Beyond Immortality

When Leonard Bernstein describes Beethoven's

  "Ode to Joy" he offers it as a 

"A Universality of Thought, of Human Brotherhood, Freedom and Love..." but how does Beethoven move beyond what  Shakespeare describes as Life? How does Beethoven remove the rope of what Mr. Shakespeare calls a "Mortal Coil?"

"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,"

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,
 

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil..."

"For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of disprized love, the law's delay,
and yet Mr. Shakespeare offers...

"Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life."

"Just like every night has it's dawn
Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song
Every rose has it's thorn"

 

That's the MAGIC that Beethoven shares with us. 

He gives us "Hope" and "Innocence" 

gives us back our "Grace" and 

our "Trust"  because when you really "HEAR" 

the "Ode to Joy" what Leonard Bernstein says rings true...Beethoven's

9th symphony has a "Purity and Directness" that reminds us 

of what The Honor of being Human really means!

Homer said it best...

  “The Gods envy us. They envy us because we’re mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.”— The Illiad

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