Beethoven's Choral Fantasy of 1808 for piano, vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra is a sparkling piece of music that combines characteristics of a piano fantasy, a piano concerto and a cantata. Because
of the similarities in layout to his 9th Symphony, and also
because of the similarity of the main melody to the Ode to Joy in its
final movement, the Choral Fantasy is also called the "Little Ninth." So why is this one of the most least known works by Beethoven? Why is it almost never played? One reason could be that it is overshadowed by the 9th Symphony. But in my view the major reason why it is rarely heard
in performance is its unconventional scoring: you need a piano soloist, a large choir, two soprano soloists, an alto soloist, two tenor soloists, a bass soloist, and a large orchestra for a piece of music that only lasts 20 minutes. That is just too wasteful - it only makes sense when you happen to have these same forces already on stage for other music during the same concert (that was the case during the huge concert Beethoven organized for its premiere, when his 5th and 6th symphonies were played, his 4th piano concerto, a concert area, three movements from his C major mass, and finally as a glorious finale of the marathon concert the Choral Fantasy...).
Beethoven composed the Choral fantasy in a very short time, re-using variations of the unpublished song "Gegenliebe" (WoO 118) from 1794-95. The text was by the poet Christoph Kuffner, and like Beethoven's music, it is a poetic tribute to the divine power of music.
The Fantasy is constructed in two parts of unequal size, an Adagio in C minor of 26 bars (this was improvised by Beethoven during the first performance) and a large Finale of nearly 600 bars, itself divided into several sections of different tempi, and finally modulating to a shiny C major. Here the theme from the above mentioned song is introduced and several variations follow. There are parts with a concertante piano, also with a long dreamy melody that reminds one of the slow movement of some of Beethoven's piano sonatas, a marching rhythm, and, finally after
a brief transition, the last section begins in measure 398 with
the entry of the vocal soloists, first the women, then the men, before
the chorus enters. Again, some variations follow before the work ends.
The only other works which use a chorus just as wastefully are the finale of Ferruccio Busoni's symphonically scored Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Male Chorus, and the 4th Symphony by Charles Ives, which uses a mixed chorus only in a setting of the hymn "Watchman" in the first movement and a wordless intonation of the hymn "Bethany" in the last movement.
Listen to Beethoven's Choral fantasy in a performance by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Chorus and Youth Choir with Malaysian pianist Tengku Irfan.
Choral Masterworks