December 2001 - Nr. 13
Beethoven’s Ninth Joins UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List
TWIG - The Ninth Symphony of German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is one of the greatest achievements and best-known masterpieces in music and of humanity as a whole. In recognition of this, on Wednesday (December 5) UNESCO announced that it has added the work to its World Cultural Heritage list — the first musical composition to join the majestic company of the Taj Mahal and the pyramids at Giza.
The Berlin State Library of Prussian Cultural Treasures houses the original score of the symphony, which includes Friedrich von Schiller’s famous final chorus "Ode to Joy." The composition is renown for its brilliantly innovative final movement, in which Beethoven used the human voice for the first time in any symphony. Since its premiere in May 1824, the work has become an international symbol of peace and goodwill. At the Olympic Games from 1956 to 1964, the first stanza of the last movement was used as a national anthem for teams from both the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. The symphony has also been used to underscore momentous occasions such as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, when the final chorus became a symbol of unity for a people formerly divided.
The World Heritage List was established in 1972 to provide grants, long-terms loans, technical assistance and emergency aid for the preservation of cultural and natural properties considered to be of outstanding universal value. Germany’s cultural heritage features prominently, with 24 of the nearly 700 sites around the globe located within its borders. With its countless castles, monasteries, and cathedrals, Germany is one of the best-represented countries on the list.
