Home / Music / Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' melody became the EU anthem in 1985Music linernotes album music herbert-von-karajan-/-berlin-philharmonicBeethoven's 'Ode to Joy' melody became the EU anthem in 1985The theme from the final movement of the Ninth Symphony was adopted as the European Union’s anthem and is one of the most recognizable melodies in Western classical music. Search Amazon As an Amazon Associate, Work Notes may earn.Related NotesBeethoven's Symphony No. 9 runs 65 to 75 minutes — among the longest in the repertoireBeethoven's Symphony No. 9 is the 'Choral' symphonyBeethoven couldn't hear the applause at his own Ninth Symphony premiereJacqueline du Pré was 20 when she recorded the Elgar Cello ConcertoKarajan's 1962 Beethoven cycle: 1 million sets sold in a decade, still the benchmarkExplore'The Robots' appears on Kraftwerk's The Man-MachineCarsten Nicolai co-founded Raster-Noton by merging two labelsEtta James recorded for Chess Records in the 1960sIrma Thomas recorded for Rounder Records from the late 1980sJoni Mitchell joined Asylum Records in 1972Previous Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is the 'Choral' symphonyNext Beethoven couldn't hear the applause at his own Ninth Symphony premiere