Ludwig van Beethoven : "Ode to Joy" theme from the 9th (Choral) Symphony

This is one of the most famous themes in classical music. The whole Symphony and particularly the 4th movement has been an enormous influence on later composers including Brahms and Mahler to name only two. Beethoven's 9th was the first major "Choral Symphony" so called because the 4th movement includes soloists and a choir singing this theme and variations on it to the words of a poem written by Friedrich Schiller. This arrangement is for solo instrument with piano accompaniment. Although the version below and audio files are the bassoon arrangement, we have solo parts for the following instruments: Bassoon, Cello, Clarinet in A, Clarinet in B-flat, Cor Anglais, Double Bass, Flute, French Horn in F, Oboe, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Viola and Violin, each with the same Piano Accompaniment. For pianists we also have an arrangement for Piano Solo.

The theme has been adopted as the Anthem of the European Union, and also featured in the soundtrack for the film "A Clockwork Orange" in a version created on Moog synthesisers by Wendy Carlos. There is more information about such electronic instruments in our article about Electronic Music.