Choral symphony Choral symphony A choral symphony is a musical composition for orchestra, choir, and sometimes solo vocalists that, in its internal workings and overall musical architecture, adheres broadly to symphonic musical form. The term "choral symphony" in this context was coined by Hector Berlioz when he described his "Roméo et Juliette" as such in his five-paragraph introduction to that work. The direct antecedent for the choral symphony is Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Beethoven's Ninth incorporates part of the "Ode an die Freude" ("Ode to Joy"), a poem by Friedrich Schiller, with text sung by soloists and chorus in the last
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) thematic ideas from it. The colossal slow movement of Bruckner's Symphony No. 7, "as usual", takes the same A–B–A–B–A form as the 3rd movement of Beethoven's symphony and also uses some figuration from it. In the opening notes of the third movement of his Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World"), Antonín Dvořák pays homage to the scherzo of this symphony with his falling fourths and timpani strokes. Likewise, Béla Bartók borrows the opening motif of the scherzo from Beethoven's Ninth symphony to introduce the second movement scherzo in his own Four Orchestral Pieces, Op. 12 (Sz 51). One legend