5 facts about the Anthem of Europe

May 2012, Sabadell, Spain: A contrabass player performs a piece of music in the square, alone. Only a few people are watching, a few remain standing. Gradually, however, more and more musicians join the man. Suddenly there is a whole orchestra, including conductor, and a choir – a total of more than 100 musicians playing a famous piece of music. Passers-by have now gathered in a large crowd, smiling, and children are dancing. This flash mob, although a staged promotional video, went viral on the internet in 2012. And this piece of music, which also enchanted millions of viewers on the internet, is world-famous, and it puts a smile on many people’s faces. It is Beethoven’s 9th Symphony – nowadays also the European anthem. How does this piece of music manage to captivate millions of people? In this article, you will find five facts about the anthem of the EU that may help you find an answer.

1. The European anthem is based on a poem…

In 1785, the German poet Friedrich Schiller penned the “Ode to Joy”. It was the time shortly before the French Revolution, and Schiller’s poem is characterised by the ideal of an equal society in which “all men shall be brothers” and which is characterised by joy and peace.

Beethoven’s grave site in Vienna – Beatriz Miller, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1638168409888-7e1a476075d7?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D&auto=format&fit=crop&w=870&q=80

The famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven already had the idea of setting the poem to music in some form after its publication a year later. However, it took him a long time to complete the piece of music, his 9th Symphony: it was not until 1824 that the symphony was given its premiere – and caused a sensation. The audience was enthusiastic, the critics divided: For Beethoven had dared to do something completely new with this symphony. One was the length of the piece, as the symphony, at over 70 minutes, is an evening-long programme. The other was the choir, which performed parts of Schiller’s poem – a choir in a symphony was something that had never been heard before!

2. … but has no lyrics.

How can that be? A symphony with the revolutionary peculiarity of including a choir, but the official anthem based on it comes without the lyrics? In fact, the piece of music played on official occasions for the EU is purely instrumental. The anthem was originally chosen by the Council of Europe in 1972. For this, however, they asked the star conductor Herbert von Karajan to create three different instrumental versions, each about 2 minutes long. These were then chosen as the anthem of the European Economic Community, the precursor of the EU, in 1985.

Friedrich Schiller – Clemens van Lay, https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1646158997424-7219e09a9713?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D&auto=format&fit=crop&w=2070&q=80

Reducing the length seems sensible, of course – but dispensing with the lyrics had equally valid reasons. For one thing, the original text was written in German – but to favour this one language would have been unfair in view of the linguistic diversity of the European countries. Therefore, an attempt was initially made to translate the text into all the official languages of the EU – a difficult task with which many were not satisfied. In the end, the translations were rejected. As a compromise, some suggested simply singing the anthem in Latin or Ancient Greek – or even Esperanto! However, these proposals were again rejected. At the same time, some criticised the lyrics because they did not refer to Europe alone but to the whole of humanity, which is why they should not be used as a solely European anthem. 

In the end, it was agreed to simply rely on the universal language of music – and it works, because many people immediately recognise the melody as the European anthem, representing universal values.

3. It stands for equality, peace, freedom and solidarity.

Representing these universal values was important to the European Union. After the horrible wars of the 19th century, but especially after the two terrible world wars, the wish emerged to create a peaceful united Europe. As early as 1949, the Council of Europe was established, and soon after other various European organisations were founded, from which the EU emerged through the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993. The European anthem is intended in particular to express the unity of Europe in all its diversity – alongside the values of freedom, peace and solidarity, which play an important role in cross-border cooperation and a peaceful Europe overall.

How strongly the piece of music is associated with these values is shown, for example, by a unique performance of it, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989: the performance in which the word “joy” was replaced by the word “freedom” was broadcast in 36 countries!

4. The capacity of the Audio CDs is as if tailored to the 9th Symphony – but not intentionally.

According to this modern myth, a company developed the CD for a length of 74 minutes because they wanted to make it possible to hear even the longest version of the 9th Symphony in one piece – something that had not been possible with vinyl records. However, the storage capacity of 74 minutes eventually became the standard for mass production. 

5. Other countries also made use of the anthem.

The 9th Symphony has been used by many governments throughout history to accompany ceremonial occasions. In the years between 1956 and 1964, it also served as the anthem of the German team for the Olympic Games, since Germany was divided into East and West Germany. The 9th Symphony was, in a way, the compromise for the national anthem. The 9th Symphony was also used in more recent history – for example, for Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008.

To sum up, the 9th Symphony symbolises universal values, and has had important political meaning in the past, as well as in the present. As the European anthem, it is intended to represent the uniting effect of solidarity and how this makes peaceful coexistence in Europe possible.

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