.

English
Joy, beautiful spark of the Gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter, drunken with fire,
The heavenly, your sanctuary!

(x2)
Your magic powers re-unite
What custom's sword has divided;
Beggars become Princes' brothers (& sisters),
Where your gentle wing abides.

So what?

Or...
So... What... is this about?
In this song we are singing to “Joy“, as a person, or since there is the image of her “wing“ in the last line, she could be a bird,,, an angel or a Goddess? (I say her and she because she is the daughter of Elysium - or Heaven) Anyway, whatever material form she takes on for each of us, we are singing to her as we enter into her heavenly realm. Joyful from drinking too much of her heavenly fire.... (ever drank a cup of fire !?) At the end, we praise her magic powers that can mend the gap between rich and poor created by "modes" of the day (which Schiller called a sword), making all people brothers and sisters wherever she spreads her gentle wing. I kind of think of a mother hen with her chicks under her wings. But, if she is the daughter of heaven she would probably be some kind of other more elegant bird or even an angel... What do you think?

What does all this mean?
I believe it is about the idea of all people being equal... Beyond that, it is about the “certain unalienable right” of all people to experience joy and happiness... But the two are interrelated: happy people are equal and free & equal and free people are happy...

Joy = Happiness?

Happiness is mention in the second sentence of the American Declaration of independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. - July 4th, 1776

Although, the “pursuit of happiness” is not included in the Constitutional Bill of Rights, it seems to me to be the over-riding theme or purpose of those rights guaranteed there...

The idea of “freedom and justice for all” was popular in many parts of the world at the time the American Declaration of Independence was written. Schiller wrote “Ode an die Freude” 10 years later in 1785, by some reports it was originally titled “Ode an die Freiheit” or “Ode to Freedom”. Wikipedia says he changed it later out of fear. More it doesn't say... would be a good topic for additional research...

These two texts are really different in their tone: Schiller is “drunk” with the idea of being happy and equal, and goes all out to impress us with his eloquence. The founding fathers did not have an abstract idea about freedom and justice in mind, they were creating a real issue, an event that they knew would be costly in money and lives. The American Declaration of Independence is more serious and formal, after all they were writing a letter to their King, who was not going to be “happy” when he reads it.

The two texts are very different, but they are certainly about the same thing!

An interesting topic to discuss would be the meaning of “mode”. One could limit it to it's modern usage, meaning “the clothes we wear “ and “the way we act” or “the things we do” that are IN. But, it could also be much more...

Closing Statement

Schiller thinks we need to be happy to be free and equal, the founding fathers of the USA thought you had to be equal and free to be happy. The two are certainly intertwined. But, it might also be reality that there is no win-win situation, at least not always. Could it be possible that one has to give up some freedom to be happy and/or how much happiness must you give up to be free? This is a rich and timely topic...