Ten years would pass before this final symphony' s completion， ten years in which Beethoven shed blood over every note， considering and rejecting over two-hundred different versions of the "Joy" theme alone. At the end of that time， he offered to the public a radically new creation that was part symphony and part oratorio， a hybrid that proved puzzling to his less daring observers. The conductor Louis Spohr， who knew Beethoven， asserted privately that the piece was "tasteless，" and Verdi， who， it must be admitted knew a thing or two about how to blend music and words， lamented that the grand finale was "badly set." Yet others have better understood Beethoven' s final symphonic work， and have defended it eloquently. Let us give Claude Debussy the last word： "It is the most triumphant example of the molding of an idea to the preconceived form； at each leap forward there is a new delight， without either effort or appearance of repetition； the magical blossoming， so to speak， of a tree whose leaves burst forth simultaneously. Nothing is superfluous in this stupendous work. Beethoven had already written eight symphonies and the figure nine seems to have had for him an almost mystic significance， he determined to surpass himself. I can scarcely see how his success can be questioned."
這是一則耳熟能詳的故事：邁入老年的貝多芬，疾病纏身，雙耳失聰，卻出色地完成了《第九交響曲》首次公演的指揮。甚至當樂隊與合唱隊停止表演，成功新作到達尾聲，觀眾已經開始熱烈鼓掌後，貝多芬依然陶醉在忘我的指揮中，直到一位歌手把他轉向觀眾，他才知道雷鳴般的歡呼聲已經響徹整個禮堂。
當時的場景令人感動不已，就連憤世嫉俗的曆史學家都產生了懷疑，他們簡直不敢相信交響曲能夠如此完美。可是這一次，那些憤世嫉俗者顯然錯了，因為幾位出席了1824年5月7日那場意義非凡的演出的觀眾複述了同樣的故事。可他們的故事有所不同。一些人認為戲劇性的時刻發生在交響曲結束時，而另外一些人則堅持認為是在諧謔曲結束時。隨著時光流逝，觀眾們不斷地向傳記作者講述，這個故事的不同說法也就隨之產生了。不管觀眾的掌聲是何時響起的，貝多芬聽不到聲音的事實證明：如此美妙的樂曲，他從未聽到一個音符。想象一下這個冷酷的事實，你不禁會讚歎命途多舛的貝多芬居然能夠指揮合唱團演唱如此歡快美妙的樂曲。