Q 01/05

In which key is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony written?

A) E-flat major

B) C minor

C) D minor

D) A major

Answer · why

C) D minor

D minor opens the symphony, but the finale breaks through into D major, the key in which the Ode to Joy melody finally rings out.

Q 02/05

Which animal does the Ode to Joy calm in the Beatles film Help!?

A) Lion

B) Tiger

C) Bear

D) Gorilla

Answer · why

B) Tiger

Tiger: a Scotland Yard superintendent says the Ode will calm it, so the singing starts and soon spreads far beyond the pub.

Q 03/05

Which poet wrote the text that Beethoven set in the finale?

A) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

B) Friedrich Schiller

C) Friedrich Hölderlin

D) Heinrich Heine

Answer · why

B) Friedrich Schiller

Friedrich Schiller's ode was one the young Beethoven planned to set stanza by stanza, yet three decades later the finale used only selected parts of i...

Q 04/05

What was Beethoven's Ninth the first symphony by a major composer to include?

A) A minor key

B) Five movements

C) A slow introduction

D) Singers

Answer · why

D) Singers

Singers were a first for a major composer's symphony, yet as late as 1823 Beethoven's sketches were still weighing an instrumental finale instead.

Q 05/05

Before EU leaders took it up in 1985, which body first adopted the Ode to Joy as Europe's anthem?

A) The Council of Europe

B) NATO

C) The European Broadcasting Union

D) The Nordic Council

Answer · why

A) The Council of Europe

The Council of Europe's anthem has no words, and it isn't meant to replace member countries' national anthems but to celebrate the values they share.