I recently learned that a modified version of the original “An die Fruede” sung in the tune of the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, is the anthem of Europe. So, how often do you come across this song? Is this performed at some important events or meetings? Did you learn the song/music growing up? I watched a couple of flashmobs and observed that many people in the public also joined the chorus, when they started to sing. So, I was wondering if the song is taught, or you encounter it too often that you kinda learn it. Also, if you do learn it, do you learn the German version, or the translated version?
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I learned the German version in school but that’s cause I took German. Most Italians don’t even know it’s the European anthem, I’ve personally never heard it outside of German class.
If you mean the piece by Beethoven (actually I just found out that the anthem is just the music) then yeah it’s pretty famous
Like never in real life, only on reddit from eurofederalists on like r/europe. It’s not performed at any meetings or events at all in Sweden. I only learned it was the “anthem of europe” because of reddit. Otherwise I probably would’ve lived my entire life without knowing about that. Same thing goes for the “Europe Day”. I only know of it thanks to reddit. It’s not taught in schools or anything, no one really knows that Europe has an anthem here in Sweden.
You can’t sing the anthem of Europe – it’s the same melody but explicitly without lyrics. If you have any lyrics, in any language, it is not the anthem.
In Sweden the melody is mostly used for a [children’s song for learning the months](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visan_om_solen,_m%C3%A5nen_och_planeterna), and as such it tends to bring rather childish associations. No one knows of the anthem and the melody doesn’t have any European connotations whatsoever.
People would sooner associate Charpentier’s *Te Deum* with Europe.
I was in elementary school when Hungary joined the union and we learnt it (the translated, Hungarian version) a few weeks before the day of joining so we could sing it when the EU flag was raised in my town. I would assume that it was the same for many kids who were in school back then, but I’m not sure.
We also had to learn it in music class at school, and then again in “music theory” if we played an instrument, but that was an after school activity and not mandatory, so perhaps some people only learnt it once and forgot it after graduating elementary/high school.
Other than that, maybe people who are interested in classical music will be familiar with the tune and will probably know that it’s the anthem of the EU, but it doesn’t really come up in our everyday life. To be honest I can’t remember hearing it even on EU-related events in the past decade or so. I doubt that if you stopped a random person on the street they would know the lyrics.
It is usually performed at events related to the European Union (for example, it was performed three hours ago on the occasion of President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Milan for the premiere at La Scala), but I often listen to it myself ([the original version, usually](https://youtu.be/4pbMUEHvoAo)), both because I find Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 his masterpiece, and because I find Schiller’s verses beautiful. People seldom know the text (understandably, ours is a very different language from German), and I don’t think it is taught at school (at least when I went to school they didn’t teach it to me), but I think anyone can recognise the melody immediately, so well known is it. As far as I know there are several Italian translations of the Ode to Joy, [one](https://youtu.be/hP7Ghikc37Q) is fairly faithful to the original text and is by Arrigo Boito (the same who wrote the librettos for Otello and Falstaff, later set to music by Verdi), [the other](https://youtu.be/9K-SzQM2k-A) is a recent translation that speaks of Europe; but neither seems to me to have had much success, let alone enjoy any form of official status.
Being German, we have of course learned it in German and sung it during musical education lessons – not necessarily as European anthem (I’m not sure the average German would even know that it is) but because it’s a important, famous and simply glorious piece of music, not at least because it combines the art of two very important German artist, Beethoven and Schiller.
You would come across it from time to time on different occasions – I’d say for me on average 2-3 times per year.
It’s also an “evergreen” in the concert houses, if you want to go to an orchestra playing it you’d have a few opportunities each year to go and hear the 9th symphony.
Almost never. Didn’t learn it and didn’t knew the name. I think this song is played during the Eurovision songfestival. Maybe I heard it on the news once or twice when they discussing something EU related. So it’s sounds somewhat familiar as the song of the EU. I wouldn’t know the lyrics though, always thought this was an instrumental song.
First heard it in school (decades before the EU was a thing). My family was quite poor and I had no idea what that was. Classical music blew me away. Ever seen “Equilibrium”? Well, that scene was me.
Now I listen mostly to Classical so it comes once in a while. Although I prefer the last movement of the 5th symphony (not the “famous” one). These two, the Brandenburg Concertos, the Grosso Moghul are my favorites so I never miss a concert, apart from having them on my listening list.
I maybe hear it at some official events, or when something is sponsored by the EU, haven’t learned the lyrics except for Freude schöner Götterfunken – and then I go google what funken means and forget about it
but in general I think Vivaldi had more bangers and is also heard more often today.. could be wrong tho