“Beethoven’s Ninth” is a music docu­men­ta­ry on the occa­si­on of the 250th bir­th­day of Lud­wig van Beet­ho­ven. To this day, Beethoven’s Ninth Sym­pho­ny is one of the most popu­lar pie­ces of clas­si­cal music around the world. In this 90-minu­te film, you will dis­co­ver new inter­pre­ta­ti­ons of the famous Ninth, per­for­med by pas­sio­na­te musi­ci­ans. Watch as Greek con­duc­tor Teo­dor Curr­ent­zis works on Beethoven’s Ninth with his ensem­ble, Musi­cAe­ter­na. Or obser­ve Chi­ne­se com­po­ser and Oscar win­ner Tan Dun as he crea­tes a new com­po­si­ti­on inspi­red by the gre­at Beet­ho­ven sym­pho­ny. Expe­ri­ence first-hand the Orchest­re Sym­pho­ni­que Kim­ban­gu­is­te in the Demo­cra­tic Repu­blic of the Con­go, as they inter­pret the Ninth, in part using instru­ments built by the musi­ci­ans them­sel­ves. Visit a fave­la in Bra­zil, whe­re Beethovens’s music helps peo­p­le get off the streets. Be ama­zed as a choir of 10,000 in Japan sings the “Ode to Joy,” the final cho­rus of Beethoven’s Ninth Sym­pho­ny, with gre­at enthu­si­asm. Learn how Paul Whit­taker helps make Beet­ho­ven, who hims­elf beca­me deaf, acces­si­ble for deaf peo­p­le. And find out how Bri­tish DJ Gabri­el Pro­ko­fiev per­forms a sym­pho­nic remix of Beethoven’s Ninth. At the end of this musi­cal jour­ney, you will see that in every coun­try on the glo­be, peo­p­le dream of a bet­ter world in which human beings can live as brot­hers and sis­ters. In play­ing and sin­ging Beethoven’s Ninth Sym­pho­ny, this dream beco­mes true, if only for a moment. A breath­ta­king docu­men­ta­ry about the grea­test sym­pho­ny of all times.

“What would the world be like wit­hout Beet­ho­ven?” That’s the pro­vo­ca­ti­ve ques­ti­on posed by this music docu­men­ta­ry from Deut­sche Wel­le. To ans­wer it, the film explo­res how Lud­wig van Beethoven’s inno­va­tions con­ti­nue to have an impact far bey­ond the boun­da­ries of clas­si­cal music, 250 years after his birth. What would be miss­ing from jazz or from film music, for exam­p­le, if Beet­ho­ven had never crea­ted his many inno­va­tions? Would the con­cert busi­ness exist as we know it today? And how has it chan­ged the role of the artist? Sarah Wil­lis, horn play­er with the Ber­lin Phil­har­mo­nic, sets out on an enter­tai­ning and infor­ma­ti­ve jour­ney in search of ans­wers. She meets peo­p­le from around the world – musi­ci­ans, mana­gers and even poli­ti­ci­ans – to fol­low the traces of Beethoven’s influence. Sarah’s jour­ney beg­ins with the most famous four notes of clas­si­cal music and their immense influence on pop music. “It all star­ted with Beet­ho­ven,” says Scor­pi­ons gui­ta­rist Rudolf Schen­ker about the pree­mi­nent role the composer’s influence has play­ed in the deve­lo­p­ment of the rock riff. Ian Ander­son (Jet­h­ro Tull) spe­cu­la­tes: “May­be he just spil­led his cof­fee and it hap­pen­ed to beco­me ‘Da-da-da-dum.’ ” Jazz trumpe­ter and Gram­my win­ner Wyn­ton Mar­sa­lis explains what Beethoven’s last string quar­tet (No. 16, Op. 135) has to do with the rhythm of jazz. “Star Wars” film com­po­ser and mul­ti­ple Oscar win­ner John Wil­liams prai­ses Beet­ho­ven as the mas­ter of sounds that crea­te images. And pia­nist and com­po­ser Gabrie­la Mon­te­ro adds, “His music is valid at all times.” At the 2022 Inter­na­tio­nal Clas­si­cal Music Awards, “A World Wit­hout Beet­ho­ven?” won the pri­ze in the Video Docu­men­ta­ries cate­go­ry. The jury sta­ted: “A world wit­hout Beet­ho­ven? It’s sim­ply uni­ma­gi­nable. In Mar­tin Roddewig’s film, the famous horn play­er Sarah Wil­lis of the Ber­li­ner Phil­har­mo­ni­ker tra­vels through the realms of rock and clas­si­cal music, jazz and film scores. In inter­views with musi­ci­ans and mana­gers, the docu­men­ta­ry shows how pro­found­ly Beethoven’s inno­va­tions have shaped the music of cen­tu­ries to come. This film is wit­ty and high­ly entertaining.”