Not any Ode symphony

JOY, Thou beauteous godly lightning, daughter of Elysium. Fire drunken we are ent’ring, heavenly, thy holy home! Thy enchantments bind together what did custom stern divide. Every man becomes a brother where thy gentle wings abide.

- Mike Ward

The above words are not my own, you may be surprised to hear, but those of German poet Friedrich Schiller, who wrote them in 1785.

Or, rather, they’re Schiller’s words translated into English. Well, English-ish.

Would you like to hear more?

No, fair enough. I quote Schiller’s poem here because it’s better known as Ode To Joy, and was later used by Ludwig van Beethoven, with a wee bit of tweaking, in the fourth movement of his Ninth Symphony.