The grandest of Beethoven's nine symphonies begins with the depiction of the birth of music itself, the very core of sound immerging from silence, and ends when the music has become so magnificent, so glorious that it has reached the heavens. The listener can feel Beethoven's struggle with deafness in the opening of this monumental symphony as he fights to recall what it was like to hear sound, what it was like to hear music. The famous introduction, with no feel of rhythm or key, immerses the listener in the challenges, struggles, and frustrations of the deaf man's everyday life. The first movement tells the listener that this is not just another symphony; something revolutionary is on its way.

The second movement begins with an introduction that is essentially a short variation of the opening to the first movement but then the violins enter with the principal theme and the scherzo begins. While lacking the emotional depth of the opening movement, the scherzo is musically brilliant and is just the contrast from the other movements that a great symphony needs. While the rest of the symphony seems to grab at the hearts of the audience as Beethoven reveals his emotions to the world, the second movement provides a much needed break from the intense feelings of passion rooted by the first movement and allows the listener to just be care-free, almost child-like.

When the third movement begins, the powerful feelings immediately become overwhelming. It is almost as if Beethoven used the second movement to relax the audience just before they are overcome with every emotion imaginable, making this movement even more effective. The adagio is utterly gorgeous; a person that can listen to this movement and not give way to emotion is a person without a soul. The adagio is so beautifully brilliant that the emotional meaning is different for every person. While one listener may be overcome with grief the next may be overcome with bliss, basking in the beauty of the great adagio.

The finale is like nothing else written for the symphonic genre; it is scored for four soloists, full chorus, and orchestra. Schiller's An die Freude (Ode to Joy) is the text with which Beethoven gloriously brings his masterpiece to a triumphant end. Lasting almost half and hour the shear length of the finale is impressive, lasting longer than entire symphonies of some of his contemporaries. The symphony that began with the birth of sound comes to an exultant close, redefining the genre and creating sounds so splendid that for decades composers will not dare to write a ninth symphony.