How do you write a symphony after Beethoven?

By Milner Fuller, Manager of Classical Programming, ISO

With the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s final two classical subscription concerts of the 2024–25 season, we explore one of the most thrilling turning points in music history: Beethoven’s monumental Ninth Symphony—and the bold, imaginative response it inspired in Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique.

A New Era Begins 

Before Beethoven, writing a symphony was a more straightforward task. Composers followed the models established by the 18th-century masters—brilliant, elegant, and emotionally rich, but not burdened by the need to make a grand philosophical statement. Beethoven changed all that. With his Ninth Symphony, he didn’t just expand the symphony’s scale—he expanded its purpose.

The Ninth introduced a revolutionary idea: that symphonic music could say something profound, even political or spiritual. By setting Schiller’s Ode to Joy to music in the final movement, Beethoven didn’t just add voices—he added meaning, inviting listeners to embrace a message of universal brotherhood.

The Challenge for the Next Generation

After Beethoven’s death in 1827, the next generation of composers faced a daunting question: How do you follow that? Can a symphony still be “just music,” or must it strive to say something deeper?

In 1830, Hector Berlioz offered a bold answer with his Symphonie fantastique, the first true “program symphony”—a work with a detailed story at its core. Obsessed with a Shakespearean actress, Berlioz crafted a semi-autobiographical fantasy about love, madness, and hallucination. He even distributed a written narrative to audiences at the premiere, though he also insisted that the music should stand on its own.

A Musical Debate for the Ages

Berlioz’s approach launched a new era for programmatic music. His allies, like Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner, pushed the idea further—Liszt through tone poems, Wagner through his music dramas. Meanwhile, composers like Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Brahms championed “absolute music,” insisting that music didn’t need a story to be powerful or profound.

These two camps—the “New German School” versus the traditionalists—sparked one of the most passionate artistic debates of the 19th century, each claiming Beethoven as their spiritual forefather.

Why It Still Matters

Today, composers draw from both traditions. Some works aim to tell stories; others simply explore sound and form. The strict boundaries of the past have softened—but the questions first raised in the wake of Beethoven’s Ninth still shape how we listen, write, and think about music.

Join the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra this June as we revisit this seismic moment in musical history:

Into the Music: Berlioz –June 12
Join the ISO for Into the Music, a free series featuring a lively discussion followed by a performance—with full orchestra—of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. All attendees will receive a 50% discount for the weekend’s concerts.
Symphonie fantastique – June 13, and 14
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – June 20 and 21 (Hilbert Circle Theatre) and June 22 (Payne & Mencias Palladium)
Conducted by Music Director Jun Märkl

Be there as we celebrate two revolutionary masterpieces—one that forever changed the symphony, and another that dared to answer, “What comes next?”