Ode to Joy Ode to Joy "Ode to Joy" (German: ), is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in "Thalia". A slightly revised version appeared in 1808, changing two lines of the first and omitting the last stanza. "Ode to Joy" is best known for its use by Ludwig van Beethoven in the final (fourth) movement of his Ninth Symphony, completed in 1824. Beethoven's text is not based entirely on Schiller's poem, and introduces a few new sections. His tune (but not Schiller's words) was adopted as the
Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven) ends with a coda, which takes image on all previous sections and variations of the movement. At the end of the coda, there is a surprise, which is when the dynamic changes from "pp" to "ff" all of a sudden as the tempo abruptly changes to presto. A flurry of sforzandos appear, and the finale ends with three large E-flat major chords on the tutti, marked "fff". Beethoven began composing the third symphony soon after Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 36 and completed the composition in early 1804. The first public performance of Symphony No. 3 was on