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  • Poem by Else Meidner titled ‘Beethoven’s Symphony no 9 in D minor’

Else Meidner

Poem by Else Meidner titled ‘Beethoven’s Symphony no 9 in D minor’

1949

Page 1

Created by
Else Meidner 1901–1987
Date
1949
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© Ludwig Meidner-Archiv, Jüdisches Museum der Stadt Frankfurt am Main

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Created by
Else Meidner 1901–1987
Title
Poem by Else Meidner titled ‘Beethoven’s Symphony no 9 in D minor’
Date
1949
Format
Document - writings
Collection
Tate Archive
Acquisition
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to Tate, 2006. Accrual presented by Annabel Hodin, 2020
Reference
TGA 20062/7/128/1/4

Description

[Transcription/translation]

Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 in D Minor

I stand as though on a sandbank
In an ocean of melodies
Of otherworldly beauty
And magical power!
The waves rush ever closer,
Foaming with force and bravura,
And the ether is richly suffused
With a wealth of oral harmonies.
The deluge rises, engulfs me,
I cannot breathe, my heart is filled
With blessed joy and desire profound!
Fanfares ring out, drumrolls resound!
Is the hour of the Last Judgement come?
But the waves gently recede,
Ebbing further and further away,
Just a few sweet melodic crests
Quietly, quietly ebb and flow —
I inhale deeply, and the life pulses
The more vigorously through my veins.
Again the tide rushes in,
Waves of sound amass,
Voices of angels rejoice on all sides:
‘Joy, beautiful spark of divinity!
Daughter of Elysium,
We now enter, drunk with fire,
Heavenly one, your sanctuary!’

EMM 1949

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Archive context

  • Papers of Josef Paul Hodin TGA 20062 (407)
    • Working papers relating to artistic, cultural and historic figures TGA 20062/7 (106)
      • Else Meidner TGA 20062/7/128 (29)
        • Correspondence from Else Meidner to J.P. Hodin TGA 20062/7/128/1 (8)
          • Poem by Else Meidner titled ‘Beethoven’s Symphony no 9 in D minor’ TGA 20062/7/128/1/4
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