Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” returns to Atlanta Symphony Hall this week (Nov. 13–16), bringing one of classical music’s most recognizable themes to life with a full chorus. In conversation for WABE Arts, host Lois Reitzes asked ASO Chorus Director Norman Mackenzie to walk listeners through the work’s daring final movement and its long shadow in Atlanta.
Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” has been called many things — revolutionary, transcendent, impossible to hear without hope. Nearly two centuries after its 1824 premiere, its “Ode to Joy” remains shorthand for human connection through art.
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