> When I have taught Beethoven's Ninth in music appreciation, it is obvious
> that most of the students have heard the "Ode to Joy" melody in the fourth
> movement, even if they didn't know its source. I don't know what the
> experience is like for them, but I try to convey to them something of the
> profound nature of the original context of this melody they may have been
> taking for granted so that perhaps they will hear it "with fresh ears."
I wonder, perhaps, if students who know the melody in its ultimate form
are not helped in understanding the preceding passages of struggle where
the theme emerges from confusion.
Possibly this helps them get closer to the point of the movement more
quickly than if they came to the piece with completely "fresh ears."
David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton
dfenton@bway.net http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc