Symphony Hall, Birmingham

The music

• Tan Dun Nine
• Beethoven Symphony No 9

The performers

• Tan Dun conductor
• Elizabeth Watts soprano
• Hongni Wu mezzo-soprano
• John Findon tenor
• Dingle Yandell bass
• London Philharmonic Choir
• London Chinese Philharmonic Choir

Globally successful musician and composer Tan Dun conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven’s visionary Ninth Symphony.

200 years ago, Beethoven shook the world with his final symphony, not least by introducing a chorus into the last movement to sing his setting of Schiller’s Ode to Joy, a declaration of friendship and brotherhood. It’s the defining moment of the Symphony and creates an ecstatic blaze of glory that stirs the soul.

Beethoven wanted his Ninth Symphony to embrace all humanity, so when Tan Dun set out to compose his own tribute to Beethoven, he aimed just as high, combining ancient poetry from China and Europe to create an ‘ode to peace’ worthy of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. His choral concerto Nine is everything you’d expect from the composer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. His creative and artistic language spans East and West, and the result transcends both.