Schiller is the second monument in German classical literature after Goethe. One of his masterpieces is the historical drama "Valentine". This drama is actually a reenactment of the German national tragedy during the Thirty Years' War. Schiller's merit lies in his bringing this national tragedy to the stage of art.
In May 1805, Schiller unfortunately passed away. Goethe was extremely painful: "I lost Schiller and half of my life." After Goethe's death, he was buried according to his last words. Next to Schiller's body. May 9, 2005 is the 200th anniversary of the death of German literary giant Schiller. Schiller (1759-1805), born in a medical family, was a German enlightenment writer as famous as Goethe. He is respected as a "great genius poet", a giant of "truth, goodness and beauty", and "German Shakespeare". In his own eyes, he is a "citizen of the world who does not submit to any prince."
"Ode to Joy" (Andie Freude) was written by Schiller in Leipzig in the summer of 1785. At that time, his plays "The Robber" and "Conspiracy and Love" were huge successes. Engels called "The Bandit" "a celebration of a heroic young man who openly declares war on the whole society" and "Conspiracy and Love" as "Germany's first politically inclined drama." However, at that time, Schiller was persecuted by Duke Eugen and fled. He was penniless, heavily in debt, and living a wandering life. When Schiller was desperate, four young people in Leipzig who had never met before admired Schiller's talent and wrote to invite him to Leipzig. They would bear the travel expenses. After receiving the letter, Schiller immediately set off from Mannheim. Regardless of the difficulty of the journey and his physical weakness, he walked for 8 days and arrived in Leipzig. He was warmly welcomed and treated with meticulous care by four strangers. "Ode to Joy" was written by Schiller with great gratitude after feeling the warmth of this kind of help in times of need. The poem is in the popular ode style of the time. This theme originated from the ancient Greek poet Pindar and was used in the creation of German poets very early on, until the famous ode poet Hedelin in the 19th century. The most famous ode poet during the German Enlightenment was Klopstück. This man changed the dry and preachy style of Enlightenment poetry and wrote passionate and sacred hymns, which were deeply loved by the young people at that time. Poems about the theme of joy were written before Schiller. Hagtang of the German Anacreon school of poetry (also known as Locke) wrote the poem "Ode to Joy" of the same name. But these two "Ode to Joy" are different: Haggertang sings about the joy of this world, while Schiller sings about the sublimation of noble emotions in the world into a joy of being with God. The poetic style of Schiller's "Ode to Joy" was influenced by Klopstucker, and has a solemn and sublime rhythm. Although Hagtang's "Ode to Joy" also sings joy in a serious tone, the poem is full of irony and criticism.
The joy Schiller sings about in his "Ode to Joy" first praises the specific joy he felt after being moved by friendship. Later, he personified this specific joy, making the joy universal. This further extends to his pursuit of the ideals of freedom, equality, and fraternity, especially his praise of fraternity. "Wherever your gentle wings fly, people become brothers."
In his "Ode to Joy", Schiller also reflected Kant's "Nebula Theory" view of nature and the prevailing philosophy of the time. "Pantheism" view of religion. These ideas, which were considered advanced at the time, can be read in this long poem. In the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the original lyrics sung by the tenor leader are: "Like stars flying in that magnificent space." This reveals Kant's "nebula theory" cosmology. Unfortunately, our country's singing The lyrics are "...like the sun / moving across the majestic sky."
It is far from enough to understand the entire "Ode to Joy" from the translation of the Ninth Symphony
In 1959, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony premiered in China, "Ode to Joy" It became widely known. Beethoven broke with past tradition when writing his Ninth Symphony and introduced the human voice in the fourth movement. In this final movement, he used some verses from Schiller's "Ode to Joy" as lyrics, and composed unison, chorus, quartet and tenor solo (lead). These vocal pieces and orchestral music are intertwined to form a solemn, majestic and magnificent symphonic movement. In 1786, "Ode to Joy" was first published in Schiller's own magazine "Thalia" and moved many Germans. Beethoven was 16 years old at the time, and it is unknown whether he had read this poem. However, some documents show that the young Beethoven claimed to set all the verses of "Ode to Joy" to music when he was in Bonn. However, Beethoven only used some verses from Schiller's "Ode to Joy" in the choral movement of the finale of the Ninth Symphony. Looking at the poem as a whole, Beethoven chose it very carefully.
Although there are only 6 paragraphs, it plays a role in summarizing the connotation of the whole poem to a certain extent. However, judging from the number of verses used in the movement, it is less than 1/3 of the entire poem of "Ode to Joy". Therefore, it is not enough to understand the poet Schiller and his "Ode to Joy" through the lyrics of the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Furthermore, for Chinese readers, understanding of "Ode to Joy" is obtained through Chinese translation. However, there is a gap between the translation and the original text, and understanding "Ode to Joy" through the Chinese translation will be greatly compromised. The chorus part of the finale of the Ninth Symphony in Chinese performances usually uses the Chinese translation of the song translator Deng Yiying. It should be said that compared with the original poem, this translator's translation is consistent in spirit.
The translation basically expresses the original intention of the original poem to praise joy and promote the ideal of human fraternity. The Chinese translation is smooth and natural. This is because when the translator translated German into Chinese, he tried his best to take care that the translation conformed to the four tones of Chinese rhythm, and strived to make the cadence of the translation consistent with the ups and downs of the accompanying melody. The problem is that the translator focuses on the singability of the translation, sacrificing the vivid and concrete image, profound philosophy and metaphor of the original poem. In particular, Schiller's unrestrained energy when he wrote this poem is hard to find in the translation.
For example, the original text is: "Billions of people, embrace each other!/Send this kiss to the whole world!" Deng translated it into: "Hundreds of millions of people, unite!/Everyone loves each other!"