Ode to Joy

A page from Beethoven's original manuscript.
anthem of  European Union Council of Europe (On behalf of Europe as a whole)
Also known as	European Anthem[1][2]
Lyrics	None
Music	Ludwig van Beethoven, 1824
Adopted	1972 and 1985
Music sample
Ode to Joy (Instrumental)

"Ode to Joy" (German original title: "Ode an die Freude") is the anthem of the European Union and the Council of Europe; both of which refer to it as the European Anthem^[1][2] due to the Council's intention that it represents Europe as a whole, rather than any organisation. It is based on the final movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony composed in 1823, and is played on official occasions by both organisations.

History[link]

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven

Origin[link]

Friedrich Schiller wrote the poem An die Freude (To Joy) in 1785 as a "celebration of the brotherhood of man".^[3] In later life, the poet was contemptuous of this popularity and dismissed the poem as typical of "the bad taste of the age" in which it had been written.^[4] After Schiller's death, the poem provided the words for the choral movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

Adoption[link]

In 1971 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to propose adopting the prelude to the Ode To Joy from Beethoven's 9th Symphony as the European anthem, taking up a suggestion made by Count Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalergi in 1955.^[5] Beethoven, "the spearhead of early Romanticism's universalist pretentions", was generally seen as the natural choice for a European anthem.^[6] The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe officially announced the European Anthem on 19 January 1972 at Strasbourg: the prelude to "The Ode to Joy", 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th symphony. In 1974 the same piece of music was adopted as the National Anthem of Rhodesia.

Conductor Herbert von Karajan was asked to write three instrumental arrangements – for solo piano, for wind instruments and for symphony orchestra and he conducted the performance used to make the official recording. He wrote his decisions on the score, notably those concerning the tempo. Karajan decided on minim (half note) = 80 whereas Beethoven had written crotchet (quarter note) = 120.

The anthem was launched via a major information campaign on Europe Day in 1972. In 1985, it was adopted by EU heads of State and government as the official anthem of the then European Community – since 1993 the European Union. It is not intended to replace the national anthems of the Member States but rather to celebrate the values they all share and their unity in diversity. It expresses the ideals of a united Europe: freedom, peace, and solidarity.^[7]

Recent events[link]

It was to have been included in the European Constitution along with the other European symbols; however, the treaty failed ratification and was replaced by the Treaty of Lisbon, which does not include any symbols.^[8] A declaration was attached to the treaty, in which sixteen member states formally recognised the proposed symbols.^[9] In response, the European Parliament decided that it would make greater use of the anthem, for example at official occasions.^[8] In October 2008, the Parliament changed its rules of procedure to have the anthem played at the opening of Parliament after elections and at formal sittings.^[10]

Usage[link]

Ode to Joy is the anthem of the Council of Europe and the European Union, promoted as a symbol for the whole of Europe as are the other European symbols. It is used on occasions such as Europe Day and formal events such as the signing of treaties. The European Parliament seeks to make greater use of the music, then-Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering stated he was moved when the anthem was played for him on his visit to Israel and ought to be used in Europe more often.^[8]

In 2008 it was used by Kosovo as its national anthem until it adopted its own, and it was played at its declaration of independence, as a nod to the EU's role in its independence from Serbia.^[11]

At the 2007 signing ceremony for the Treaty of Lisbon, the plenipotentiaries of the European Union's twenty-seven Member States stood in attendance while the Ode to Joy was played and a choir of 26 Portuguese children sang the original German lyrics.^[12]

In 1992 the anthem was used by CIS national football team at the 1992 UEFA European Football Championship.

On 4 October 2010 the anthem was used for the first time at a major sporting event when a European team beat a team representing the United States of America to win the Ryder Cup golf tournament. The European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie decided to break with tradition and play the European anthem by itself instead of the individual anthems from participating European nations. As a result the European anthem was broadcast around the world at a major sporting event for the first time.

Unofficial lyrics[link]

Friedrich Schiller wrote An die Freude which became the basis for Beethoven's composition. However in the European anthem the German words were dropped so as not to elevate one language over another.

Due to the large number of languages used in the European Union, the anthem is purely instrumental, and the German lyrics Friedrich Schiller wrote and Beethoven based the melody upon have no official status. Despite this, the German lyrics are often sung by choirs or ordinary people when the anthem is played: for example, at the 2004 enlargement on the German-Polish border, the crowd watching the ceremony playing the music sang along with the German lyrics.

Aside from this, several translations of the poem used by Beethoven as well as original works have attempted to provide lyrics to the anthem in various languages. Recently, Latin, as a former lingua franca in many European countries, is the language of one proposal written by the Austrian composer Peter Roland.^[13] The composer offered a copy of the anthem to Romano Prodi, then President of the European Commission during a meeting in Vienna in February 2004.^[14] Versions of the anthem including lyrics have been sung outside official EU occasions. This is the case with the Latin version sung by the a cappella choir Wiener Singverein.^[15]

In France, several adaptations of Beethoven's Ode were known long before the onset of European Union. A version by the librettist Maurice Bouchor (1855–1929) entitled Hymn to the Universal Humanity (Hymne à l'universelle humanité) adding several verses to a preceding version of Jean Ruault, was published. This version and another by Maurice Bouchor, published with Julien Thiersot under the title Hymn for future times (Hymne des temps futurs) in a music book which was widespread among basic schools,^[16] is performed unofficially by school choirs during European events. Another version by the Catholic writer Joseph Folliet (1903–1972) is also known.

Ode to Joy lyrics[link]

An die Freude

German lyrics by Friedrich Schiller

<poem>

Freude, schöner Götterfunken,

Tochter aus Elysium!

Wir betreten feuertrunken,

Himmlische, Dein Heiligtum.

Deine Zauber binden wieder,

Was die Mode streng geteilt,

Alle Menschen werden Brüder,

Wo Dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

</poem>

See also[link]

• National symbols
• European symbols
  • Flag of Europe

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Ode to Joy

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)

• Beethoven's Ninth: A Political History, Esteban Buch (Trans. Richard Miller), ISBN 0-226-07824-8 (University Of Chicago Press)
• Delegation of the European Commission (mp3 available there)
• European anthem European NAvigator
• Inni d'Europa, Arma dei Carabinieri – a version performed by the Banda Musicale e delle Fanfare directed by Col. Vincenzo Borgia available for download (as well as other European anthems)
• The European Anthem and downloads – Council of Europe website
• The European Anthem – European Commission website
• 'Ode to Joy,' Followed by Chaos and Despair by Slavoj Zizek (The New York Times, December 24, 2007), an interesting meditation about the political meaning and destiny of this piece of music.

Godfrey Bloom MEP
Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber, UK
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 2004
Personal details
Born	(1949-11-22) 22 November 1949 (age 62) London, England
Nationality	British
Political party	UKIP

Godfrey Bloom (born 22 November 1949 in London)^[1] is a Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). He was first elected in 2004, and re-elected in 2009.

Before becoming an MEP, Bloom worked as a financial economist.^[1][2]

Godfrey Bloom is the president of the European Alliance for Freedom, a eurosceptic pan-European political party.^[3]

Career as an MEP[link]

In 2004, Bloom's election to the Yorkshire and the Humber seat was the UKIP's first seat in the region in the European elections.^[2]

Comments on the counterproductive nature of women's rights[link]

A few weeks after his appointment to the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality on 20 July 2004, Bloom told an interview in Strasbourg that, "No self-respecting small businessman with a brain in the right place would ever employ a lady of child-bearing age. That isn't politically correct, is it, but it's a fact of life. The more women's rights you have, it's actually a bar to their employment."^[4] Around the same time, he was reported^{[by whom?]} as commenting, "I just don't think [women] clean behind the fridge enough" and that "I am here to represent Yorkshire women who always have dinner on the table when you get home."^[5][6]

Bloom told BBC Radio 4's Today that his comments were "said for fun" to illustrate a more serious point, that equal-rights legislation was in fact putting women out of work.^[6] Bloom claimed that MEPs had "little or no business experience" and did not understand the consequences of their actions.^[6]

Bloom confessed that he used to visit brothels in Hong Kong claiming that "terrified young women beaten into prostitution often from Eastern Europe... is only a very small aspect of the flesh trade,", and concluded that "in short, most girls do it because they want to."^[7]

After inviting students from the University of Cambridge Women's Rugby Club to Brussels, he was accused of sexual harassment, misogyny, and use of offensive language. One student later handed in a formal letter of protest to the President of the European Parliament, critizising Bloom's behaviour. Bloom who sponsored the club with £3,000 a year, later admitted making misogyny comments but denied a sexual harassment.^[8][9]

Speeches made while under the influence of alcohol[link]

In December 2008, Daily Telegraph blogger and fellow MEP Daniel Hannan reported that Bloom "had to be carried out by an intern" after making a European Parliament speech while drunk.^[10] In February 2012, Bloom admitted to making a speech in Strasbourg having consumed alcohol and "very heavy" prescription painkillers.^[11]

Comments on climate change[link]

Bloom is a prominent non-believer of anthropogenic global warming theory. He stated in 2009: "As far as I am concerned man-made global warming is nothing more than a hypothesis that hasn't got any basis in fact. Every day more scientists are modifying their initial views." ^[12] He claims that the alleged consensus opinion of scientists about climate change is a "Scam Scam Scam!" of "climate crooks".^[13]

Comments on the Rainbow Warrior bombing[link]

Bloom was filmed at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen congratulating the French for bombing the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace ship, in 1985. Bloom's comment prompted outrage from the environmental group, which accused him of "celebrating" the killing of Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira in the bombing in Auckland. Bloom was filmed posing in front of the present Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior II, during the climate summit at the Copenhagen harbour. In the footage, he said: "Here we have one of the most truly fascist boats since 1945, Well done the French for sinking (it)." The video appeared to have been uploaded to Bloom's YouTube channel Goddersvision on 16 December during the last days of the summit, but was later taken down.^[14][15]

Nazi jibe-incident[link]

On 24 November 2010 Bloom was ejected from the European Parliament after directing a Nazi slogan at a German MEP Martin Schulz as the latter was speaking during a debate on the economic crisis in Ireland. Godfrey Bloom interrupted Schulz and said "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer" - one people, one empire, one leader.^[16] This was reference to the European Union increasing its powers in the midst of the Euro crisis, making a comparison to that of Nazi Germany.

He was then removed by the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, who told Bloom: "As you know, most of the members of the chamber cannot accept your behaviour. I will therefore ask you to leave the chamber at this point.".

This decision generated heavy protest from Barry Madlener, a representative of the Dutch Freedom Party, who noted that Schulz had himself recently referred to fellow MEP Daniël van der Stoep (also a member of the Dutch Freedom Party) as being ´a fascist´ for which Schulz himself was not removed. On the same day, Bloom published the following statement on his web page: "'My father spent 5 years of his youth fighting the ideals of the fascist Schultz. I need make no apologies on behalf of my late father or myself for telling the truth.'"^[17]

Notes[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} "Godfrey Bloom". European Parliament. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch/view.do?country=GB&partNumber=1&zone=Yorkshire+and+the+Humber&language=EN&id=28513. Retrieved 2010-01-21. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "UKIP wins first seat in region". BBC. 2004-06-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/3803065.stm. 
3. ^ About EAF, European Alliance for Freedom, http://www.eurallfree.org/?q=node/65, retrieved 7 July 2011 
4. ^ Booth, Jenny (2004-07-20). "UKIP man champions a woman's right to clean fridges". London: TimesOnline. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article459538.ece?print=yes&randnum=1151003209000. 
5. ^ "UKIP MEP in row over working women". BBC. 2004-07-21. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3912205.stm. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} Daniel, Mark (2005). Cranks and gadflies: the story of UKIP. Timewell Press. p. 149. ISBN 1-85725-209-8, ISBN 978-1-85725-209-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=My7bPb1XnVIC&pg=PA142. 
7. ^ http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/around-yorkshire/local-stories/brothel_visit_euro_mp_under_fire_after_saying_most_prostitutes_not_exploited_1_2609582
8. ^ http://archive.varsity.co.uk/605.pdf
9. ^ The Independent (London). 16 October 2004. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ukip-man-in-brussels-faces-harassment-claim-after-trying-to-quash-his-sexist-reputation-6159897.html. 
10. ^ Hannan, Daniel (10 December 2008). "A drunk Eurosceptic makes more sense than a sober federalist". London: Daily Telegraph. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/5940683/A_drunk_Eurosceptic_makes_more_sense_than_a_sober_federalist/. Retrieved 8 February 2012. 
11. ^ "UKIP MEP makes Euro Parliament speech on booze and drugs cocktail". Political Scrapbook. 6 February 2012. http://politicalscrapbook.net/2012/02/ukip-mep-makes-euro-parliament-speech-on-booze-and-drugs-cocktail/. Retrieved 8 February 2012. 
12. ^ Climate change: man-made or myth? Len Tingle, BBC News, 1 October 2009.
13. ^ Climate crooks
14. ^ "Rainbow Warrior bombing praised". The New Zealand Herald. 8 February 2010. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10624771. Retrieved 8 February 2010. 
15. ^ "MEP Godfrey Bloom hails Greenpeace ship attack". BBC. 10 February 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/8509540.stm. 
16. ^ BBC news on the incident
17. ^ [1] http://www.godfreybloommep.co.uk/

External links[link]

• Official website
• Profile on European Parliament website
• YouTube video on Nazi slur incident in European Parliament
• YouTube video showing Godfrey Bloom being escorted out of the plenary meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg