Ode to Happiness

It is a fine evening, my beloved friends, for joy. Let us rejoice now as we reflect once again on the high principles of Art and of the Church. For those of you who have spent many years in the Church, you have likely heard some strange rendition of the "Ode to Joy" theme from Beethoven's Choral Symphony at least a few times. The usurpation of this melody has long been a unique practice of Christian worshipers, even from the heyday of the hymnal, and I mean to discuss how and why we do this.

Naturally, we quickly cast aside Schiller's poem, for it is not the most agreeable text for worshipful purposes. Next, we dispense of all the notes that are not involved in our chosen theme. That fourth movement is more than twenty minutes long, after all, and it uses all those instruments and singers. Then we can put in new words and a simple accompaniment for organ; for piano; or for guitars, drums, and things. Having done this, we have successfully made kitsch. Smile!

What drives this practice? Why do we feel such a need to dilute this melody in particular? It can only be that the final movement of Beethoven's Choral Symphony is a large scale choral work. We, being Christians, hear these timbres and conclude that the music must belong to us. After all, can we think of any other massive choral works that do not belong to us, especially before the 1820's? It follows that this one must be ours, as well.

In this way, so I hypothesize, the bizarre use of this Beethoven theme has come to us. I am not going to decry the practice as being bad or distasteful, that is, if it is not to late to avoid such a declamation, but I am going to call it very strange, which is exactly what it is. Kitsch usually is odd in its perpetually happy demeanor, which admittedly works well with such a joyful music as its source.