Ode to Joy: 10,000 Japanese sing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony | Music Documentary

Enthusiasm for Beethoven is particularly strong in Japan. Every year in December, 10,000 choir singers gather in a concert hall in Osaka to sing “Ode to Joy,“ the final chorus from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. At the podium for the 20th time is conductor Yutaka Sado, a pupil of Leonard Bernstein. Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is performed more often in Japan than in other country in the world. The Japanese simply refer to Beethoven’s Ninth as “Daiku“ — the “Great.“ Participation in the concert is h