On May 7, 1824, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony premiered in Vienna. Beethoven stood onstage, but he was so deaf that the conductor told the orchestra and choir to ignore Beethoven’s beat and watch him instead. The audience erupted in applause, so much that it interrupted the music. Beethoven, absorbed in his score, could not hear it. Singer Caroline Unger turned him around so he could see the crowd celebrating. Accounts differ on whether this happened after the scherzo or at the very end. Either way, the man who wrote the Ode to Joy had to be turned to see the joy. Sometimes we need a friend to turn us around to see what God is doing.
