Mention Beethoven to anybody, and one of the first works which generally springs to mind is his Ninth Symphony. Though Beethoven himself considered his Missa Solemnis, written at the same time, to be his greatest work, it is his Symphony No.9 which has proved the most enduring, not least because of its innovative and compelling choral finale, with the famous, irresistible ‘Ode to Joy’. Yet, as with any popular work, it is vital to approach each listening with fresh ears, ready to hear something new. For there is no doubting that this is a work of great profundity, from its subtle opening, growing as though out of infinite space, to the climactic final movement which moves beyond ‘joy’ to the ecstatic, the transcendental.