Friedrich Schiller van Beethoven said that a great poem is more difficult to set to music than a merely good one because the composer must rise higher than the poet – "who can do that in the case of Schiller? In this respect Goethe is much easier," wrote Beethoven. There are relatively few famous musical settings of Schiller's poems. Notable exceptions are Beethoven's setting of "An die Freude" ("Ode to Joy") in the final movement of his Ninth Symphony, Johannes Brahms' choral setting of "Nänie" and "Des Mädchens Klage" by Franz Schubert, who set 44 of Schiller's poems as Lieder, mostly for
Road to Joy Road to Joy "Road to Joy" is the last song on Bright Eyes' 2005 album "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning". It was written by Conor Oberst. The name of the album is taken from a lyric in the song. The song begins with a fingerpicking section combined with an interpolation of a melody strongly based on Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". As the song progresses, it builds into a march, with the introduction of trumpets and horns. Near the end, everything fades out as Oberst delivers the final verse, and then all of the instruments come in at once in a