The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is a choral symphony, the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824.
Beethoven's 9th (Chorale) Symphony, premiered in Vienna on May 7, 1824. This is often regarded as his greatest work. In 2001, Beethoven's original, hand-written score, which was held by the Berlin State Library, was added to the Memory of the World Programme Heritage list by the United Nations. It is the first musical score on the list.
The symphony was the first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony. The words are sung during the final (4th) movement of the symphony by four vocal soloists and a chorus. They were taken from the "Ode to Joy", a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803, with text additions made by Beethoven.
