Ode to joy: How Austria shaped Beethoven's Ninth

A Beethoven figurine is seen in the souvenir shop of the Beethoven House (museum), where he spent some of his summers and composed sections of his Ninth Symphony in Baden, Austria. Photo: AFP

The night Ludwig van Beethoven's monumental Ninth Symphony rang out in a Vienna concert hall for the first time almost exactly two centuries ago, the great German composer was anxious for all to go well.

He needn't have worried. The audience erupted in spontaneous applause during the performance, but Beethoven was already so hard of hearing that he had to be turned around by a musician to notice it.