In the Year of the Rat: Let Beethoven and Schiller Shape the Future of Humanity
Joy, beautiful spark of Divinity,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter, drunk with fire,
Heavenly One, thy sanctuary!
Thy magic binds again
What custom strictly divided;
All people become brothers,
Where thy gentle wing abides.
-from Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” used in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
This year being the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birthday, let us reflect on Beethoven’s creation of his immortal 9th symphony, where the first three movements are concluded by a triumphant and magnificent choral piece based on a poem by Friedrich Schiller – a symphony, which is a beautiful expression and metaphor for the creativity of man, and for the triumph of universal brotherhood.
Let this piece of art be the guide for our thoughts and actions ahead, in creating a new renaissance for mankind, a new paradigm, a new just world economic order.
-Leni Rubinstein, Editor, EIR Chinese