The Ode to Joy theme may possibly be the single most recognized piece of music in the world but very few have heard it for real in it's entirety. Being that this is a forum specifically dedicated to music I would expect more people here to have heard it than the general public, but at my school for example no one knows anything beyond the Ode to Joy unless they've watched A Clockwork Orange and even then they usually don't realize what they're listening to. But in any event it is the single greatest piece of music I have ever heard BY FAR and in my belief the single greatest piece of music that is even possible to exist. . . .kind of like the speed of light for music.
That might seem
just a bit like hyperbole but absolutely no words said about it can do it justice. It's simultaneously the most beautiful, moving, complex, and exciting thing I have ever heard. If you don't agree; oh well, not everyone's going to have the same tastes; but I think everyone owes it to themself to listen to the real thing as opposed to rendering their judgement off of got milk commercials and elementary school recorder lessons that have become so ubiquitous that it is all too often taken for granted.
PART I:
YouTube - Karajan - Beethoven Symphony No. 9 : Part 1
PART II:
YouTube - Karajan - Beethoven Symphony No. 9 : Part 2