Chichester Psalms
On Christmas Day 1989, just weeks after Germany was reunified, Leonard Bernstein led a celebratory performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Konzerthaus, near where the Berlin Wall used to stand. Musicians from both sides of the wall assembled under Bernstein’s baton, and adding to the symbolism of the event was a change to the lyrics of the final movement: the poet Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” was instead made an “Ode to Freedom.”
Bernstein: | Chichester Psalms | |
Beethoven: | Symphony No. 9 |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Marin Alsop, conductor
Chicago Symphony Chorus soloists
Tamara Wilson, soprano
Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano
Paul Appleby, tenor
Ryan Speedo Green, bass-baritone