# Beethoven 9th symphony - an alternative instrumental Finale based on Beethoven's sketches



## gerd.prengel (8 mo ago)

I'd like to present to you a special project: In the summer of 1823 Beethoven began concepting the final movement of his 9th symphony and he was struggling whether it should be a choral or an instrumental movement. There are sketches for an instrumental finale with a theme which later in 1825 he would use (in a changed form) for the main theme of the Finale of the a-minor string quartet op. 132 and also for a 2nd theme: http://www.gerdprengel.de/alternFinale_sketches.pdf (sketches/notes) http://www.gerdprengel.de/alternFinale_sketches.mp3 ((sketches/audio) Recently one question arose in my heart: What might Beethoven have in mind when considering these themes for an alternative instrumental Finale of the 9th? So I began brooding over the sketches, orchestrated the 5th movement of op. 132 and began to write a symphonic Finale. In this I use certain orchestrated passages from the expostion/recapitulation and the Coda of the quartet movement (about 50%). But the first part of expostion/recapitulation and the development is completely new, also a D-Major Adagio in the beginning of the Coda and the conclusion... for me it was a most fascinating task : 




Gerd


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