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Good morning. One of the things I’ve missed most in recent months is attending concerts at St. David’s Hall in Cardiff. One of the last events to be held there was a double-bill, an afternoon and evening concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, which according to most experts (including the man himself) took place on this day in 1770. Sadly, the lockdown will have closed down many other such celebrations, but we can still listen to recordings of his music. Our appreciation of it may be influenced by the struggles of his life and career: the younger revolutionary, the unrequited lover, the disputes with family, and when older the challenge of increasing deafness. Or we can link his music to experiences in our own lives. For me, it’s coming in quietly to school assemblies to ‘Fur Elise’; my Dad playing a record of Beethoven’s 7th at home on a Sunday afternoon; or hearing the ‘Moonlight Sonata being played in the background on a romantic evening – and perhaps you will have your own memories and favourites too.

But perhaps his best known piece is his final Symphony the 9th, with its majestic closing chorus set to the words of Schiller’s ‘Ode to Joy’. It seems to me something hugely profound that despite all his struggles, his (almost) last and (possibly) greatest piece includes an invitation to ‘rejoice’. For this is a theme which runs through the psalms and the scriptures – and is found supremely Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’, Paul says, ‘and again, Rejoice!’ It’s not always easy, but it’s a truth of which Beethoven reminds us and which we do well to remember this Christmas season.

Creator God, We thank you for the gift of music and for all musicians who have opened our ears to the harmony at the heart of creation; help us in this season of celebration to share in the joy which you reveal to the world, for Christ’s sake, Amen.