The Beethoven Journal
Abstract
Sometime after the premiere of the Ninth Symphony, according to Carl Czerny, Beethoven told a small circle of friends that he had made a “wrong choice” in writing a choral finale, that he was resolved to write a purely instrumental finale in its place, and that he already had an idea in his head for the new finale. Czerny never committed this report to writing, but he did transmit it orally to three others who did: Leopold von Sonnleithner, Otto Jahn, and Gustav Nottebohm. Anton Schindler would later deny the report, but the available evidence strongly supports the veracity of Czerny’s account, which carries important implications for Beethoven’s attitude toward not only the Ninth but his output in general, including the substitute finale he would in fact go on to write for the String Quartet Op. 130.
Recommended Citation
Bonds, Mark Evan
(2025)
"Second Thoughts? Czerny, Beethoven, and the Ninth Symphony’s Choral Finale,"
The Beethoven Journal: Vol. 37, Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55917/2771-3938.1020
Available at:
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/beethovenjournal/vol37/iss1/2
