Which composer's Symphony No. 9 features the 'Ode to Joy'?

Ludwig van Beethoven composed the Symphony No. 9 that features the “Ode to Joy.” Completed in 1824, it was Beethoven’s final completed symphony and one of the most influential works in Western classical music.

The famous melody appears in the symphony’s fourth and final movement, where four vocal soloists and a choir sing words adapted from Friedrich Schiller’s 1785 poem “An die Freude,” or “To Joy.” Beethoven’s decision to combine a full orchestra with voices in a symphony was groundbreaking and helped establish the work’s extraordinary reputation.

Beethoven conducted the first performance in Vienna on May 7, 1824, although he was by then profoundly deaf and reportedly had to be turned toward the audience so he could see its reaction. The “Ode to Joy” theme is often mistaken for a separate composition, but it is part of the Ninth Symphony. Its melody later became the anthem of the European Union and is widely used at ceremonial events.