Beethoven's Ninth Symphony contains some of the world's most unforgettable music. Its finale, a musical setting of Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy" for vocal soloists and choir, is a melody every child can hum from memory, and the pounding timpani that opens the second movement stirred a generation as the theme to NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report. Herbert Von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic have given us some of the all-time finest Beethoven recordings in terms of both performance and sound. They are supported by world-class soloists and a choir specially imported from Vienna on this justly legendary recording.