Ode to Joy

Beethoven wanted to set this poem to music for decades before he actually did it. The words are by the German poet Friedrich Schiller, written in 1785, and Beethoven finally used them in 1824 as the triumphant choral finale of his Ninth Symphony--the very first symphony ever written to include a full chorus and vocal soloists. He was completely deaf by the time it premiered in Vienna, and, according to legend, had to be turned around by a fellow musician to see the audience applauding, since he couldn't hear it himself. It's a piece about the triumph of joy over hardship, which makes it especially moving once you know the story behind it.